Today, March 19, 2008, marks the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War--with no end in sight. There have been news reports claiming that John McCain says we could stay in Iraq fighting for a hundred years. I remember when the news announced the invasion on March 19, 2003. As a longtime Catholic, I thought, "The tragedy of it--invading a country, starting a war on the Feast of St. Joseph." It was a slap in the face to Pope John Paul II, who begged Bush not to prosecute this war; worse, it was a slap in the face to Catholics and to all people who believe in war as the absolutely last resort (a basic tenet of Just War Theory).
Think of the costs of this war--in human lives and health, in treasure, and in moral authority. Bush and his cronies have undermined the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights; they have allowed and justified human torture; they have fought the first American preemptive war of choice (think of Pearl Harbor!); and they have spent an incredible amount of American treasure, estimated right now up to a half trillion dollars (that would be $500,000,000,000)--with no end in sight. A recent article in Vanity Fair says that a conservative estimate of the cost of this war is 3 trillion dollars! Bush did this without raising taxes, an action that was extraordinarily deceptive, and one that is fueling inflation and economic chaos.
This war has lasted longer than World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. When will it end? How will our Constitution, Bill of Rights, moral authority, and US treasure ever be restored? The lives lost, the lives in ruin!
Here's a poem for the occasion. Forgive the pre-Vatican II Latin:
"On the Feast of St. Joseph, 2008"
(The 5th Anniversary of the Iraq War)
Miserere, Domine, Miserere Nobis
Spare us O Lord though
We hardly deserve your mercy.
My soul is the gloom sky, the bitter
Rain the long hunger of March.
The crucifixion clouds our minds
The scourging the mocking
The crowning with bitter
Thorns
The death, the blood, white charnel house of bone
Smithereens, Our soul our country!
Parce Domine, Parce Populo Tuo!
Spare, O lord, spare your people
Bring us to peace
Though we hardly deserve it.
Miserere, Domine, Miserere Nobis.
(Robert M. Coughlin
March 19, 2008)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
• John McCain’s comments on fighting the Iraq war for a hundred years if necessary would do more to save lives of not only Americans but also those of the Iraqi people. Announcing to the world that we are pulling out of Iraq, like Obama and Hillary, will only produce a new killing field in the Middle East.
• I don’t remember the outrage when we started dropping bombs on Yugoslavia on March 24th 1999, the day before the Feast of the Annunciation. Pope John Paul II even called for a cease fire during the Easter season. There was no outrage because it was a Democrat in the office as President. Is outrage a partisan act?
• When you say that Bush has undermined the Constitution, are you referring to the Patriot act that allows us to listen into the conversations of terrorists? Other Presidents that have undermined the Constitution
(A) Abe Lincoln (R)
(B) FDR (D)
• 53 years ago we won the war in Germany, within a year or so of our occupation the New York Times wondered if we could win the peace in Germany. A half century later we still have military bases in Germany. By determination, we did win the peace, not by pulling out of Germany every time there was a setback.
Kevin Coughlin
Post a Comment