As we all know, the anniversary of the war in Iraq was this Wednesday. Yesterday, I attended a conference women war. My professor, an inspiring feminist, brought in four woman, all writers, whose works are linked directly to war. The panel included a leading Virginia Woolf scholar, a Nigerian novelist, an Iraqi poet and a Sargent who contributed to the anthology, Operation Homecoming.
Each woman shared. The Virginia Woolf scholar, Jane Marcus, was the oldest and had been in the foreground of second wave feminism. She briefly discussed Woolf's, Three Guineas, a powerful essay that is largely ignored in both Britain and America. Few people realize the strong pacifist position that Virginia Woolf maintained even amidst the rise of Fascism. She argued that peace can only be obtained when education changes. We live in societies where war is ingrained into the flexible minds of children. I agree with Woolf. I look at the video games, the movies, the discipline of our schools and I see the military and war playing a very prominent role.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie recently wrote the critically acclaimed novel, Half of Yellow Sun. Adichie was articulate and graceful. Her words were like nectar, which may seem like an exaggerated simile, but I really don't know how to else to describe her voice and her presence. She wrote about the civil war in Nigeria in the 1960's. It was one of the first wars to be seen on TV, and it also began the tradition of showing starving African children on the evening news. Adichie argues that Africa is too often seen in the light of catastrophe; those images that we can readily call to mind are limited and depressing. She sought to humanize the war through her novel; she sought to show her readers that Africans still laugh, still eat, still have sex.
The Iraqi poet, Dunya Mikhail, was soft spoken and read a few of her poems. She began each poem in Arabic and then transitioned into the English translation. Her poems were raw and moving and reflective. As we, a room full of Americans, sat and listened to her tell of the beauty and the pain of her country, I felt guilty for not saying more and not doing more to end the war in Iraq.
And lastly we listened to Sergeant Sharon D. Allen. A brave woman to come into a liberal enclave and sit beside a feminist pacifist and a woman from Iraq. She related her experience, a positive one, and I tried to listen respectfully. But as she continued to talk about protecting her country, I couldn't help but stare at Dunya Mikhail. Mikhail alone understands the pain and fear associated with being invaded. She alone has had to sit in an apartment, wondering if her home will be bombed. She has had to deal with her own government, with Iran, and now with the US. And I couldn't help but feel embarrassed and ashamed for our country and our military. I admire the men and women who are willing to serve. At least I try to say that I do. But in reality my mind is so much more aligned with the principles of pacifism that it is difficult for me to support what our nation is doing. Does that mean that I don't support our military? Does that mean that I don't admire the men and women who serve? Maybe it does. I hope it doesn't but I am struggling. And I know that is not a popular sentiment. But that's where I am right now.
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You know what's funny (but not)? I couldn't agree with you more. I often feel alone when it comes to my stance, and often cannot even voice it. I can't really find a justification for war. I don't understand the point of killing people to stop the killing of people. I'm very much a complete pacifist at heart, although I realize it's not practical or reasonable, if that makes sense.
Vaguely suggesting a lack of admiration for those that serve is not only disingenuous but harmful to the pacifist movement. Men and women join the service for hundreds of reasons--tradition, college funding, family health care and good 'ol patriotism. These people (of which I am one) joined earnestly and selflessly to offer the greatest sacrifice in defense of the nation. When I joined, I couldn't have imagined our elected officials being so brazen as to kill thousands for greed and pride. Those in the field, in Iraq, have to repeat the mantra of 'defending the nation,' they're there, risking their lives, seeing friends and civilians blown to pieces. The mantra gives it all a purpose, keeps them alive. The battlefield isn't the place for dissent. In retrospect, many of those individuals see the truth but for others the truth is too painful. A meaningless war, for profit, for greed, a nation that served no threat to us, women and children dying in droves. Maybe what we pacifists should do is work to remove the economic roadblocks that force so many young people into the service--make higher education accessible, move toward a single-payer healthcare system where young families can afford insurance for their kids. Offer extensive job training programs to create an efficient workforce. Criticize the war, elected officials, military leaders and the military industrial complex as a whole but don't criticize the troops. Anything less than undying support for these individuals is immensely damaging to the pacifist movement. If you want to maintain a partisan divisiveness until the end of times, here's how to do it.
I understand that the men and women who are serving in our military are brave and often selfless. I know several men and women who served with honest and good intentions; these people I admire immensely. But I also recognize that despite the intentions of leaders, the military is never going to be an organization of peace. Many people may argue with my opinion, but the very nature of military training works against the principles of pacifism. There have been countless instances where UN peacekeepers have entered into a country only to wreak sexual violence against hundreds of native women. Liberia stands foremost in my memory. And these people were trained to be “peacekeepers”. My struggle with admiration is personal. And I am trying to curtail my predisposition to unite the policies of an often-imperialistic nation with the people who serve. Yet I still feel like our nation needs to decrease our military presence dramatically. And I also agree that economic plans need to be instituted to give kids more options. I hope that as our nation moves in a new direction, we will be committed to peace instead of war.
We agree. I took offense to this notion, "Does that mean that I don't admire the men and women who serve? Maybe it does." Your admiration is indeed your own personal struggle. My observation is simply that we pacifists can't expect to influence those opposed to the peace process if we don't have an irreproachable sense of respect for those that serve. As the son of a multi-generational military family, I know nothing stirs up more animosity than anti-war protests in front of a recruiting depot or, as in my personal experience, a military graduation ceremony. That's not to say anything you've ever said or done is akin to those protests but we need to be conscious of the things we say that can be detrimental to our cause.
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