The Wake

I. SETTING SUN

I remember:

Another late summer day rolled by; the sun climbed over the sky and stopped to slowly and dramatically disembark. As its last rays crept over the horizon, they seemed to illuminate a group of people standing at the corner of 3rd Street and Cedar. They huddled together into a small mass, their movements excited yet synchronized. “STOP WAR,” the signs waving over their heads read. I remember turning to a friend and remarking, “That’s weird.” I gazed around at the store fronts, the passing cars, the irritated pedestrians, the setting sun and it struck me:

It is weird, isn’t it? But should it be?

America is currently in a state of war. Regardless of the rhetoric, slogans, campaigns, “Mission Accomplished” banners, etc, American troops are on the ground in a foreign country fighting and dying for their country. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are being killed either in combat or crossfire. To those caught in the conflict, the statement “America is currently in a state of war” is so obvious, it almost sounds like a punch-line. Here in America, though, it’s a reminder that is sorely needed.

For many, the war in Iraq has become a sort of endless drone, a slight headache in the public consciousness. Rhetoric is tossed around freely while action is hard to find. News coverage is slim or exploitative, only appearing when the directors of programming smell money or sympathy. Protests have gone from being frequent and attention grabbing to rare and nearly invisible. The conflict’s presence has effectively been reduced to an unfortunate fact of life whose misfortune is contemplated by no one. So what happened?

Popular media outlets are largely to blame for the paucity of war coverage. For a populace whose only connection to international events is through news reports, the absence of coverage can be the death of an issue. If news outlets stop relaying information on Iraq regularly, the public simply forgets that, somewhere across the world, their fellow humans are experiencing death and destruction on a scale unimaginable in our state of stable affluence.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what has happened. It feels like it’s been an eternity since T.V. and newspapers were buzzing with news and developments on the conflict, with the public following along with outrage, approval, or disbelief. Simply put, the media has decided that the war is over or at least that other issues are more important. Just think about the conversations that have sprung up in anticipation of another election; do any of them comprehensively address the war? How many politicians have simply been given a pass after reluctantly vomiting out some vague statement about withdrawal timelines? Regardless of political affiliation, politicians have come to a sort of compromise with the public that as long as they put on a somber puppy-face when talking about the war, questions will not be asked.

This is where the media is supposed to take action. Remember all of that “4th branch of government” shit they taught in Journalism 1001? If it’s at all true, then the modern American media is failing horribly. Instead of promoting the war as an issue or important topic of conversation and grilling politicians for skipping over it, they have simply moved on. In other words, CNN agrees that Iraq is fly-over territory. The question that needs to be asked is, “Do you?”

Just think: where reports from Iraq once dominated the media and every new batch of photos (of Abu Ghraib, soldiers’ coffins, etc) caused controversy, we now only hear vague and largely philosophical reports on the war (“Bush thinks war is going well,” “Americans disagree with war”). Where it was once impossible to avoid reports on the number of people killed as a result of the conflict, it’s now a struggle to find casualty estimates. To wit: only after a frustrating session of Google-wrangling and index searching was I able to find that an estimated 4,200 American soldiers have died while 82,000 Iraqis have been killed in combat. In 2006, CNN reported that a study conducted by Gilbert Burnham of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland and The Center for International Studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that approximately 655,000 Iraqis have died as a result of deteriorating “health and environmental conditions” as well as combat. Why was that newsworthy in 2006? Why isn’t it newsworthy now? What’s wrong with this picture?

As long as we are fighting and sending our youth to kill another nation’s youth, that basic, grisly fact should be front and center in the media’s presentation of current events. I’m not calling for a sort of tunnel-vision style focus whereby we forget the rest of the world, but the Iraq War is our reality and we need to acknowledge it. No conclusion will ever be reached by ignoring the problem. Those “endless war” stickers that once seemed so ridiculous are looking more and more plausible as the war moves farther and farther away from the public consciousness.

And, really, how can it when so many of our colleagues, friends, and family members have been effected by it? Even on our campus, our own tiny corner of the world, you don’t have to look far to find a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

II. IN NAME AND BLOOD

Jon Wickert was an ambitious college student when he voluntarily joined the US
Marine Corps in December 2001. He would later be stationed in Iraq fighting with the Fox Company 2nd Battalion 24th Marines 4th Marine Division in 2004. It’s been two years now since he’s been back from the front lines, giving him ample time to adjust to home life and reflect on his experience.

One particular mission that Wickert vividly recalls was when he and his battalion left their home base in Mahmuhdiya, just south of Baghdad, for Yussifiya, where Iraqi combatants were deemed a potential threat to the community.

