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One of the things that strikes you if you have regular contact with people who are homeless is how many of them are veterans.
It is estimated that 40% of all homeless men are military veterans. One of the many reasons I opposed the President's choice
to invade Iraq was because I knew the long-term psychological and mental suffering of the soldiers who would serve there would
be a story of multiplying tragedy.
Recent studies published in the Journal for Medical Health indicate that one in three soldiers and Marines who have served
in Iraq are seeking help for mental health problems within one year of their return. One-in-five (20%) suffers the extremes
of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.
The VA services do the best they can despite the Bush Administrations proposals to cut the VA health care budgets in 2004
and 2006. Reports are that the backlog for appointments is a secondary trauma. Hard working VA mental health professionals
are underfunded.
The costs for the war in Iraq are escalating. Mr. Bush's declaration of war against terror is now longer than our war
with Nazi Germany. Yet there are more signs of increased violence and instability than of increased order. Anger over our
invasion has played into the hands of organized terrorist groups, increasing their attractiveness and power over a region
growing ever more radicalized. The average monthly cost for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has gone from $5.5
billion per month in 2004 to $7.5 billion in 2005 to $9.5 billion per month in 2006. We've spent over $300 billion. If you
break that down by population, taxpayers in Fayetteville have spent $50 million on the war in Iraq.
What do we have to show for that investment? 2,600 of our soldiers killed, 20,000 to 48,000 wounded depending on how
you count; 40,000+ Iraqis dead (The British Medical Journal Lancet estimates 100,000); our original enemy Al Qaeda which was
virtually non-existent in Iraq is powerfully present; that country is in a civil war that threatens to cross borders; Iran
is the big beneficiary emerging as the region's new power; smaller countries are racing to get nuclear arms as their ultimate
defense strategy; moderate Arab voices are drowned by growing radicalism; Constitutional freedoms are being compromised at
home; spending deficits are going stratospheric; and the world seems more divided than ever, with most of them against us.
After September 11 we had a golden opportunity. The whole world was in sympathy with us. The U.S. had moral capital.
All but the most hardened extreme Islamists were horrified by the actions of Al Qaeda. It was an opportunity for moderate
Islam and Arab leaders to expand their influence as the world recoiled from extremism. What if we had taken the moral leadership
and embarked on a universal Marshall Plan to address the suffering of humanity? Just a year before the attack, an unprecedented
meeting of heads-of-state had endorsed the Millennium Development Goals as a workable plan to eliminate extreme poverty in
this generation (see www.one.org). What if we had made the world a safer place by addressing the underlying causes of instability
and hopelessness as our response to the violence we had suffered? On September 12, 2001, we were in a position to lead such
a world-wide movement of compassion and healing.
What if we had used our moral capital to broker a just peace between the Palestinians and Israel? On September 12, 2001,
we had the moral authority to leverage that possibility.
What if we had treated Al Qaeda as what it is -- a small, annoying underground criminal organization like the KKK or Mafia.
We never should have dignified their actions as though we were at war with them. They are not that powerful and don't deserve
such attention. You defeat organized crime through intelligence, infiltration, and excellent police work. Just like the
recent plot with liquid explosives was defeated.
Had we but followed the example of Jesus -- who taught us to overcome evil with good, to turn the other cheek, to love
our neighbor as ourselves, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner, and to leave vengeance to God -- we might
have contributed to the healing of the world instead of to its breaking.
But that's not what we did. The Archbishop of Canterbury best described our failure of imagination. "When all you
have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." We hammered ourselves and the world into a bloody mess. Now we have
a different healing responsibility. Now it is our duty to welcome home, honor, comfort, shelter, heal and empower our brave
soldiers who have taken on that suffering most directly. Lobby for VA health funding. And get the rest of the troops home
as quickly as possible.
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