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BIG CITY: Let’s do right by those who paid the price

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Staff

Kirk Ross

Somewhere in the middle of all that holiday frenzy, amid the travel and visits and meals and games, a war ended.

Last month, the last combat unit drove out of Iraq into Kuwait, leaving behind a sovereign nation with an uncertain future.

For the one million Americans who served in Iraq there is no doubt a range of emotions about the cause and result of the war and the long-term consequences for comrades and civilians alike. The wounded, the wounded families and those bearing the responsibility of rebuilding their country and their lives deserve much from us. Most of all, they deserve not to be forgotten.

When that last convoy rolled out of Iraq, it was barely a blip on the evening news in a nation that long ago compartmentalized the war, its warriors and the country we invaded. Embroiled in sectarian conflict testing its ability to maintain a government, Iraq is a far more complicated and unpredictable place today than when the troops rolled in. Now, no longer a war zone, Iraq is just another country in the Middle East being covered by the diminishing foreign desks of what passes for our national press, and news from there will fight for ink and electrons with the celebrities and primaries and all the other fluff that makes it through the filter of the Great Oz.

Except it’s not just another country. It’s a place where because of acts done in our name hundreds of thousands of people died, including nearly 4,500 of our sons and daughters lost in service to this country. When you hear someone speak of their sacrifice, try to remember who sacrificed them, because, friend, it was me and you.

We may never know how many civilians were killed or died from deprivations caused by the war. No matter what the final tally, we bear the weight of those losses too. After the shooting stops, there is no such thing as collateral damage. It’s all just damage.

I was not in favor of the war, but thought it was inevitable and that it would be horrible and take a long time to end, and I’m sorry to be right. Like a lot of people, I wanted to believe that there was something that caused the conflict other than the heat of the times being used to settle a score and test out a kind of geopolitical chaos theory. I wanted to believe there were weapons of mass destruction or a secret nuclear program or some hidden reason.

As it became increasingly clear that it was a war of choice, a sobering distinction no matter what your politics, it was hard to tell what to believe. The fallout has spread far and wide. There is not just a deeper, wider mistrust in government, but a paralyzing cynicism. For those of us in the journalism business, the days leading up to the war are dark indeed. Any analysis of media in this era must start with the simple truth that the press failed the country in the run-up to the war.

Throughout the conflict there were strong voices here and elsewhere calling for an end to it, and for the most part the opposition to the war showed that it had learned its own important lesson from Vietnam and did not dishonor those fighting in a war they despised. “Bring ’Em Home” was a universal message. Remember that; we have another one yet to wind up.

North Carolina has a special bond with its military families and we seem to be in a little closer contact with the effects of fighting than some places. As this war dragged on for much longer than most people expected, the consequences became more a part of everyday life. Standing in line at RDU you notice yet another otherwise healthy young man with a missing limb. Driving to the coast you pass another billboard from a clinic specializing in post-traumatic stress syndrome.

The war took nearly a decade, healing will take a lifetime, and some will never be made whole again, nor speak nor walk nor see their children smile.

I don’t know how history will ultimately judge this war, but I hope we can learn from it and do right by the people sent in harm’s way all these years.

My prayer is that those who have sacrificed, those facing a difficult future, and their families, truly find some peace at the end of this. And that the rest of us never forget them.

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