Unfortunately, simply arriving there would prove to be a challenge. Traveling at night with no light to speak of, the two vehicles in front of Wickert’s transport accidentally drove off a bridge that had been demolished prior to their crossing. While no one was seriously injured, the men had to walk several miles to the city. It would be six hours before they arrived.

Upon entering the city, they were met with armed fire and mortars that continued for several hours. The battalion decided that it was best to stay in the city, setting up a small base over the next few weeks. They stayed there for a month without amenities. Wickert recalls with distaste that he and the other men had to “bathe” with water bottles and baby wipes, living in the same set of clothes for weeks on end, fighting in the intense heat of the desert. Battle was constant and dragged on for extended periods of time.

During the time spent there the battalion arrested and killed hundreds of Iraqi combatants. Wickert recalls a total of 286 imprisoned insurgents that were sent to the Human Exploitation Team to determine if they could be prosecuted for crimes. The soldiers eventually achieved their objective in Yussifiya, which was to facilitate the first Iraqi election. In order to hold the election, the city was practically shut down. Iraqis were forced to walk to the voting polls; no vehicles were allowed near the polls. Wickert explains that they set up the polls in a school, barricading it to ensure safety. He says the Iraqi Army, not the Marines, ran the polls. While citizens were waiting to vote insurgents mortared the voting poll area, but the people ignored the attacks. Unfortunately, one civilian was killed in the attack.

Wickert’s trials didn’t end at the same time his service did, though. His homecoming provided its own unique set of challenges.

After first arriving home he was surprised to find how his family had changed. Despite their joy at Wickert’s return, his parents appeared physically tired and mentally drained. While fighting overseas, it didn’t occur to him that his position was having an impact on his family. He says that the longer he was there the more difficult it was to even talk to family members over the provided satellite phones, whose service was suspect at best. They became a distraction; a source of emotional turmoil better avoided in order to focus on the job at hand.

Wickert recalls having nightmares that served as frustrating reminders of all that he’d been through. Over time, they dwindled to ever-present memories rather than sharp, staccato stabs of remembrance.

For Wickert, being home and getting back into a routine wasn’t as refreshing as he’d imagined it would be during his time in Iraq. His daily activities, shuttling between work and home, seemed boring and slow; insignificant and meaningless compared to what he’d done in Iraq. “Fighting the war had meant something,” he said. “You were doing something important for America and my everyday routine was simply trivial in comparison.”

Not all veterans agree, though. Unlike the media representations of the conflict, the range of experience in Iraq is startlingly wide.

With the prospect of never ending debt threatening the possibility of a college education, B.R. made the life changing decision to join the US Army in 2002. Four years later he would be assigned to serve in Iraq with the Bravo Company 121 Field Artillery 57th Brigade Army National Guard. He would stay a full year, (July 2006 to July 2007) working with Convoy Security Team, bringing supplies from base to base, working to prevent suicide missions and dealing with the everyday threats of roadside bombings and enemy fire. With the experience still fresh in his mind he provided an intensely passionate view of the United State government and military systems.

Through his participation in the war, B.R. claims that his eyes were opened to what he refers to as a “corrupt” and “unjust” system. He is in no way a proponent of the war and believes it is a misguided effort. He believes that the war is simply a way for authority figures in the US, including military officers and political figures, to work their way up the ranks and make more money from the counterfeit economy created via the blood, sweat and tears of American servicemen. B.R. stresses that the war itself is waged with negative motives that promote unjust consequences. He believes that America is setting up a tenuous economic situation that has no hope of surviving once American troops leave.

B.R. refers to the continuous movement of bases to illustrate the absurdity of some of the activities his brigade participated in. After a base was set up for a few weeks and a routine had been established, a colonel would decide that he wanted to move it to a different location simply because a senior officer had declared it infeasible. The colonel would make the move not out of strategic importance but, rather, in hopes of getting a raise. It was a completely unnecessary move that resulted in complete chaos among the troops, B.R. explains, emphasizing the commonality of such occurrences.

After his experience, B.R. thinks of the military very negatively. He believes that life in the Army is a “miserable existence.” “You’re told what to do by people who are often generally incompetent, looking to better their own rank, jaded by the prospect of more money that comes with higher rank,” he says. “There’s always an alternative motive for anything that gets done.”

