A response to War and Warriors

I was watching TV again. Yes, it's something I do way too frequently. I was watching the Today Show yesterday morning and Stevie Nicks was the featured live performer. She looked great and was in very good voice. Stevie sang one of my favorite songs of hers, "Landslide." After her set she talked with Katie Couric and related a recent trip she had made to a Veteran's Hospital. She visited soldiers recovering from injuries received in combat in Iraq and she was very moved by her experience with these men. She said, no matter how you feel about the war, you have to support the men and women who serve.

It reminded me of the Viet Nam war and the sentiment toward homecoming veterans. There has been much written about how badly Viet Nam veterans were treated when they came home. I have to say that I was an offender. I hated the war. It didn't make sense to me, and it was wasteful and such an assault to the innocence and patriotism I felt growing up. I knew men who had been drafted and gone to Viet Nam. And, much to my shame today, I was so angry at them for participating in what I believed was an act of aggression against foreign peoples for no reason other than to promote the war industry. I still think that's true, as I believe much of the Iraqi war is to benefit the profiteers of the "military industrial complex."

I was so wrong in blaming the men in our country who were put against the wall to either go to war, go to jail, or leave the country. There was a draft then and 19 year olds had no choice. I, safe within my gender, was angry that they didn't choose jail or exile. I blamed them for not having the courage of my convictions and standing up against Uncle Sam. Their acquiescense helped to perpetuate the war. I am ashamed now of my utter lack of sensitivity and the arrogance of my immaturity.

The men and women who serve in today's military are not drafted. They have a choice and initiate the process of enlistment on their own. Most of them come from communities with shrinking economic opportunity. In a world with a changing economy, diminished manufacturing jobs , and expanded high tech industries, there are few jobs for the high school grad with no special training. Many of these people are reservists who signed up with the military as if it were a part-time job. Others chose active duty as a way of learning skills or earning college money after their terms of service. In a way, their backs are against the wall also.

So how do you separate the war from the warrior? That's the hard question. Hate the war, love the warrior? That sounds familiar. Hate the sin, love the sinner. The Buddhist way is to feel compassion for the warrior. Even Gandhi, the ultimate pacifist, respected war. During his campaign for Indian independence he called a halt to all civil disobedience activities while the British were engaged in WWII. He felt it wouldn't be fair to rebel against the authority of the British while they were on the defensive against Nazi aggression.

There are no neat, non-contradictory answers. I'd love to live in a world where we all agree that war is hell, and therefore, we don't make war. But that isn't likely. Not in this lifetime.