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This
is an apology to the Iraqi people from a hospital medic who
cared for some of the most severely injured men, women,
children, and babies from both sides of the Vietnam conflict.
I
held the dead of war in my arms and I understand war’s
catastrophic toll in the present and the impact it will have on
future generations.
This
is my personal sobering apology, and it may or may not reflect
some of the feelings of the other 49 percent of Americans who
voted against unjustified aggression.
I
feel shame and outrage when I watch on TV and read reports of
unimaginable acts against humanity in Iraq. You are witnessing
these horrific acts of violence and human debasement up close,
which is probably filling your heart with hate and anger towards
Americans. I’m sorry and I understand.
I
feel shame that I did not raise my voice in dissent prior to
this horrific conflict between cultures. I survived Vietnam with
full understanding of what a guerilla war means and the futility
of large, noisy, highly visible armies attempting to subjugate
citizens by force instead of winning hearts and minds over to a
more positive pursuit of happiness.
I
feel shame that I did not raise my voice in dissent
prior to this horrific conflict between cultures.
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With
a great sense of doom, I have watched the events over the past
three years as a complacent bystander, not knowing how to make a
difference in public opinion. I was silent, not exercising my
freedom of speech or finding creative means to make my voice
against unjustified death and destruction heard effectively.
I
made a mistake in judgment and action. I knew better. I am very
sad about what is happening in Iraq to the families, their
homes, schools, hospitals, shops, and places where they work to
support their families. I apologize for not defending your right
to choose how you live and what style of leadership you support.
I
understood that my leaders, prompted by public opinion, had to
deliver visible signs of revenge against Al-Qaeda in
Afghanistan, and most of the world seemed to support that
conflict, but when I woke up one morning to the specter of my
countrymen invading Iraq to make a regime change, I squirmed
with discomfort. I, like you and most of the world, held the
motivations of the United States to be suspect and driven by
self-interests in oil.
Rhetoric
about freeing the Iraqi people from an oppressive regime seemed
righteously hollow, and a revolution against Saddam Hussein’s
entrenched regime and all its supporters was not ours to wage.
The
DU we use is our weapon of mass destruction and I am
downcast and ashamed.
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I
apologize for our arrogance in thinking we knew what the best
course of social/political direction for Iraq was—and then we
intervened militarily in such a destabilizing and catastrophic
manner. Our vision of the future is not yours, and you must
decide how you will help each other achieve and maintain basic
freedom and happiness. I apologize for denying knowledge of your
basic beliefs and belittling your ancient core cultural values;
and from your perspective, I understand why we are the
barbarians on your land.
Freedom
is not a gift; it is a choice requiring daily action to reaffirm
long-term goals and guide one in the pursuit of happiness. Your
people are in the midst of personal and national conflict
revolving around differences in opinion on how to equitably
achieve goals within the context of your many subcultures.
Intervention by outsiders has made the process more complex. I
apologize!
Freedom
from greed and uncontrolled material, selfish interests can only
be acquired by a heart focused on the more important desire for
pleasant human relationships. Freedom’s seed is planted in one
heart at a time; and each of us on the planet has the ability to
shape our own sense of personal freedom. I am sad that we chose
force and destruction instead of kindness.
I
am ashamed of our recent example of democracy in the
presidential race for power. If we are attempting to persuade
you to adopt our form of democracy, then I am less than proud on
how we spent billions to get out the vote and prompt individuals
to exercise freedom of choice. Decisions seemed to be made based
on whether or not a candidate hunts innocent winged creatures
for sport, or who tells the most convincing lies and makes the
best promises that we all know can’t be kept—like
“Independence from foreign oil.”
From
your perspective, I understand why we are the barbarians
on your land.
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A
campaign pledge to establish a Presidential Commission to
explore what compels our enemies to make plans to destroy person
and property might be a better basis for casting a vote. It’s
Biblical to seek your neighbor out before sunset of each day
when you sense he is unhappy with you for some reason.
Unresolved conflicts lead to a war of terror. America has long
enjoyed beautiful sunsets without responsibly resolving issues
with its neighbors. This unfinished daily business has ruined
the view of the daily rising sun; and boasting about our ability
and resolve to preserve our selfish way of life—which consumes
an inequitable share of the earth’s limited resources—is not
a good way to start negotiations.
I
have seen the consequences of war and revenge, and it is not
pretty. History is replete with stories of rape, pillaging,
burning, and destruction of person and property; and within the
last ten years starting with the Gulf war, Desert Storm, we the
United States of America introduced weapons of mass
environmental and genetic destruction.
