Macabre milestones

Five years. 4,000 American bodies. $500 billion.\nThe United States’ terrorizing war recently passed these grim milestones. One day, one life and $1 are more than I would’ve wagered and lost on this mission. The numbers become even more appalling if we add in the estimated 80,000 to 150,000 Iraqi lives lost.\nAfter the 4,000th American died, Bush tried to reassure the families and friends of slain soldiers that their loved ones “were not lost in vain.” He arrogantly believes that we will gratefully praise his agenda and think, “Thank God there were courageous people willing to serve, because they laid the foundations for peace for generations to come.”\nSorry, Mr. President. War doesn’t work that way. War destroys and destabilizes. War devalues human life. War breeds resentment and animosity. War demolishes hope for building the bonds and political trust that would otherwise lead to peaceful relations. War will never lay the foundation for peace.\nWhile I don’t respect Bush’s war agenda, I do feel for the troops who suffer most directly from this war. Maybe the voices of the dead will provide some perspective on the war. Taking their perspectives to heart honors their lives far more than empty justifications for their death. The New York Times recently published e-mails and blog entries from fallen troops whose messages attest to the gloomy and ghastly outcomes of war. The letters are unedited in order to retain the soldiers’ voices. Imagine the mental burden of writing a goodbye “death letter” to your loved one on the outside chance that this time you won’t return from the atrocity of war. Specialist Daniel Gomez wrote, “If you’re reading this, then something has happen to me and I am sorry. I promised you I would come back to you, but I guess it was a promise I could not keep.”\nStaff Sgt. Juan Campos told his wife, “You never think that anything is or can happen to you, at first you feel invincible, but then little by little things start to wear on you.” \nNo one is immune or numb to the effects of war. Daily encounters with death and dehumanization invariably take their toll.\nSgt. Ryan Wood described a “feeling of total abandonment by a government and a country you used to love because politics are fighting this war......and its a losing battle....and we’re the ones ultimently paying the price.” And that the price is more than dollars or bodies. War assesses a psychological tax on troops and Iraqi citizens who live with the daily presence of death, injury and chaos. It is also an indirect tax on areas that would strengthen our nation such as education, healthcare and infrastructure when $500 billion is funneled toward deadly instruments of war rather than services of peace, life and creation.\nThese voices show how each grim milestone represents a far greater toll on our troops, our country and the world.\nWe cannot bear to pass one more milestone on this costly pathway, a war that destroys hope for peace.