Monday, October 18, 2004
What I Actually Object To
I've done this is conversation but it's long overdue writing up. It's a fairly complex point so bear with me.
What I can't forgive Bush, Blair et al for is this. The wrong lie at the wrong time. If there's any situation where there are moral absolutes it's when it comes to killing and being killed. It's the situation where all the complexities fade away and you are faced with absolutes. Kill or not kill. Do what it takes to stay alive or die. It's something that marks people for life. Whatever the war, if you listen to veterans of it you'll soon see it's stayed with them for the rest of their lives.
This is where you have to start. I've met a few people who have seen active service in the military, though I've not done it myeslf. Ranging from a chap who lied about his age to join an International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, through to knowing a couple of people who are currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. they are all strongly affected by what they experienced, however there's something even more important. They are all affacted by how they feel about what they did.
Those who served in WWII on the allied side seem to be very proud of it. Justifiably so in my view. There may have been atrocities (Dresden, Nagasaki) but they have a clear understanding of what they fought for, what they risked their lives and lost their friends for, what they killed for. The same is not true for all of those who served in Vietnam, or for many who served in Northern Ireland in the early years. This is what upsets me. There are a huge number of Vietnam vets whose lives have been destroyed by the fact that they had to go to war and they now don't understand why. They feel they were lied to, that they were charged with a life or death mission for a pack of lies. A central event in their lives, a basic factor in what makes them an adult human being, is something thay can only associate with danger, suffering and deceit. This is not good for their mental health to say the least.
Which is what I can't forgive. Aside from the direct casualties we are looking at hundreds of thousands of people who will spend the rest of their lives fighting self doubt. A huge number of people who will be unable to justify to themselves the most crucial thing they will ever do.
Some will respond by simply blocking out reality. They'll simply cauterise the whole thing. They'll never attempt to apply politics to anything parctical and they'll never question "authority" and they'll be able to function. I don't know that I'd count them as more sane than those who sink into a suicidal depression or those who spend the rest of their days in a morass of drugs and alcohol.
That's why I consider it beyond the pale to lie about the basic reasons why we went to war. It goes beyond the moral question of whether it is ever all right to be dishonest. It goes beyond the practical consideration of whether a particular war is or isn't justifiable. What gives ANYONE the right to destroy the mental health of hundreds of thousands people?
What I can't forgive Bush, Blair et al for is this. The wrong lie at the wrong time. If there's any situation where there are moral absolutes it's when it comes to killing and being killed. It's the situation where all the complexities fade away and you are faced with absolutes. Kill or not kill. Do what it takes to stay alive or die. It's something that marks people for life. Whatever the war, if you listen to veterans of it you'll soon see it's stayed with them for the rest of their lives.
This is where you have to start. I've met a few people who have seen active service in the military, though I've not done it myeslf. Ranging from a chap who lied about his age to join an International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, through to knowing a couple of people who are currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. they are all strongly affected by what they experienced, however there's something even more important. They are all affacted by how they feel about what they did.
Those who served in WWII on the allied side seem to be very proud of it. Justifiably so in my view. There may have been atrocities (Dresden, Nagasaki) but they have a clear understanding of what they fought for, what they risked their lives and lost their friends for, what they killed for. The same is not true for all of those who served in Vietnam, or for many who served in Northern Ireland in the early years. This is what upsets me. There are a huge number of Vietnam vets whose lives have been destroyed by the fact that they had to go to war and they now don't understand why. They feel they were lied to, that they were charged with a life or death mission for a pack of lies. A central event in their lives, a basic factor in what makes them an adult human being, is something thay can only associate with danger, suffering and deceit. This is not good for their mental health to say the least.
Which is what I can't forgive. Aside from the direct casualties we are looking at hundreds of thousands of people who will spend the rest of their lives fighting self doubt. A huge number of people who will be unable to justify to themselves the most crucial thing they will ever do.
Some will respond by simply blocking out reality. They'll simply cauterise the whole thing. They'll never attempt to apply politics to anything parctical and they'll never question "authority" and they'll be able to function. I don't know that I'd count them as more sane than those who sink into a suicidal depression or those who spend the rest of their days in a morass of drugs and alcohol.
That's why I consider it beyond the pale to lie about the basic reasons why we went to war. It goes beyond the moral question of whether it is ever all right to be dishonest. It goes beyond the practical consideration of whether a particular war is or isn't justifiable. What gives ANYONE the right to destroy the mental health of hundreds of thousands people?
# posted by Eric @ 7:08 AM 
