Collateral Damage

There was a book review in the newspaper today. The book was looking at American’s blind side. It pointed out an oversight with our war memorials, such those for the Korean and Viet Nam War. They only honor our soldiers. Absent was any acknowledgement of the collateral damage our wars inflict on the civilian populous. Our manner of warfare generates a lot of casualties. This is particularly true when warfare is not conducted at the “nation state” level of amassed troops.

It is estimated the casualties from our actions in Iraq exceed 200,000. Yet this death toll is not an issue with Americans. The book blames it on our frontier culture of “righteous justice”. It is really a euphemism for vengeance.

There is no mention of our non-combatant causality counts in Viet Nam or Korea. The closest America has come to being held accountable is in World War II and the fire bombing of Dresden or the continuing question over the use of nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

I look at historical accounts, and no matter how powerful the nation, they eventually are “sacked”. The sacking expunges their excesses and a justice finally achieved. Despite what the politicians say about our greatness, one day America will be sacked. It is an axiomatic constant in the human history of empires. One day there will be a coalition of foreign troops on our streets inflicting wanton destruction. They will have immunity for their acts. They will garner the wealth of the nation and cart off what they can. What they can not move they will completely bring under their control. People problems will be dealt with through interment and death. Our cities will be rubble, our infra structure destroyed. Clean water, sewage management and electricity will be an imperfect memory. Social disorder will reign. People will scavenge and prey upon one another to survive.

We will lament our state of affairs. We will cry why? In our eyes we were magnanimous. We were the most virtuous. We will believe this in not right and ask has god abandoned us, his chosen?

It will be a point in time we can only beg mercy, as others begged it of us.