COMMENTARY
Service in Iraq puts duty, morals to test
By Dan C. Winters
My son, who lives here in Hawai'i, has been activated with his Reserve unit and will soon leave for Iraq. He will leave behind his wife and their three daughters, who are 12, 7 and 5.
I have come to Hawai'i, from Colorado, to help drive the children to school and help with homework while his wife is at work. I have enjoyed reading The Advertiser's very well done "Dispatches from Iraq." It is heartwarming to read about our men and women and the sacrifices they are making and the loved ones they left behind.
When I say these men and women symbolize what America stands for, the Bush administration nods its head in agreement. When I ask why our sons and daughters are bleeding and dying for a war built on fabrications, that same administration accuses me of being un-American and unpatriotic.
President Bush needs to understand that those of us who strongly disagree with his war on Iraq also love our flag.
It also distresses me that the Bush administration, for purely political reasons, has denied the families of our dead the right to see the nation honor their lost loved ones via TV coverage. More than 500 flag-draped coffins have returned from Iraq, and the press has been deniedÊcovering their arrivalÊby the administration.
Mr. President, we love our flag and it should not be used for such manipulative and dishonorable purposes.
When I asked my 40-year-old son how he felt about going to Iraq, he responded, "I don't think we should be in Iraq, but I signed a contract and I am obligated to fulfill it." I was less than half my son's age (17 years old) when I also signed a contract and joined the Army.
One of my duty stations was in Korea, not long after the truce was signed. There was a constant threat that the North Koreans would cross the demilitarized zone and attack us. Our infantry division's mission was to hold at all cost. All of us understood what that meant.
We were prepared to honor the contract we had signed because there was an implicit understanding that the leaders of our country, especially our president, would not put us in harm's way unless it was absolutely and without doubt necessary.
A contract puts responsibility on both parties. President Bush has not honored his half of the contract. Unashamedly, he concocted numerous justifications (before and after the war) for putting our military in harm's way without cause. He has not only put our military in harm's way but he has sullied the office of the president.
If the unthinkable, which I think about all the time, happens to my son or the sons and daughters of so many from Hawai'i, what do I say to his three daughters?
Do I choke back the tears and the anger and tell the little ones, "He was doing his duty for his country"? Or should I be honest and say the president, vice president and all the rest of that Bush crowd manipulated over 500 of their deaths in Iraq? Both statements speak the truth; I would say both.
To my granddaughters, it will not make much difference; they will have a hollow ache in their hearts for the rest of their lives. We desperately need to change those who have the obligation to lead but cannot lead with justice.
Only thoughtful and responsible individuals can bring that about.
Dan C. Winters has been to Iraq three times during the past 13 years — with peace groups and delivering medical supplies. He was also a U.N. election observer in E. Timor in 1999. He can be reached at dancwinters@yahoo.com.
