ONE
YEAR LATER: LIGHTING CANDLES IN THE DARKNESS
March 21, 2004The Reverend Anne Felton Hines
"Years are coming…when the sword shall gather rust…." Those
words were written by Adin Ballou over 100 years ago; I suspect that he'd
be very disappointed were he to return to this world and witness how far
from his vision we remain.
Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the United States' attack
on Iraq. Many of us were in a state of grief that night as we watched on
TV out government's strategy of "shock and awe," and many of
us remain in grief today, as the number of dead and injured continues to
rise daily, as the financial costs have skyrocketed to unbelievable heights,
and as serious questions continue to unfold about the circumstances of
this war.
So I want to light some candles this morning - candles of memory, of grief, of courage, and of hope.
(1ST CANDLE) I light this first candle in memory of the more than 570 American soldiers who have been killed in Iraq, - most since "active combat" was officially declared over on May 1st. These soldiers were husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. Most were young; probably none were wealthy. But their dreams for the future have been extinguished, and those of their families diminished.
But it is not only American soldiers we mourn. We must also remember the soldiers from all the other countries who have given their lives for this war, including the soldiers we call our enemy. All these men and women had "worth and dignity" as do our own people; they had families whose lives have been dramatically changed by their loss.
Let us take a moment of silence to remember them all.
(SILENCE)
(2ND CANDLE) I light this second candle to remember the tens of thousands
troops, from all over the world, who have suffered injuries in this war,
and who continue to risk their lives. Some, such as Fran Turchin's daughter,
Jody, have left jobs at home, in addition to families, in order to fulfill
their duty as Federal Reservists.
Let us take a moment of silent gratitude for their courage; may they return
to their families soon.
(SILENCE)
(3RD CANDLE) I light this third candle in memory of all the innocent Iraqi
civilians killed and injured in this war. They are children, elderly,
mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers. They, who were supposed to
be liberated by us, have instead suffered terrible consequences simply
because they lived in a country under attack.
According to yesterday's L.A. Times, while the end of Saddam Hussein's regime did bring about many new freedoms for Iraqi citizens, the American occupation has also unleashed new terrors. Hardly a day goes by without reckless slaughter of civilians by local and foreign "jihadists." And sometimes it is the liberators themselves who cause these deaths; it is the price of war, we say.
A U.S. lieutenant said: "The Iraqi people want what we all want - a good life for themselves, an opportunity for families. But first they want the bombs to stop."
Let us take a moment of silence to remember the Iraqi citizens, and pray
for their safety and well-being.
(SILENCE)
(4TH CANDLE) I light this fourth candle to remind us of the financial costs
of this war. According to calculations based on the Pentagon's estimates
last year, we have spent so far well over 107 billion dollars - dollars
we did not have.
A recent article in the L.A. Times noted that the heavy costs associated with the war, including re-building Iraq, have drained funding from other foreign policy priorities, including the pursuit of terrorists elsewhere. And these costs have helped create a deficit that causes "shock and awe" in me every time I hear the figure - between five and seven hundred billion dollars! It is a disgrace.
But perhaps the worst part about this high price tag is the effect it has indirectly on the lives of our own citizens. And so this fourth candle is also a candle of sorrow for all the Americans - especially the children - whose quality of life has been diminished by this war. For that 107 billion dollars could have sent almost 11 million children to Head Start for one year; it could have provided health insurance for almost 33 million children for one year; it could have hired almost one-and-a-half million public school teachers for one year; and it could have built over one million additional housing units for our people.
But not of this will happen now. Instead, we and our children and grandchildren
will be paying for this war for many years to come. So let us take a moment
to mourn this unbalanced re-ordering of American values.
(SILENCE)
(5TH CANDLE) I light this fifth candle in grief for what appears to be
a deliberate campaign of misinformation before the war, creating an atmosphere
of fear that would compel Congress and our citizens to support a pre-emptive
strike against a tiny country that had no capability to defend itself
against us.
James Wall, editor of The Christian Century, wrote that "truth is always the first casualty of war;" and it has been a huge and tragic casualty of this one. In his letter of resignation as the Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Athens, John Brady Kiesling wrote to his boss, Colin Powell: "We have not seen such a systematic distortion of intelligence, such systematic manipulation of the American people, since the Vietnam war." He could not in good conscience remain in the position he held, he said.
The first attack on truth was the assertion that Iraq had aided and abetted the Sept. 11 terrorists; but there has been absolutely no evidence of this. Not one leading Al Qaeda operative has turned out to be Iraqi; not one.
The second attack on truth was the claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction that posed an "imminent threat" to the United States. Yet, as columnist Robert Scheer points out, "despite the most expensive and secret high-tech spy operation in history, we couldn't find any WMDs."
It would be tragic enough had the Bush administration gone to war and then discovered they'd been mistaken. But the evidence increasingly points to the very real possibility that the administration knew all along no weapons existed. According to Karen Kwiatkowski, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force for over 20 years, the Pentagon created a special office for the express purpose of fabricating "proof" of WMDs. As the website www.MoveOn.org has said, "It wasn't a case of bad intelligence; it was a case of deliberate distortion of the facts."
