Scars of War

There are always worse alternatives to war when the only peace being offered is not one worth living for. This is only one of the myriad reasons why so many more US veterans have recently committed suicide after returning home than were ever killed by enemy combatants in the wars of Afghanistan and Iraq. Although reliable numbers are difficult to come by, especially given the overwhelming political interests involved in rewriting the tragic history of these wars, at least four times more US servicemen have committed suicide after returning home than were ever killed in action overseas. Though every war must one day end, peace may not necessarily follow.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, anywhere from 30,000 to well over 125,000 US veterans have died by suicide. Regardless of all that can be said about Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, the Taliban and Saddam Hussein, the most fearsome enemies many of these brave American soldiers ever fought were the demons they carried inside solely because of the war. When eventually brought home, these dark spiritual forces never allowed the war to come to an agreeable end. Death by suicide has become a tragedy so often revisited on so many American military families that we should all just come out in support of those who lost more than they could ever alone possibly learn to bear.

Never to be forgotten is the unsung bravery of surviving family members who had tragedy thrust upon them, losing loved ones to a seemingly endless war of attrition that so often continued unabated long after combatants finally returned home. That the many sacrifices made for honorably wearing the uniform should also adversely affect a soldier's own family is a burden borne by all who always loved him dearly. When coping with the traumas of war proves to be much more than a soldier alone can endure, the resulting defeat at the hands of his own personal demons is felt by all grieving families and friends. Children forced to grow without one of their parents and bereaved wives who still long for the company of their husbands can certainly attest as much.

So for someone who sincerely believes that the tragic loss of a single valiant warrior can sometimes eclipse the lasting significance of an entire war, there is much that still needs to be said about all this mindless violence. If courage under fire alone could have won the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan, we would never rue the sacrifice of so many fearless American warriors with ever lingering regret for the losses irreparably suffered. Suffice to say that next time a leader asks his men to lay down their lives for their country, please make sure he can define what victory is even remotely supposed to look like well in advance of twenty long years of war.

Fighting merely to win "hearts and minds" in countries rife with Islamic extremism is always easier said than done, especially when the use of military force is the language of choice. Asking a soldier to play the role of a diplomat may be a losing proposition when the use of lethal force so often proves necessary. Every civilian unfortunately killed while pursuing terrorists who use them as human shields can only foment even more Islamic extremism, replenishing the enemy's ranks whenever tragedy strikes again. The notion that fighting terrorism justifies an indefinite war of military occupation cannot for long politically sustain itself, especially as the level of violence mounts and fallen soldiers are recurrently sent home in closed caskets.

If nothing else, this much death should always give us reason to pause and reconsider our bearings. Eternity should never be spent ruing the sacrifices blindly made in our youth, nor incessantly replaying momentous life choices and split second battle scarring decisions. There is always an appropriate time to learn from past mistakes, provided the present is kind enough to oblige. Despite never fully supporting these wars, the same cannot be said about my heartfelt appreciation for the many personal sacrifices endured by the troops deployed, their immediate family and closest friends. Dying for a tragic war you never even believed in must be a considerable sacrifice by any small measure of righteousness and reasonable stretch of the imagination.

The moral lesson here seems straightforward. Heroes who only kill to save lives only go to war to fight for peace. This is the true calling of any self-respecting warrior always willing and able to lay down his life for his beloved country and fellow man. As Christ himself once taught in St. John 15:13: "No greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." Sacrificing all a man ever has that he can truly call his own is the highest price he can ever be asked to pay in defense of his own country and fellow compatriots. Heroism sometimes demands that the ultimate price of valor be paid with the sacrifice of a warrior's own life. The least a soldier can ask for in this respect is that he only be sent in harm's way when absolutely required by his nation, once having exhausted all other prior peaceful means of conflict resolution.

Bearing all of this in mind, recalling how the seemingly never-ending wars of the Middle East first began is not too much to ask. Were it not for the unspeakable tragedy of September 11th, American soldiers would never have been sent to die in Iraq and Afghanistan, nor would they have to fight the same personal demons that later pursued them home. What a pity so many meaningful and productive civilian lives were so horrifically cut short by such an abominable act of hatred, wanton cruelty and hellish destruction, one directed straight into the pulsating heart of New York City and the commanding central nervous system of the Pentagon. The tragedy of that fateful day would only be compounded by the two protracted wars of attrition to follow. If only the service of one's nation did not involve dying in distant and inhospitable foreign lands, we would all be made so much better for it.

