Remembering those lost in U.S. wars
The middle of the month of March is a muddle of murky memories. March 16 marked 50 years since the U.S. massacre of 500 Vietnamese civilians in the village of My Lai. It epitomized the disgrace and shame of a war built on lies that claimed 58,272 American lives and more than 3 million Southeast Asian lives. But that was 50 years ago, and University of Iowa students have no memory of it.
March 19 marks the beginning of another U.S. war built on lies, 15 years ago, in 2003, with Iraq the target. Most UI students were alive then, but most too young to have clear memories of it.
But, as William Faulkner wrote, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." So it is with the Vietnam War, so it is with the Iraq War. Five hundred thousand U.S. veterans of the Iraq War have post-traumatic stress disorder. We still had more than 5,000 troops in Iraq as of a few months ago, and how many are there now? How much educational expenses could be covered by the trillion dollars we have spent directly on the Iraq War? What about the state of affairs in Iraq today, having lost thousands of lives in the U.S. war and with infrastructure and social structure severely fractured? Maybe most importantly, what can we learn from these tragedies?
We must do more than mourn the past. We must learn from it and build a better present and future.
--Ed Flaherty, March 19, 2018
Daily Iowan letters, 03-19-2018
March 19 marks the beginning of another U.S. war built on lies, 15 years ago, in 2003, with Iraq the target. Most UI students were alive then, but most too young to have clear memories of it.
But, as William Faulkner wrote, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." So it is with the Vietnam War, so it is with the Iraq War. Five hundred thousand U.S. veterans of the Iraq War have post-traumatic stress disorder. We still had more than 5,000 troops in Iraq as of a few months ago, and how many are there now? How much educational expenses could be covered by the trillion dollars we have spent directly on the Iraq War? What about the state of affairs in Iraq today, having lost thousands of lives in the U.S. war and with infrastructure and social structure severely fractured? Maybe most importantly, what can we learn from these tragedies?
We must do more than mourn the past. We must learn from it and build a better present and future.
--Ed Flaherty, March 19, 2018
Daily Iowan letters, 03-19-2018