A New Grim Milestone is Reached in Iraq

On Sept 7th the 1,000th US soldier lost their life in Iraq. As of September 13th the Pentagon reported 1,141 coalition deaths in the Iraq war, 1,010 Americans, 65 Britons, six Bulgarians, one Dane, two Dutch, one Estonian, one Hungarian, 19 Italians, one Latvian, 10 Poles, one Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and eight Ukrainians. At least 7,026 US troops have been wounded in action.  Many of the wounded have lost limbs or are otherwise critically injured, and will require years of surgeries and rehabilitation before they can return, if at all, to anything resembling their former life. Iraqbodycount.org confirms a minimum of 11,797 dead Iraqi civilians.  Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been injured and killed in fighting.  Because the Pentagon refuses to keep track of Iraqis killed or wounded the true number will never be known.  Hundreds of billions of dollars are being spent to wage war in Iraq and Afghanistan at a time when the Government claims there is no money for universal healthcare. Private corporations are signing multi-million dollar contracts with the US Government in Iraq while public entities like Pittsburgh are facing bankruptcy. It is becoming evident to most American citizens that Iraq never was a serious and imminent threat to the US and there never were weapons of mass destruction.  The illusion that this is a war against one government or evil man has been shattered; this is a war against a large sector of the Iraqi population.  It is a classic insurgency, a guerrilla war, pitting our occupying army against diverse sectors of a society that do not wish to be occupied.

All of the above is part of the true cost of war. Every death, whether it comes in a rain of bullets in Iraq or the US hospital room of someone with no health insurance whose diagnosis came too late, must be mourned and acknowledged.  In the end symbolic milestones are only as important as the psychological impact they make on us and the actions they spur us to. While the 1,000th US life lost was no more important than the 999th it, like many milestones, it can provide a point for personal reflection. For those of us in the peace movement it is a chance to reaffirm our commitment to continue working for the systemic change necessary to bring about a just and lasting peace, not only in Iraq, but around the world.  The Thomas Merton Center mourns each life lost and works towards the day when we can celebrate milestones of peace.

America also needs leadership that will seriously reflect on the moral responsibilities that come with the privileged place we have as the world’s sole superpower. Those who knowingly pursue violence bear direct moral responsibility for the predictable consequences of their actions and decisions.  The United States maintains its privilege relative to the rest of the world because of our government’s aggression and exploitation. How many human lives and scarce resources are we as Americans willing to risk to maintain our economic and military dominance over the rest of the world?  Is it time to use our privileged position to foster an international community based on mutual respect, rather than to occupy foreign lands?  A wise man once said,“ from those who have been given much, much more is expected.”

- Tim Vining, Executive Director, Thomas Merton Center