The Reality of War

Shortly after "Operation Iraqi Freedom" began in 2003 I sent this letter to the editor of my local newspaper and it was published. I've made a few edits after reading it again but the message is the same and that is that the reality of war can never be sugar coated or made appealing enough to forget what it really is.

The Reality of War © 2003 Steve Anthony All rights reserved.

Welcome to the 21^st century where war has become a major television event. While networks battle each other for ratings, reporters spew play-by-play action of the opposing teams as if in some surreal sports competition. Details of game plans and strategies are announced openly like a life-sized version of Milton Bradley’s “Battleship.” If desired, refreshments are as close as the nearest kitchen larder. This is reality television in its lowest, most primitive form.

I’m sure responsible news reporting does exist, but presenting war with dramatic license, in the sanitized and detached arena that is television, is somehow unsettling. Letting the entire world know the vulnerability of stealth bombers as they open their sleek black bellies, to release explosive payloads of up to 2400 pounds is alarming. Interviewing generals to see what’s next on the “game plan” is disconcerting. “Shock and awe” becomes disgust and abhorrence at the absurd possibility of the “Attack on Iraq” awards at the end of the television season.

As if viewing a made-for-TV event, the camera reveals an intersection that might be in any modern American city. Street lights continue cycling through their green-yellow-red-yellow-green pattern, oblivious to any impending threat. One is both appalled, yet strangely compelled, to tune in to this surreal scenario. Have we forgotten what war really is?

In “A Taste of Armageddon," an episode of Star Trek’s original series, Captain Kirk and company transport to a planet engaged in war. There, the two battling civilizations have eliminated the violence and devastation of war. Instead of weapons, computer simulations choose victims who report like sheep to disintegration chambers for sanitized execution. When his crew is chosen as casualties, Kirk destroys the computers, leaving the inhabitants the choice of making peace or waging real war with ancient weapons of mass destruction. Although the exact dialogue doesn’t come to mind, it is something like:

“Do you know what you’ve just done, Captain?”

“Yes. I’ve just given you a taste of war – real war.”

There is a real war raging in Iraq. It’s not a movie or fictional television series. It is stark reality; not entertainment. In a far away land, men, women, and children, not so unlike Americans, huddle together as bombs shake, rattle, and crumble the world around them. Whether anyone agrees with this war or not, American soldiers and their allies have taken a stand there for the freedom held so dear to all in this country. Some have already paid the ultimate price of real war. Those still fighting deserve the full support of the American people and the dignity of being allowed to perform their jobs without being showcased as participants in a television drama.

As television boosts the gung-ho incentive for Americans to plant their collective feet on an enemy’s derriere in mighty fashion, let it never be forgotten that human lives and destruction are the price of real war. Inevitably and tragically, many of the lives lost will be innocent victims, including children.

There is another element of war never to be forgotten: it is to the Creator that people in many countries offer their prayers for guidance and safety, for all of those in uniform and their families. If, as many believe, an intervention from above puts an end to man's folly and inhumanity to his fellow man, it might very well be the subject of another television event. Talk about shock and awe.