Peace, Values and Spiritual Living
Today I suspend my personal work to play a bigger game.
It’s a day to mourn and reflect.
I mourn the mothers, fathers and children killed, maimed and displaced since March 19, 2003.
I reflect on the “don’t go to war” essay I published on the eve of the Iraq invasion. I got hate mail, vicious phone calls and personal threats.
You can read “If Women Ran the World” reprinted on my Blog, March 19, 2006
I deeply regret I did not scream louder before and after March 19, 2003.
The human cost of this war is staggering (rounded estimates).
1,000,000 Iraqi men, women and children killed and wounded.
4,000 Coalition men, women and kids killed.
29,000 American men, women and kids wounded or maimed.
90,000 American men, women and kids mentally damaged.
2,000,000 Iraqi men, women and children displaced.
The structural devastation is heart breaking.
Iraq has been bombed back 100 years.
We destroyed the infrastructure and reduced historic relics to rubble.
Water, power and jobs are scarce.
Murder and mayhem rip apart hundreds of lives and families every day.
American men and women patrol the streets as an occupying force.
The financial cost is incomprehensible.
Real cost now put at $3 TRILLION.
Can you wrap your head around $3 TRILLION?
It’s the difference between us being the biggest creditor nation flush with capital and surplus and instead, we are the biggest debtor nation in the history of Humankind begging China and India to loan us money.
It’s the difference between us rebuilding our aging country and feeding millions of hungry people, and instead destroying Iraq’s ageless country and devastating the lives of millions of people.
Here’s a few more numbers to reflect on the U.S. standing in the world:
163rd in financial solvency
37th in health care
23rd in happiness
1st in debt
1st in consumption
1st in health costs
1st in murders and crime
1st in military spending
1st in exporting death and destruction (most hated country)
1st in charity (the most loved country)
These numbers deserve a day of mourning and reflection.
We need to mourn, reflect and heal from our deep sadness.
Then, we need to put our undivided attention, the full force of our will, and the depth and breadth of our resources to transform ourselves.
Invading Iraq is among America’s greatest sins.
In Hebrew, there is no word for sin.
The closest meaning is, “to miss the mark.”
We seriously missed the mark with deadly consequences.
What do we do now?
We apologize.
We mourn.
We reflect.
We talk.
We learn.
We change.
We end the war.
It’s not about fearing them.
It’s about loving us.
We need to love ourselves enough to apologize, mourn and reflect.
We need to love our children enough to talk, learn and change.
We need to love everyone enough to end the war.
Please join the conversation.
It continues today at 4pm eastern.
Dial – 712-580-1100
Access – 12288#
You’re a player.
You CAN change the game.
I’ll meet you on the field at 4pm.
Mitch, CEO (Chief Encouragement Officer™)
Peace, Values and Spiritual Living
