Can we talk about Iraq again, please? The 4,000th soldier
has lost their life.  However, that number is significant only in that it
is one more than 3,999 and one less than 4001. Is it too much to hope
that this grim milestone will resurrect the collective conscience of
this horrific war among the American people? We have at most
perhaps a news cycle or two before the media returns to sex scandals
and American Idol, and most move back into their daily
lives. I know we can’t afford to fill our cars with gasoline, our kids
classrooms are overcrowded, and our homes and jobs may be in jeopardy,
but OUR sons and daughters are continuing to come home in body bags folks,
and we MUST pay attention. Fewer than 20 people bothered to show up in
SL for a vigil honoring the lives lost in Iraq, and it is both shameful and
heartbreaking. 4,000 may be just a number, but to
many, it represents a face and a name, and
a relationship that ended tragically. A beloved father, mother,
son or daughter, and lives torn apart. How sad it is that less than 1
in 4 Americans when asked randomly can answer correctly how many lives have been
lost in Iraq. Who is to blame for that? Some would point their
finger squarely at the media, who devoted merely 3%
of news covered in February to that of the war, but after 5 years,
shouldn’t an enraged citizenry be more invested and engaged than to dismiss
no news as good news? Can it be true we are so self indulgent, or
apathetic that as long as our own children are safe from harm, it
isn’t necessary to take notice? Are we that disconnected?  Do we
really think this war, the one being waged in all our names is up to
someone else, and that the consequences affect only the
military, and the responsibility belongs only to the “deciders” in
Washington? Are “we the people” not the ultimate deciders? How can we live
with ourselves having abandoned our moral obligation, and abdicated our
civic responsibilities? Our formerly “united” states has
been run off a cliff over the past 7 years and somehow we’ve failed to
notice? It is long past time for us to wake up and come together with a
determination and common purpose to rescue this nation we love from the
abyss. We have become so very divided and angry with each other
over what to do in Iraq that we’ve taken our eye off the ball. We need to
replace debate with action and actually move forward with tangible answers. Our
soldiers need us to be their advocates here at home, even as they are
looking out for one another on the battle field.  In this season of
hotly contested presidential politics, we truly do have the opportunity to set
the agenda and insure that our voices are heard. We simply have to participate
in numbers too great to be ignored. The stakes are too high not to take
part. Lives are on the line. And even though we have not been asked as a
citizenry to share the burden or the sacrifices, at a time of war, we cannot
afford not to step up voluntarily.  Our military, our treasury and our
faith in honest leadership have been broken, and we will
all ultimately pay the price. The war in Iraq has not made us safer, had
nothing to do with 9-11, (remember Afghanistan, the forgotten war?) has
cost the lives of untold thousands of innocent Iraqi lives (so much for winning
hearts and minds!), created a monumental refugee crisis, and there doesn’t seem
to be light at the end of the tunnel. Bush’s war is a travesty, and a stain upon
our nation. The blood spilled will be on all our hands if we do not speak out.
We have the ultimate privilege and honor to make a difference. It is up to
us.  Whose child is going be the last to die for this lie,
and what will that number be?

 

 Peace,

 

Carla J. Hitz