I was just reading another Army Wife's blog post. Her husband was EOD and lost his legs recently. She posted this today:
It's not f***ing worth it. Let me be clear: This War Is Not F***ing Worth This In Any Way, Shape, Or Form. I Will Never Feel Differently.
If anyone thinks I should feel differently, go look at your spouse's feet. Mine doesn't have any. Or knees. Go to a cemetery and remember that I am living someone's dream here. End of it.
Yes, I know. Hits your right in the stomach. It should. This made me think about how I feel about this war. I always contemplate it, but have never come to a conclusion. Which I probably don't necessarily have to, but I think I want to.
I remember watching a documentary about September 11th with David one night. It was on The History Channel, I believe. He left to go back to Afghanistan after R&R on September 9th, so everything on TV our last few days was about 9/11. We were planning on watching a sitcom or other more entertaining show, but when we were flipping through channels, we silently agreed to watch this documentary. A few minutes gone by, and we both realized that here we are, personally fighting the war that resulted from these events, and neither of us knew the entire story of September 11th. We only knew the story as we watched it unfold at 11 years old. It was fascinating watching that documentary, and it was perfectly put before us right before he had to go back. Watching that day unfold on the screen filled us with anger, but most importantly, with a sense of duty. Even though I'm a wife, I wanted to be a soldier before marrying him, and I felt that desire to serve all over again watching those buildings fall down. That documentary gave us a sense of purpose. It reminded me why I had to send him back, and made that goodbye easier (although easy is never the word to describe it).
In that documentary, an expert said something that put our war action into perspective. He said that if any American citizen was in Bush's shoes when those towers fell down, they would have done the same thing. I think he's exactly right. It's no different then when someone commits murder. The victim's family brings him or her to justice in a court room. They can't have closure until there is justice. Anyone who watched Law & Order knows that. Just the same, the terrorists committed thousands of acts of murder, and we had to bring them to justice. The act of commencing in war was a justified one.
However, in the 10th year of this war in Afghanistan, I think our cause has been lost. We have killed Bin Laden, but his cause is still alive. We are fighting a religious war. A religion is an idea. You cannot kill an idea. It plants and it grows. That's why even young boys give my husband the middle finger when he visits their village. Bin Laden told his son everything he knew, and he'll tell his son everything he knows, and there will always be a Bin Laden. We are a Christian nation. We are infidels. An ANA asked my husband if he was Muslim. When my husband told him that he isn't Muslim and is Christian, the ANA told him to get away from him. Even the Afghan men that fight alongside our American soldiers see us as religious enemies. We will always be the enemy, no matter what changes we try to bring to the country, no matter how many Taliban we kill. While I fully support my husband and our military, I think our government has them fighting long past what's sensible. We are fighting a war we can never win as long as ideologies are alive, and they will always be alive. Our soldiers may not be.
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