As the US debt ceiling rises above $10 trillion and we are drowning in a sea of red ink, the US Congress approved billions more for warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are spending over $1 billion daily on war without asking what is happening to the soul of our nation.
One measure of spiritual death can be found among the soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. An article printed on June 14th, 2009 in USA TODAY deserves careful consideration by every citizen of the United States.
ÒSuicides Top Combat Deaths in MayÓ should make us ponder the futility of warfare.
ÒIn May there were 16 deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq, Twice as many active duty soldiers committed suicide in May than in April. There were 82 confirmed or suspected suicides this year compared with 51 in the same period last year. There were a record number of Army suicides in 2008.Ó
Hospitals that tend to wounded veterans who returned from both fields of war reported there are 1000 attempted suicides each month. (Foreign Policy in Focus May 9, 2008)
We need not go too far from Louisiana to discover four soldiers took their own lives in a Houston Army recruiting office (ARMY TIMES February 13, 2009) The Pentagon ordered a Òstand downÓ until the suicides could be investigated.
The commandment ÒYou must not kill.Ó is ingrained in everyone of us, but a learned behavior is Ð except in time of war. Ernest Hemmingway adds to the eternal commandment: ÒNever presume that warfare, no matter now just or necessary, is not a sin.Ó
Long before Hemmingway, Napoleon, one of the foremost military figures in history wrote to his Minister of EducationÓ ÒDo you know, Fontanes, what astonishes me most in the world? The ability of force to create anything. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the spiritÉ.What is the ultimate profit of all the arms, alliances and victories? Destruction, agony, death.Ó (The Mind of Napoleon by J.C. Herold, p.76)
Refusal to participate in war is still frowned upon by our government .Suicide is one sad alternative to court martial for refusal to kill.
Vic Hummert