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***************by Joan Chittister,a Benedictine Nun******************
All of a sudden, nothing seems to matter.
First, they said the wanted Bin Laden "dead or alive". But they didn't get him. Now they tell us it doesn't matter, our mission is greater than one man.
Then they said they wanted Saddam Hussein, "dead or alive". He is apparently alive but but we don't don't have him either. Mr Bush told reporters recently "It doesn't matter. Our mission is greater than one man".
Finally they told us we were invading Iraq to destroy WMD's. Now they say those WMD's probably don't exist. Maybe never existed. This doesn't matter either.
Except for one thing, it does matter.
I know were not supposed to say that. I know it's called "unpatriotic".
But it is also called "honesty", and dishonesty does matter.
It matters that the infrastructure of a foreign nation that could not defend itself against us has been destroyed on the grounds that they were a military threat against the world.
It matters that it was destroyed by us under a new doctrine of "pre-emptive war" when there was apparently nothing worth pre-empting.
It most surely matters to the families whose sons went to war to make the world safe from WMD's and will never come home.
It matters to the families of the United States, whose medical coverage ran out, whose food stamps were cut off, whose day care programs were eliminated, so we could spend the money on sending on army overseas to do what did not need doing.
It matters to the Iraqi girl whose face was burned by a lamp that toppled over during a US bombing.
It matters to Ali, an Iraqi boy who lost his family , and both arms, in a US air attack.
It matters to the people of Iraq, whose water supply is now fetid, whose electricity is gone, whose streets are unsafe, whose 158 government buildings in Baghdad, and the records therein, are destroyed, whose cultural heritage and social system has been looted and whose cities teem with anti-American protests.
It matters that the people we say we "liberated" do not feel liberated at all in the midst of lawlessness, destruction, and the suffering that the so-called liberation created.
It matters to the members of the United Nations, whose integrity was impugned, whose authority was denied, whose inspection teams were overlooked.
It matters to the reputation of the United States, in the eyes of the world, both now and for years to come.
And it surely matters to the integrity of this nation whether or not our intelligence agencies have any real intelligence before we launch a military armada on their say-so.
And it should matter whether or not our goverment is either incompetent and did not know what they were doing, or were dishonest, and refused to say why.
The unspoken truth is that we, as a people, were misled and lied to, about the real reason behind this war. If Bill Clinton's definition of "is" matters, surely this matters.
If a President's sex life matters, surely a president's use of lethal force against some of the world's weakest people matters. If a President's word, about a private indiscretion, in a court of law matters surely a president's word to the community of nations and the the security of millions of people matter.
And if not....why not?? If not, surely there is something as wrong with us, as citizens, as thinkers, as there must be with our government. If wars that were denounced yesterday, as was this one, by over 70% of US citizens before the attack on Iraq, suddenly become "right" the moment the bombs begin to fall, what kind of national morality is that??
What are we, as a nation, if the considered judgement of politicians and people the world over, means nothing to us?
What is the depth of the American soul if we allow destruction to be done in our name and in the name of "liberation" and never even demand a complete accounting of it's costs, both personal and public, when it's over??
We like to take comfort in the notion that people of the world make a distinction between our government and ourselves. We like to think that the people of the world love Americans, they simply mistrust our government.
What if the way we think is wrong. What if "We the people" are held accountable for the actions of a government that polls show we generally support??
The point is clear....if the people speak out and the king refuses to listen, then there is something wrong with the king. If the king acts precipitously and the people do not speak out, then there is something wrong with the people.
It is time to realize that in a country that professes to be democratic, we are our government. The rest of the world already sees us that way.
From where I stand, that matters.
**********************************************************************
AnAmerican
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