• Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Photo Gallery
  • Contact
PRAIRIE PUNCTUATIONS

When the bombs fly

1/10/2020

0 Comments

 
    One of the sorrows of this past week was the deaths of 176 people in the Ukrainian airplane hit by the missile in Baghdad.  In military parlance I am sure it is called “collateral damage” and “the cost of war”. In political rhetoric it is “justifiable.” There is always an expected body count in any military encounter. The millions of victims of national pride, the “Innocents” and their survivors rise up from history with their cries of despair that echoed in those last moments of their lives.
    Neither should this incident be a finger-pointing moment unless all the governments of the world take responsibility for those moments when the bigger picture of national pride got in the way of the “little guy, the child, the man or woman” who is simply going on with their everyday lives.  We cannot ever overlook human life.  Governments are very good at making excuses for their behavior, but the end result is what counts and there should be world wide mourning each time another life is caught in the cross hairs of a military exercise.
    I remember reading about a decision that had to be made about bombing a target some years ago.  The president of our country had to make the final decision.  One thing he weighed was how many civilians would be in harm’s way when the bombs were dropped.  They finally decided on late night when only the cleaning crew would be in the building and they tried to pick a time when they were on break.  Now granted, every decision cannot be weighed with such precision, but I still cannot help but think of the young and old killed this week when governments thought they could take life and death decisions into their own hands and play their own games.  And at what cost?
    In reading the history of the Middle East, it is interesting to note it has always been an area of commerce and was vital to any movement from Africa into Europe in ancient times. But it was of very little interest to the Western nations until the Suez Canal became a route that bypassed the southern trip of Africa and shortened the distance between India and the rest of the world.  Very soon the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia presaged the growth of the oil companies that now rule the governments of the world. Great Britain, France, Germany and the United States have all had their fingers dipped in Middle Eastern oil since World War I. The oil oligarchs dictate not only in the board rooms, but also to the governments of the countries where the oil lies. Oil interests equal power and great wealth as the oil states have come to recognize. But the desire for wealth throws them into the mainstream of political balancing acts, trying to keep everyone happy in the midst of cultural and religious differences.
    We have seen too many times when the justifiable death of Qassem Soleimani and the subsequent justifiable retaliation by Iran are part and parcel of the same dark dance between the nations.  It is always “the innocent” who pay the piper. It is not a matter of politics, but rather one of common humanity.  Watching this play out day by day I somehow have a sense the little people of the world (meaning us) have reached a point where we will no longer tolerate being moved like pieces of a game board at the whim of petty leaders or multi-national corporations.  Maybe, just maybe we are ready to say, “No more.”








0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Avis R. Anderson

    Retired public school librarian, retired ELCA pastor, lover of the prairies, "daughter of the middle border", granddaughter of Scandinavian immigrants.  Always loved to read and write.  P.S.  I don't Facebook or Twitter, but I would enjoy visiting with you at aa66bg77@gmail.com

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All
    1950s Life
    Advent
    Age
    Aging
    All Saints 2020
    Attitude
    Baby Boomers
    Back Roads
    Black Hills
    Blessings
    Bombs Iran
    Books
    Border Wall
    Choices
    Christmas 2017
    Christmas 2017 (2)
    Christmas 2018
    Civic Pride
    Civil Discourse
    Civil War
    Climate Change
    Clothes Lines
    Comey Hearings
    Community
    Covid 19
    Dinosaur Digs
    Diplomacy
    Douglas
    Down-sizing
    Election
    Elections
    Elie Wiesel
    Environment
    Faith Life
    Fall
    Fear
    Flood On Yellowstone
    Forgiveness
    Freedom (in Christ)
    Freedom Of The Press
    Friends
    Friendship
    Ft. Peck Montana
    Ft. Union
    Funerals
    Funeral Sermons
    Genocide
    God's Love
    Grace
    Great Basin
    Green Spaces
    Handwork
    History
    Holocaust
    Holy Spirit
    Home
    Hope 2021
    House
    Hugh Glass
    Human Relations
    Immigration
    Immigration Grandparents
    Indians
    Iowa Caucus
    July 4th 2017
    June 2020
    Justice
    Lamenting
    Library Week
    Life Questions
    Listening
    Living Today
    Living Well
    Love
    Lutefisk Style
    Makoshika 2019
    Makoshika Park
    Meditation
    Memorial Day 2017
    Mother Teresa
    Native Americans
    New
    Pandemic 2020
    Parks
    Peace
    Peace 2021
    Pentecost
    Poetry
    Politics
    Politics 2017
    Prairie Home
    Prairie Journey
    Prairies
    Process
    Prodigal Son
    Public Service
    Rain
    Ranching
    Reading
    Retirement
    River Valley
    Road Trip
    Route 66
    Rural Life
    Seasons
    Self-control
    Service
    Simple Living
    Single Life
    Small Town Life
    Soldiers
    Spirituality
    Spring
    Spring Weather
    Stav Church
    Stories
    Summer 2017
    Summer Adventures
    Summer Living
    Summertime
    Taos NM
    The Mind
    Travel
    Travel Colorado
    Travel Wyoming
    Trinity
    Trump
    Trump Politics
    Truth
    Utah
    Viewpoints
    Voting
    Walking
    Wealth
    Wind
    Winter2019February
    Winter In Baker
    Wisdom
    Wisdom Words
    Women
    Words
    Work
    Workers
    World
    World Society
    World War I
    Wyoming
    Yellowstone River
    Yellowstone River Valley
    Zennie's Travels

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Photo Gallery
  • Contact