MONDAY WAS MEMORIAL DAY, A holiday to honor those who died fighting for our country. It was originally called Decoration Day during the Civil War, when southern women decorated graves while singing the hymn “Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping.” Today, it’s associated with parades, barbecues and mattress sales. I went to the beach, but not to get sun.
Every Sunday, just north of the pier, lays Arlington West, a temporary memorial erected in the sand by Veterans For Peace. White crosses and flag-draped coffins cover the beach, a haunting reminder of the human cost of war. The nonpartisan and nonsectarian memorial is for the public to contemplate the war and learn about the needs of those returning, something we civilians rarely think about.
I wish every pro-war member of Congress would see Arlington West. Before the Memorial Day recess, Congressman John Boehner inexplicably wept as he urged support for Bush’s no-strings war funding bill. “After 3,000 of our citizens died at the hands of these terrorists, when are we going to take them on? When are we going to defeat them?”
With all due respect, what the hell is he talking about? The people responsible for 9/11 were in Afghanistan. There was no al- Qaeda in Iraq before we showed up. What would we do if we were subjected to an occupation? It’s four years and many Iraqis still don’t have water or electricity. Among the many blunders of the occupation, we didn’t seal the borders, allowing al-Qaeda to infiltrate. But they account for only 4 percent of the violence. The simple truth is, our soldiers are trapped in the crossfire of a 1,400-year-old civil war. Following his emotional speech, Boehner wiped his eyes and told CNN, “It’s been a long month.” Actually, it’s been a long four years, two months and 14 days, but who’s counting? Boehner shed tears for the Trade Center victims, but what about the 3,452 dead GI’s, the 25,549 seriously wounded and the 107 who committed suicide? Ten GI’s died on Memorial Day alone!
I wonder if Boehner shed tears over the scandalous condition at Walter Reed that’s still not fixed. Does he weep that it takes a vet filing a disability claim an average of 177 days for a response and 657 days for an appeal? George Bush’s mantra is “support the troops,”but why don’t his own daughters volunteer weekends at Walter Reed?
The Washington Post reported U.S. intelligence in January 2003 predicted the invasion would: Foment sectarian violence, empower al-Qaeda, strengthen Iran and increase funding for terrorist groups in the Muslim world. Didn’t anybody read those reports?
There was no real debate on the war. If you were against it, you were labeled unpatriotic. After the WMD fiasco, the slogan became: “We have to finish the mission.” What mission? We already won the war. We toppled Saddam. (Even if we had to choreograph the statue falling.) The new mission is to train Iraqi troops. Great, except some of the troops we train by day are the very terrorists killing us by night! But neo-cons predict if we don’t stay, they’ll follow us home. So far, the Bush-Cheney braintrust has gotten every single prediction wrong. Why do we still listen?
The kids whose photos I stared at that day — many died because of inferior body armor or Humvees without hard sides. Finally, they’ve developed new Humvees which prevent 90 percent of IED deaths, but four years into this war, we still have too few. In WWII, we produced a plane an hour! The incompetence is enough to make you scream, cry or want to impeach somebody... or two somebodies!
Since last Memorial Day, another 1,000 brave GI’s have perished. Meanwhile, the embassy we’re building is the biggest in the world. Bush says, like in South Korea, he would like to see our presence in Iraq for 50 years! (Or until the oil runs out?) At best, Iraq will be a theocracy closely aligned with “axis of evil” Iran. Is it any wonder so many generals label the invasion the worst strategic mistake in our country’s history?
If I sound like a broken record, I’ll gladly shut up if next Memorial Day our troops are back home. Now, that would be a real holiday. During this war, 99 percent of us haven’t been touched personally.Arlington West needs volunteers. That’s supporting the troops.
Arlington West (323) 934- 3451 or www.Arlingtonwestsantamonica.org.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 1, 2007. Read the original PDF.