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Connectional Ministries : Witness : Peace with Justice

Anniversary of a moral disater

By Jim Winkler
Mar 21, 2008, 13:36

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Word from Winkler

Anniversary of a moral disaster
By Jim Winkler, General Secretary, General Board of Church & Society
This week — Holy Week — begins a sixth year of war in Iraq. President Bush has no intention of bringing the military occupation of Iraq to a close. Last week, for example, Reuters quoted the President as telling U.S. troops in Afghanistan, where they have been deployed even longer than Iraq, that he is “a little envious" of them.

“I'm a little envious," Bush said during a teleconference. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed.

"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks."

The President will bequeath this unholy mess to his successor.

The President will bequeath this unholy mess to his successor. The leading Republican candidate for the nomination, Sen. McCain, has no intention of ending the war if he is elected President. And, it remains uncertain what Sens. Clinton or Obama would do if either is elected, although they have both stated they plan to end the war.

Yet the cost of the war in both dollars and human lives keeps rising to alarming levels.

The Lancet, a leading British medical journal founded in 1823, estimates 655,000 more Iraqis died than would have otherwise from the beginning of the invasion in March 2003 to July 2006. How did these Iraqis die?: 340,000 died from gunshot wounds, 78,000 from air strikes, 84,000 from mortar fire and other ordinance, 76,000 from car bombings, 55,000 from preventable disease and lack of access to health care, 12,000 from unknown violent causes, and 12,000 from accidents attributable to violence.

The Lancet numbers, which are based on proven survey methods, have been criticized by war supporters who prefer a far smaller body count be reported. In any case, we know that many more Iraqis have died since July 2006.

They lamented, though, the excessive use of force, and the fact their government placed them in such a hopeless situation.

I recently listened to presentations made by U.S. military personnel that have returned from Iraq. Repeatedly, they described incidents in which indiscriminate and overwhelming military firepower was used against the Iraqi populace. The military personnel pointed out that with their own lives in danger it should not be surprising combat troops use every means to protect themselves. They lamented, though, the excessive use of force, and the fact their government placed them in such a hopeless situation.

Economists Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes project the final cost of the war for the United States will be some $3 trillion. It costs $16 billion a month to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every U.S. household effectively contributes $138 each month toward this expense. By 2017, the U.S. will have paid $1 trillion in interest on the money borrowed to pay for the war.

Halliburton, the company formerly headed by Vice President Cheney, has received more than $19 billion in war-related contracts so far. Equally outrageous is the fact that the U.S. Defense Dept. has lost track of billions and billions of dollars and thousands and thousands of weapons.

The U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA) is still clearing out a backlog of cases dating from the Vietnam War, which ended three decades ago. Today, the VA has become hopelessly overextended due to the physically and psychologically wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. We will be paying for these veterans in many different ways for decades to come.

The money spent on this fruitless military endeavor could have been spent so much more productively.

The money spent on this fruitless military endeavor could have been spent so much more productively:

$1 trillion could have built 8 million housing units, or
hired 15 million public schoolteachers, or
provided health care for 530 million children for a year, or
funded university scholarships for 43 million students.
Instead, private security guards employed by companies such as Blackwater are making as much as $400,000 a year — and adding to the escalating death tolls of Iraqis.

The Iraq war has disrupted oil production in Iraq. It has led directly to increased gasoline prices in the United States and around the world. That, in turn, has a direct adverse effect on the budgets of our states, cities, families and churches.

Because the savings rate in the United States is zero, the money has to be borrowed overseas. China is financing the war. The U.S. financial position in the world has dramatically declined.

The intelligent course of action from a military and economic standpoint would be to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan as rapidly as possible. This would enable investment in infrastructure and human resources both in the United States and around the world.

This is a moral disaster. It is the result of colossal misjudgments and mistakes. Few have been held accountable, though.

As best I can tell, few of our clergy or lay leaders say anything against the war. Maybe this is because of fear or misguided patriotism or a desire to avoid ruffling feathers. And, it may well be they will not be held accountable for their silence as long as they walk on the earth. I’m not so sure, however, they will avoid judgment in the life to come.

Date: 3/21/2008 12:00:00 AM
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