My most sincere sentiments and undying condolences go out for the many lives lost and the ever lingering absences so dearly felt by surviving family members and close friends. Historical records have hardly done any justice to the true shock and awe of that infamous day. One would have to recede until Pearl Harbor just to come across a momentous instance of national vulnerability of similar seismic power and titanic scale. A proud nation, always so secluded and ever so protected by two oceanic bodies of water, could only cringe before the terrifying realities of terrorism in the early twenty first century. For many, immediately pursuing Al Qaeda in Afghanistan seemed like a moral imperative, albeit one years of ever simmering warfare would insidiously conspire against. A failing to precisely define the bounds of victory early on is what tragically set the stage for the desolate quagmire to follow, first in Kabul and later on in Baghdad. What many people now seem to forget is how the original casus belli for these two tragic wars directly affected the myriad sacrifices eventually made.

Had the Taliban not harbored Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, aiding and abetting this ruthless terrorist organization responsible for 9/11, perhaps a protracted war of attrition and occupation would never have been necessary in the first place. Taking charge of a country with a total population of over 40 million people while fighting an unrelenting insurgency proved to be considerably more taxing on financial, military and human resources than originally expected. Trillions of dollars later, once the American military became a stationary target for extremists to prey upon, it would only be a matter of time before the war resulted in a strategic political defeat, regardless of the many tactical military victories achieved along the way. So many were the strategic mistakes made throughout the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that only an adverse political outcome eventually seemed possible. Believing only in seven deadly sins proved to be a failure of the imagination.

While addressing but a few of these transgressions, remembrances of a long deceased past still vie to linger. While the fateful war in Afghanistan at first seemed like a natural military imposition dictated by the most horrific terrorist attack in world history, the war in Iraq had a markedly different cause. The much heralded threat of weapons of mass destruction, allegedly developed by the decadent regime of Saddam Hussein, was said to be the prime cause for that deeply polarizing war. The volatile combination of Islamic terrorism and nuclear weapons, as presumably provided by a hostile dictatorial regime, sufficed to convince American policymakers of the urgent need to invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein. Even as the evidence for the possible existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was later debunked, the deceptive remarks delivered by Secretary of State Colin Powell at the UN echoed through the halls of power and reverberated throughout the years. My defiant incredulity then still remains my defiant incredulity now, although time tends to provide a breadth of perspective that always so boldly favores the truth and mollifies the spirit.

No wonder returning to Afghanistan now seems like such a catastrophic blunder. Losing the longest shooting war in US history should have already served as enough of a sobering life lesson in itself. As previously insinuated, that a long string of tactical military victories can still result in a strategic political defeat over the long run was a hard lesson Vietnam had already taught America so well. The eventful resemblance between the final American departure from Kabul and the historic retreat from Saigon was also by no means an arbitrary coincidence. The graveyard of empires still beckons all those intent on forgetting the past only to repeat the same tragic mistakes all over again. Perhaps its about time we found the requisite humility to conclude that an appropriate military solution for every major quandary of international scope and geopolitical stature may never be entirely forthcoming. May cooler heads and steadier hands finally prevail, lest the dark tragedies of the past should be revisited on future generations.

In the meantime, it's never too late to take an interest in the lives of those who sacrificed so much for their people and country. One life story that immediately comes to mind is that of the prolific American sniper Chris Kyle, whose four tours of duty in Iraq earned him the nickname "The Legend". As any man who takes well over 160 lives in the line of duty should candidly attest, there is always a high price to pay for one's military service. When he finally came back from his last deployment, Chris Kyle was still hearing the menacing voices of a past that simply refused to die or silently go away. Perhaps this is why he was so desperately intent on helping fellow veterans all the way up to his untimely death. Although his tragic passing in no way eclipses the significance of a life of service, duty and dedication to his family, friends and country, being cowardly murdered at home by a spiritually tormented and mentally deranged fellow veteran is unspeakably tragic well beyond the respectable measure of words, if not by any reasonable compare.

May Chris Kyle always be remembered for his undying love for life, patriotic zeal for country and relentless courage to overcome adversity. As far as snipers and special ops go, the marines could never have asked for a more protective guardian angel. The grave irony of surviving four long tours of duty in Iraq, only to be killed at home by a fellow tormented veteran, is most certainly not a quaint story meant for the weak minded and faint-hearted. Whether America as a whole has treated its veterans with the decency, care and respect they so rightfully deserve remains a troubling matter for the many who still feel so unfairly left behind. Those who honorably returned home only to go on fighting their own private personal wars should never just quiescently surrender. Knowing never to implore for a clemency so often denied, the divine scars of war should always be worn with pride.