E
epan
Guest
We’ll just have to agree to disagree. I did enjoy the thread however. Peace.
That is the nature of history, and current events. People disagree. The discussion stimulates more thought, and brings varying perspectives to light.We’ll just have to agree to disagree. I did enjoy the thread however. Peace.
As I reflect on this topic, and the actual Iraq invasion, and subsequent deployments to central asia, i would say that my moral perspective changed over time.
Though I am now 50% cynical as to the original motives of some of those in power, and I feel every day that many lives were lost, people wounded, and property damaged due to extremely poor planning by the Defense Secretary, at the time, I felt a strong imperative to play my part to remove a despot. I saw this as an opportunity to make a positive difference in the state of the world. The imperative was strong enough that I was willing to risk my own life. In fact, I did suffer traumatic injuries which should have resulted in the loss of my left leg, but which did not. Three trauma surgeons agreed that the leg would be amputated. I awakened to find it still attached. I am very fortunate, in that respect to have my leg, and to still be able to have children. Many of the guys I work with today are not so lucky. I do live with continual low grade ankle pain, which serves to remind me how lucky I am to have the leg.
I bring up the injury, because actually being wounded brought into clear focus for me where my values lie. What am I actually willing to sacrifice for my values, when the blood actually flows into the sand, but I could choose not to be in that situation again. As I convalesced, it became my mission to walk again, and run, etc… because I felt a moral duty to the Iraqi people to do my best to finish what we started. I could not make up for the greed of the Halliburton executives who were systematically stealing from the American taxpayer, and were failing to deliver on contract to the Iraqi people. But, I could return to do my best to continue to bring peace to a horrifically violent place, where ordinary children suffered from PTSD, just going about their daily lives, and who were inured to the news and the sight of mass bloodshed and destruction. It became my moral duty, as I know it did for many other military personnel to finish what we had started, and to leave the country in a state of relative order. And more than that, to leave it in a better state than we had found it.
Secondly, and this is not news to anyone who has been in the military, I felt a strong moral obligation to be with my comrades in arms. To fight the fight together, and to cover each other’s backs. I still don’t quite understand where this particular form of intimacy and obligation comes from. But it is a common one, and a strong one.
So, the moral picture changed for me, from a rather abstract one of doing my duty as one of the privileged people in the world, to directly assist in stamping out an evil tyrant, to a much more personal obligation.
That sense of personal responsibility, and wanting to live a life not wasted on material pursuits (which my family would have preferred), led me down the career path I am on now, where my focus is on saving lives and relieving suffering of individuals.
So, my answer to the question that I pose, for myself, is that yes I can serve in any conflict without violating my conscience. However, my moral compass now would preclude me from doing certain jobs in certain conflicts. I can’t imagine ever finding myself in that circumstance. But if I were to be in that place and time, then I would just have to deal with it in the moment.
You don’t know the man, and it’s very un-Christian of you to cast judgment.