It Ends in Fire and Blood
Grateful for Their Unconditional Love
Into the Light
Bitterness
How wretched you must feel
to agree to be interviewed and
asked incendiary questions about
the sudden loss of your young soldier son.
How searing is the pain that
causes you to blame and berate
the commander in chief for whom
your son proudly sacrificed his life.
How useless is the love of a mother
who publicly insults the very people
her son willingly protected from harm,
giving her a minute of attention at his expense.
Where is my compassion for a suffering soul?
Where has my dwindling store of kindness gone?
Why am I embarrassed for this woman’s blame?
Why am I mad that she instead of he will be remembered?
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The unrelenting pain of loss felt by the loved ones of those that serve the nation as soldiers is sharp. Twenty years of war in Afghanistan and almost as long in Iraq to protect us from terror attacks such as 9/11 has cultivated a defensive, warrior mentality in our culture. Now, every aspect of our lives is a political battle between red and blue, republicans and democrats, cons and libs. Every aspect of of our death must symbolize failure and blame, including the death of an enlisted soldier deployed to protect American interests in Afghanistan. Accountability and "getting to the (unknowable) bottom of things" has enraptured the political minority. These are good goals, and require research and analytical skills, not to mention a willingness to accept facts. So the US exit from Afghanistan ... what an avoidable debacle. Right?
Now wait a minute, though. What kind of unicorn thinking insists that a withdrawal of troops from over twenty years of occupation of an historically contentious Asian country can be anything but terrible. Huge demonstrations decades ago, and on-going protests pointed out the original sin of fighting wars thousands of miles away. Both republican and democrat administrations ignored the wisdom of these protests. You want blame - plenty of it on all sides of the political spectrum. However sloppy and dangerous this surrender is it was instigated by Trump and carried out by Biden who has the balls to put his career on the line to end this vulture fest. Only the military industrial complex folk are shedding tears and realigning their corporate bottom lines until the next "conflict" arises that needs their bunker buster bombs, drones, and mountains of gear.
To politicize this horrifying moment in American history is what our media has been trained to do. Slant, spin, drum up "donations", " subscriptions", "likes" ad nauseum. Keep the brainwashed masses incensed, agitated, entitled to spew their vicious opinions like Pavlov's hungry dogs. Ring the bell and get the latest update on social media. Don't think. Don't accept. Don't feel the pain of loss in quiet dignity. Maybe we can get lucky and some blogger sticks a mic in our face and off we go, giving a piece of what little mind we have left to the yawning void of public opinion. The terror and sorrow of this moment is diminished. We are once again observers and avoid the bad feelings of being participants in the disaster.
May we break this disaster porn cycle of addiction sooner rather than later. May we face the facts of American mistakes with clarity and courage. May we boycott the death merchants in our culture whether they be arms dealers or the New York Post. Finally, may we all find compassion and kindness and find the good and honorable in each person we meet. It's time.