Although his opinions may be extreme, B.R. says (by way of explanation) that they are simply conclusions drawn from witnessing political corruption firsthand. He completed his duties capably while in Iraq, working his way up to the rank of Sergeant. He was in no way a coward or difficult servicemen. He faced enemy fire, bomb threats, and suicide missions regularly and had several friends perish in the fighting. He was never slighted because he didn’t personally believe in the War. In fact, he was later noted for his leadership and awarded medals of Honor upon his return.

III. WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH THE SEVERED HEAD?

If we are to be humane and fulfill our basic obligations to our fellow humans, we simply cannot ignore the stories, opinions and anecdotes that have been generated by the war in Iraq. As tax paying, law-abiding or even just not-moving-to-Canada-in-outrage citizens, these actions are being taken in our name and, ostensibly, with our interests in mind. The violence, stress, death, hope and fear that soldiers face in Iraq are not distant memories. They are the direct results of our actions.

This is what makes the disappearance of Iraq from the public eye so frightening and depressing. Anyone can rail on and on about the crippling apathy that has gripped this nation, but the public’s response to Operation Iraqi Freedom serves as a logical proof of its debilitating nature. What have we become when we can’t even take the time to think about the repercussions of our actions? What are we worth when we can’t be called upon to defend or decry actions taken in our name that result in the deaths of our fellow citizens and the citizens of other nations?

This is your war. If you forget about it, you are not only turning your back on your beliefs but also on those who face death every day as a result of this conflict.

Think about it this way:

If someone told you that the president of the United States was coming to your house for dinner you would do something about it. Whether that meant cleaning and preparing a meal or locking your doors and putting up protest signs, you wouldn’t ignore it. A belief requires action. If you said you believed that the president was coming but did nothing, anyone in their right mind would know that you didn’t really believe it. In the same way, your beliefs require action, regardless of their place on the political spectrum.

Why is it anybody’s business how you act upon your beliefs? Because regardless of your views on the war in Iraq, we are all involved. As long as something is happening in Iraq, anybody who believes something about it has an obligation to act upon that belief. Whether that means joining the military or leading a protest, writing your congressman or leaving the country, you must act. The fact that the war continues to be used as a political tool in nationwide elections is only making matters worse – the war continues, but the conversations have dwindled. The rhetoric has risen and fallen with whatever stomach the masses have for it, but the war has continued unabated. Regardless of whether or not you think about it on a daily basis, it continues. Men and women still risk their lives because they believe in something – whether it is serving their country, serving others, or building a better future, they believe in something and are acting upon that belief. Those who fought and lived to tell about it will never forget this war. Those who have lost their limbs will never forget this war. The loved ones of those who gave their lives will never forget this war.

So why have so many American civilians forgotten it already? Because it’s convenient? Because it’s comfortable? Because believing in something strongly enough to take action is far more difficult than doing nothing? Is it all of the above?

Walking through the side doors of Coffman’s sprawling main entrance, you can see a series of photos hanging on the wall that depict a student protest against the Vietnam War. In the photos, the massive space in front of Coffman is completely packed with students who have come together to support a cause and act upon their beliefs. You can see it in their faces: the look of determination, the excitement, the pure catharsis of telling the world exactly what they think of it.

What do we look like next to them? Probably like a ravenous pack of spoiled brats, hands in pockets and iPods blaring. Much like they were, we are confronted every day with the realities of life during wartime. What differentiates us is how we respond to it.

So let’s make some noise.

This is a call, a call to all citizens and especially students (denizens of the unwitting political centers of America) to act upon their beliefs. As a community, we need to start a dialogue about this war. We simply cannot let it rage on across the world and only conceive of it as a distant humming emanating form the other side of the world. Ultimately, we need to organize and demand coherent and specific action from our elected leaders and media outlets, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First and foremost, we need to remind this nation that a war is being fought in our name. We need to remind our fellow citizens that people are dying everyday for a cause that has been completely ignored.

It is time for us to have conversations about the war and organize public forums in which it can be discussed. It is time for us to write to publications and politicians with our views or to demand action from those same sources of opinion. It’s time for us to get off of our asses and fight for what we believe in. If we’re not willing to do that, then this country is completely and truly lost. If we aren’t willing to act, then our beliefs and our dignity are only as strong as our rhetoric, which is subject to the constantly changing winds of language. If all we have is words, we have nothing.

We must make a change today, regardless of how small. We cannot wait. Every day wasted is another piece of our collective conscience and moral dignity that has been flushed down the drain. If we continue to put off making a change, it will only become less likely that we’ll ever be able to articulate our grievances and motivate our peers to work for a better future. I’ll make it simple: If we wait too long to act, we won’t be asking whether or not we can live with the deaths in Iraq.

We simply won’t ask at all.