When Barack Obama first campaigned for president, I felt there would be a change in the wars (Afghanistan, Iraqi) in which America had been involved for too many years. My pacifist desire was to see our country sharply reduce our endless involvement in international conflicts.
Obama seemed to dislike war as much as I did and wanted to change the course of America. Yet over his two terms, I came to realize that he could not stop the wars or tame our bellicose war lovers for long, though he did keep his promise of scaling them back.
Now a new group of politicians, all but one of whom ever served in the military, hope to capture the presidency. I listen carefully, but in neither party do I hear anyone really resisting our culture of permanent war.
Is it so preposterous to hope that sometime in the near future we will stop flexing our American muscles, policing the world, and believing that more and advanced weapons can settle any and all disputes? Sadly, I don’t think so.
The Iran Agreement has brought to the forefront the misunderstanding of what another war will do to our and other countries. If the rich and powerful would put their own sons and daughters in the front lines of any new conflict, they would surely spend more time considering the cost in human life rather that urging other parents’ children be sent to fight in the Middle East or elsewhere.
I believe it is critically important to speak up, individually and as part of coalitions. I did so when, at age eighteen, Selective Service wanted to draft me for a war that should never have been fought and which left a trail of blood and death throughout Southeast Asia and among the US military and their grieving families.
Now, more than ever, we need more people to tell those in power how they feel about young men and women dying on the battlefield. We need some courageous politicians and media pundits to say loud and clear: No More Wars. Is that asking too much?