Saturday, January 29, 2005

Thoughts on War

Hello all...

Well, normally I share a spiritual truth from my life. Today you will hear my heart. I read every day about the war in Iraq. And, yes, I've had a personal stake in it. My precious partner served fifteen months in Balad and near Fallujah. We deal daily with the aftermath of that deployment. PTSD is a secret little monster that appears at the most inopportune times. If you're not familiar with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, do some reading. And, while you're at it read about the soldiers returning home and how this war has affected them. Did you know that our wounded soldiers are actually being charged for their food in the military hospitals? Did you know that our soldiers have been exposed to chemicals that will change their lives forever? Do you know that the latest figures are over 100,000 dead Iraqis?

Every day there's something new, some forgotten incident that comes flying back into her life assailing her senses and causing horrid emotional and physical pain. The articles I read say anywhere from 17-30% of soldiers returning from Iraq are suffering extreme cases of anxiety and PTSD. That's a huge amount when you consider the numbers of soldiers being deployed. And you can't just take a pill and make it better. PTSD is an illness that will continue through her entire life and the entire lives of other soldiers. The VA cannot possibly keep up with the numbers of soldiers requesting help. And since we are over 400 TRILLION dollars in debt in this country, basically bankrupt, the government cannot budget enought money to care for our veterans as they should be and as they've been promised they will be.

These men and women are being told to "soldier up" and get over it. They are routinely shipped right back into the very situations that caused them the PTSD in the first place. Here in the US, we are not told the extent of the war and what our men and women are facing over there. One only has to have access to a computer, the internet and be a bit investigative to find the information that our government doesn't want us to have. If you gain access to foreign press articles and political blogs, you will be angered at the lack of honesty we are experiencing.

I've been appalled at the religious leaders who have pushed for this war thinking they would bring about Armegeddon. GWB sits in his fancy office and sleeps in his comfortable bed while men and women are dying for his own personal vendetta. People, this isn't about democracy. These are the children of Ishmael. They run their governments based on their religious ideals. This is about doing what GWB's daddy didn't do. This is about oil. Please don't be deceived on this.

Don't just take for granted what your government says as being 100% true. Realize that the political wheel is turning the wheel of justice. There is no justice in an unjust war brought about by lies and innuendo. Seek out information for yourself. Be informed. Find the truth. Then you will see that this president was wrong, lied about our reasons for going to war, did not plan for the reconstruction except to give contracts to his colleagues, and should be impeached for all of it. GWB cannot continue to pass the responsibility for this fiasco to underlings. A real man rises and accepts responsibility and takes the consequences.

Gentle readers, be informed consumers. Be informed citizens. Then, take what you find to the Lord and cry out for His mercy and grace. Pray for the safety of our troops, citizen contractors, and the people and children of Iraq.

May God bless you richly this day...
CLG-B

1 comment:

Darrell Grizzle said...

Thank you for this very thoughtful and prayerful reflection on war. My prayers are with you and your partner.

blessings,
Darrell
http://wildfaith.blogspot.com/