I
am ashamed of my ignorance about my government using depleted
radioactive uranium munitions in Iraq.
Looking
for the splinter of WMD in the enemy’s eye while being blinded
by the railroad tie poisoned by depleted uranium sticking out of
our heads must make us appear really outrageous in the eyes not
afflicted around the globe.
Being
a responsible citizen and taking a stand on issues that will
affect the only planet we have is hard work—even though now
the sand in my eyes in retrospect did not hurt as much as the
knowledge I have gained about my country’s use of depleted
uranium.
I
am outraged at the possibility of my tax dollars contributing to
the use of depleted uranium in munitions which might cause
alterations in the genes of humans and plants. This is our
weapon of mass destruction and I am downcast and ashamed.
See
links concerning these issues:
-
An
International Appeal to Ban the Use of Depleted Uranium Weapons
-
Depleted
Uranium: The Trojan Horse of Nuclear War
If
one believes in a Creator God called Allah, who loves the
Biblical people of Iraq so much that He buried some of the
world’s richest oil reserves below their barren deserts, then
one would have to believe that He planned to care for their
needs.
I
apologize for being so selfish and wanting more than
most families in Iraq have.
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Poverty
in such an oil-rich land, where many of its inhabitants want for
the basics, can only be understood in the light of mismanagement
and the greed of its ruling class. As an American I am ashamed
to admit that even though our wealth is accumulated differently,
we too have large numbers of disadvantaged and impoverished
families. Those who have more always use overt or covert methods
to suppress those who have less; and when the status quo is
upset, many are willing to fight to the death to regain their
previous advantages and social standing.
I
apologize for being so selfish and wanting more than most
families in Iraq have.
Right
or wrong, I apologize for the manner in which my country has
upset the balance of power in Iraq.
If
the God known as Allah, Father, and Yahweh exercised any control
over the distribution of natural resources over the face of the
planet, then one would have to conclude that He has forced all
the inhabitants on earth to be interdependent in the struggle to
survive. Trading relationships based on the need for energy has
propelled us out of the agrarian subsistence farming cultures of
ages past and it seems quite obvious that the Gods have favored
countries other than the US with an abundant supply of this
liquid black gold. Our use, allocation, and distribution of the
planet’s limited resources, and how we manage the products of
an industrialized world, demand cooperation and interdependence.
Our mutual survival depends on successfully building and
maintaining these relationships in an atmosphere of trust and
hope.
I
feel ashamed by the darkness spread throughout your land
by the American invasion.
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I
am outraged at the visible destruction of your mosques,
hospitals, schools, homes, and infrastructure in our zeal to
root out those who are attempting to protect their families and
way of life. I am very sad when I think about how hard it will
be, and how long it will take your people, to rebuild their
homes.
Iraqis
buried in mass graves will be remembered longer by their
families than the visible reconstruction of your cities.
I
feel intensely sad about the mess your people find themselves in
when the sun rises every day, and I apologize for not attempting
to convince leaders of my country to pursue a more positive
course of helpful interdependence.
God
challenges us to mature, abandon the tempestuous, undisciplined
behavior of adolescence, and learn how to be kind to our
neighbors at home and abroad.
I
mourn for all the families around the globe forever changed and
damaged by conflicts that diminish their sense of hope.
I
feel ashamed by the darkness spread throughout your land by the
American invasion, and my hope for the future is that countries
of such diverse cultural beliefs could at least agree to search
for ways to be mutually beneficial and cordially interdependent
without devastating conflict and long-term damage to the
environment.
I
carried a typewriter to Vietnam—not a gun—and instead of
killing humans, I planted flowers and was awarded a Bronze Star
medal for extending hope to others.
I’ve
seen the desert bloom and I fervently wish that the Iraqi
people, in the darkness of wartime death, can find their way
into the hopeful light of flowers once again blooming in
springtime.
I
feel immensely sad that the leaders of my country seem not to
remember the lessons learned by those who served in Vietnam and
I apologize.
“I’m
sorry! I am very sorry! Mommy, I won’t do it again! Please
mommy, stop whipping me! I’m really sorry!” Those are the
words screamed out by a young boy while receiving a harsh
whipping. I’m whipped!
I
wish I could speak for the leaders of my country and tell you,
“Yes, we made a mistake and we won’t do it again in your
country or anywhere else on the planet ever again.”
They
will have to speak for themselves and answer to the reality of
history, not their dreams.
Apologetically,
Larry
E. Park
TheDreamer@OceansRest.com
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