war

I'm not a Republican or a Democrat. I find both parties lacking in many and various respects, so I won't align myself with either. Neither party accurately represents, in full, Kingdom values of peace and justice as I've come to perceive them.

I'm posting this list of links mostly because I'm deeply saddened by the state we find ourselves in regarding war and I'm worn down by human brokenness. Though there are certainly partisan implications to some of these links, I'm not particularly interested in these items for political reasons.

• The Ground Truth: The Human Cost of War is a documentary project that is interviewing soldiers involved in Iraq and Afghanistan. "This project is an opportunity to hear and see the soldiers experience and treatment in the military, and upon returning home." It seems unthinkable, but soldiers' voices are too often lost in the din of war. I haven't seen the film yet, but I think its work is vitally important if we are to understand the true and horrific nature of war.


• Retiring Nebraska Representative Doug Bereuter, a Republican, recently wrote a letter to his constituents in which he admits that he now thinks going to Iraq was a mistake. "The toll in American military casualties and those of civilians, physical damages caused, financial resources spent, and the damage to the support and image of the United States abroad, all demand [an] assessment and accounting." I'm interested in this article mostly because Bereuter is stepping out to realistically assess the situation in Iraq and to acknowledge his complicity in the decision to invade. There aren't many politicians in our deeply divided country who are willing to abandon ideological allegiances (though Zell Miller comes to mind), particularly to acknowledge and take responsibility for perceived mistakes.


• Wall Street Journal reporter Farnaz Fassihi's view from Iraq paints a grim picture.