But why would President Bush want to create a war that wasn't necessary? Ted Kennedy suggests that it was to bolster his sagging popularity. By the summer of 2002, Osama bin Laden still hadn't been captured - and remember, he was the reason we'd invaded Afghanistan. The war in that country was faltering; the U.S. economy was in terrible shape; and Bush's approval rating had dropped from 90% after 9/11 to only 63% by Labor Day of 2002.
It was then that talk of Iraq's "imminent threat" began. First the President said, "We can not distinguish between Al Qaeda and Saddam in the war on terror." A week later he asserted that "the threat is of unique urgency." And a few days after that, he claimed that we were "facing clear evidence of peril; we cannot wait for final proof…that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud."
Yet, according to Kennedy, the CIA had informed the Administration that Hussein didn't have nuclear weapons, and probably wouldn't have them until 2007 at the earliest. The Administration had also been told that no cooperative relationship had been found between Hussein and Al Qaeda. But this information was withheld from Congress and from the American public. Instead, a daily campaign of fear was conducted, which didn't work with the United Nations, but did with Congress, who voted to give the President the freedom he needed to go ahead with his war plans.
But a far more ominous motive has been posed for going to war than merely raising up the President's sagging popularity; it is even more frightening than the oft-repeated assumption that the war was conducted to protect our oil interests. It is found in a document called "The National Security Strategy of the United States," September 2002.
I first learned of this document from the former rector of All Saints Episcopal Church, Dr. George Regas, when he spoke to the Pacific Southwest District's UU Ministers this past January. He said to us: "If there was ever a clear statement about the role of this nation as World Empire, this 33-page policy paper makes the point without shame, equivocation or hedging."
Now, some of you have heard Dr. Regas speak before. He's not someone who shouts out catastrophic rhetoric; who condemns with sweeping generalizations or outrageous accusations. George Regas is a quiet, thoughtful, deeply pastoral human being. So when he suggests that "this strategy document endorsed by George W. Bush states unequivocally that the United States plans to rule the world, militarily and economically," and that "it is ultimately a story of domination," I believe him.
I trust Regas when he says that Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolkowitz and Richard Pearl are all "central players" in this policy. "For more than 10 years," said Regas, "they have been on the periphery, and they crystallized in the Project for a New American Century." In 2000, this "Project" concluded: 'The U.S. has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial force in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein….American armed forces stationed abroad…are the cavalry on the new American frontier."
And so it is not surprising to hear from several different sources, that within just a couple of days of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush's top advisors were developing a plan for war with Iraq. It had nothing to do with Iraq posing an "imminent threat;" it had nothing to do with liberating Iraqi citizens from a brutal dictator; it even had little to do with oil. But it did have everything to do a desire for power and control - not just of the political scene in America, but throughout the world. It is a terrifying thought.
I know that some of you may feel that despite all of this - despite the probability that we were misled about the reasons for going to war, and that it has created a deficit that will adversely affect our economy for decades - it's still good that we brought down Saddam Hussein, for surely the people of Iraq are better off without him.
But I do not believe that the ends justify the means - particularly when the real "ends" in this case may be far more dangerous to the world, and to the United States, than Saddam Hussein ever could have been. He was a terrifying ruler, it is true; and I am glad he's no longer in power. But the world is full of terrible dictators, and we do not have the resources to go after them all - nor have any of our presidents shown any desire to use our resources that way. Saddam Hussein was clearly a convenient target on the way to more and more power by the current administration. And I think that should frighten us all.
So let us take a moment of silence to remember that we are a people who
celebrate "the quest for truth," and strive for a "world
community" of peace.
(SILENCE)
(6TH CANDLE) I light this sixth candle for the courage it takes to speak
out publicly in favor of peace, at a time when dissenters are accused
of disloyalty and, worse, of aiding and abetting terrorists. Those of
us who witnessed for peace every week last year - as I hope many of you
will join me in doing this evening at 5:00 - will remember the sadness
and even fear we experienced when being yelled at, ridiculed, even threatened,
by a group of agitators across the street. Their words and their signs
implied that we didn't love our country, and we didn't support our troops.
But perhaps the most outrageous example of this attitude was the cartoon this past week by Michael Ramirez, in which a group of terrorists are seen displaying a sign for John Kerry. Amidst boxes of explosives and toxic chemicals, signs for Howard Dean and Bill Clinton are also strewn. The caption reads: "Unidentified Foreign Leaders who want Kerry to Beat Bush." Imagine, suggesting that to be anti-Bush helps terrorism! It's the old anti-communism hysteria all over again. And it does not belong in America.
So let us take a moment of silence to remember our courage to speak our
truth - no matter what that truth may be.
(SILENCE)
(7TH CANDLE) I light this final candle for Hope - the hope that our yearning
for peace will grow ever-brighter, illuminating the hearts of all people,
and sustaining our courage along the way.
Teillard de Chardin said, "The world of tomorrow belongs to those who gave it its greatest hope." I believe that is true. And I believe that as a religious community, we can bridge any differences we have about the details, and work together to build a world where "all shall dwell together" in peace.
May these candles burning so brightly radiate our hope and our courage to all those beyond these walls who, like us, yearn for an end to war.
Let us share one last moment of silence.
(SILENCE)
Amen.
© 2004 Anne Felton Hines. All rights reserved.
