This war is different. Although many things are the same, such as
elder statesmen sending young people into battle, this time, for
the first time, we can’t say “sending young men into battle.”
The story of the daring Hollywood script rescue of wounded soldier
Jessica Lynch changed all that. The entire country has realized
that “women in the military” means more than making coffee for
officers and typing.
Now, granted, women have served on the front lines administering
to the wounded since Florence Nightingale, but I think this is the
first time American women soldiers are carrying guns and using
them.
Other countries call upon women to serve. Since the
establishment of Israel in 1948 all 18 year-old women are drafted
the same as men, although they don’t have to serve as long and
not in combat units.
Although Lynch was in a support unit, she was prepared for
combat.
I followed the story with fascination as it unfolded, surely to come
to us soon on the big screen. I read how she fought on even after
her wounds incapacitated her, even after her comrades were
dead, how she suffered mistreatment from the enemy and how a
brave Iraqi who couldn’t stomach what was happening went way
out on a limb to make sure she was rescued.
If any story convinced me of the evil of Saddam’s regime it was this
one of an ordinary Iraqi man who knew the nature of the Fedayeen
and knew what fate awaited a vulnerable, wounded woman in their
custody. He said, “It cut my heart.”
I still don’t like the idea of our country waging an aggressive, not a
defensive, war. I still agree with Jimmy Carter who said war is
always a failure. And I hope, with the fall of Baghdad, this is now
the end of it.
I’m struck with these young women fighting alongside their
brothers. I know the nature of women and there is an intense
fierceness there under the surface-just try threatening a
woman’s child.
It also gives me hope that the feminine characteristics of nurturing
and peacemaking, characteristics certainly not exclusive to
women, will come forward now. I was heartened by the news
coverage of our young soldiers gracefully accepting appreciation
from some of the Iraqis.
My heart bleeds for all the violence over there.
I have had trouble sleeping since the war
started. Pictures of wounded children and
death and destruction haunt me. It has been
a difficult two weeks, even from this far away.
One picture in particular has been
disturbing with it’s mixed emotions.
Two Iraqi children, little boys, stand smiling
at a huge American convoy passing by.
One is holding his fingers in the victory or
peace sign, the other is saluting.
I can only pray this is the end of it now.
I pray for all soldiers, both men and women,
I pray for the decision-makers and I pray for the
Iraqi people.
April 12, 2003