Another 11/11/11 at 11:00 Event

Today is Veterans Day. I started writing this at eleven o’clock so this counts as my 11/11/11 11:00 gesture.  This is not nearly as important as what took place on 11/11/1918 11:00. The Armistice had been signed. Hostilities officially ended at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  One of the greatest tragedies of mankind ended. “The war to end all wars” was over. The death of seventeen million people was attributed to the war. Ten million military personnel died, seven million civilians. For the first time in war, more people died from hostilities than from disease (although 1/3 of the soldiers’ deaths was from the Spanish Influenza Epidemic). Twenty-one years later we demonstrated what we learned from World War I. Between 1939 and 1945 60 million lives would be lost due to wartime hostilities. Estimates vary (from 62 million to 78.5 million) but again civilian deaths were astronomical: estimates range from a low of 37.5 million to a high of 55 million. The German blitz on London alone killed 28.5 million. This officially marked a truth that was often unmentioned: Civilians die in war. They are a valuable target considered a valid military target to deplete morale and the manufacture of war materielle.  This same justification was offered by the Allies when the carpet bombing of Germany began and retaliation was made against Tokyo for the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Two things remain true in how we wage war.

•  It is dangerous to be a soldier during the war.
•  It’s good to have a couple of oceans between you and the enemy if you’re a civilian.

Many are appalled by the civilian deaths in war.  Civilian deaths are not new. If you’re opposed on a religious ground you may need to review 1 Samuel of the Old Testament. In 15:3 God says to Saul through Samuel, “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.” (KJV) When Saul decides he’ll make his own decisions and spares Agag, the livestock and “all that was good” (his judgment). God’s response through Samuel is “thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.” (verse 26 KJV) God cleans up by having Agag hewn to pieces and giving Saul the silent treatment.

God also doesn’t seem too concerned about deaths when he provides a rain shower, sends Joshua to Jericho or practices urban renewal in Sodom and Gomorrah. One thing the Old Testament does well is emphasize how unimportant death is to God.

If you wish to take a religious stance against civilian casualties from an Islamic viewpoint you again will find problems. The history of Mohammed is rife with his lack of worry for civilians. When he conquers the last Jewish tribe in Medinah through siege he has a Hebrew elder pronounce the sentence from Mohammed:

·        All males will be slaughtered in front of their mothers, wives, sisters and daughters.

·        Remaining women and children will become slaves and concubines.

Somehow at the culmination of almost every victory Allah provides a revelation giving Mohammed rights to rape, bring into servitude and plunder. In some cases Allah forbids Mohammed from all married women EXCEPT “…those captives whom your right hand possesses.” (Koran 4:24) I assume Mohammed was right-handed. Other commandments forbid rape unless they practice coitus interruptus (“Azl”). Apparently raping your conquered civilians is only bad if you can make them pregnant and bring forth unbelievers.

I grew up in the South. I lived in Atlanta two miles from where Sherman made his headquarters to battle the city. His 50 mile wide sweep through the South was devastating. Crops were burned, homes and plantations destroyed and property ruined.  Civilians became casualties: dead, wounded, raped.  Only this terrible annihilation of a culture could bring the Confederacy to surrender in a war they new they had lost from the attack on Ft. Sumter.

Who are the innocent civilians? I have never held a weapon against any person. As a matter of fact I was blessed to be born in a time when the draft had been dismantled when I reached my eighteenth birthday. I never had to register for selective service. When casting my vote I generally back the candidate that is against waging war. Am I an innocent civilian? I don’t think so. I believe I play a substantial role in America’s military offense (as Coach Vince Lombardi said, "The best defense is offense).

War is a simple thing. You cannot wage war if you do not have weapons, ammunition, soldiers and ways to support them. There is a concept in the military called the “tooth to tail” ratio. The “tooth” is the number of combat soldiers, those involved in direct fighting. The “tail” is the number of support personnel required to get the materielle and personnel of war into combat. The modern American soldier has always had a lower tooth to tail ratio than their enemy.  In World War II when people realized that women could do most of the administrative work and staff support positions as well as men (actually better: 1 woman usually replaced 3 men – read the history of the WACs and WAVEs) complaints became rampant as the guy who landed the quartermaster role could become available as infantry.

According to the recent report by John J. McGrath at Ft. Leavenworth (http://www.cgsc.edu/carl/download/csipubs/mcgrath_op23.pdf) the current ratio gives the tooth about 10% of the manpower. This is even misleading because much of the functions that used to be done by military personnel (commissary, cafeteria, construction, and security) have been contracted out to private companies. Private companies even provide some of the “feet on the ground” (remember Blackwater?) in our modern warfare. My point is that it is impossible to wage war without the support of innocent civilians.

At the very least all of us contribute through our relationship with the IRS. The United States spends 47% of all the money that is spent or military purposes. Over half (54 cents) of every dollar you pay in tax is spent to buy stuff so we can kill people.  That makes me 54% less innocent as a civilian. We choose to live in this country. We choose our representative government that makes decisions about expenditures and budget. We choose to provide the money needed to make war. Americans are NOT innocent civilians. We enable the military.

Now about our opponents. The Taliban has an interesting conscription system: As an AK-47 is pointed at you, you are allowed to decide if you want to support “Allah” against the great Satan. If you say no, you become the owner of a 7.62X39 mm piece of metal. If you say yes, you receive the same piece of metal from the other end. If you’re under 10 you may be able to defer your decision, but not for long.

The Taliban MRE consists of “Hi we’re here. Give everything you have that can be eaten.” The village may starve, but they will support the war effort. If the clothing looks better than what one has, you make an acquisition.

I doubt that Afghan and Iraqi citizens are all willing donors of these goods. I know many in this country that are less than willing with the money that disappears from their wages before it is deposited into their account. This is really not consequential. Civilians must provide for the war to go forth.  Take away the civilians, and the military power is gone, the cause lost.

So why all this rambling on this Veterans Day? If ever I turn on the news I am bound to hear a story about how “innocent civilians” lost their lives in a predator attack (this is called collateral damage). The story is usually flavored with how bad this is. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want anyone to die.  I’d be perfectly happy if other countries would just give us what we want and we wouldn’t have to kill their citizens. Another view would be if people would quit wearing bombs into crowds, assassinating leaders and flying jetliners into World Trade Centers maybe we could live with fewer predator strikes.

What I choose to hear when I listen to the story of a predator launching is this:

• ·        If the targeted person was there and we got him, great. One less person to coordinate the downfall of the US.
• ·        If the targeted person is not there or we missed him, great. By spending $4.5 million on an aircraft spending $68,000 in throw weight no Americans were killed there and maybe a few won’t be targeted here. As cream, we got the attention of some people that it might be safer to stand off the guy with the AK.

Every Memorial Day my father used to ask me, “Did you send me a card thanking me for saving you from the communists?”  I would always answer, “You’re still alive. This is Memorial Day. You didn’t die in combat saving me from the communists.” On Veterans Day I sent him a card thanking him for saving me from the communists.

I owe thanks and prayer to every person who has been involved in the good and bad decisions that resulted in injury and death to allow me to live in America. I have lived in other countries. I like this one best and I’d like to be able to stay and not worry about the guy with the briefcase or the woman with pram.

I pray daily for the lives of all those who contribute to US ability to maintain our country. I pray also for the families of friends or Afghanis and Americans who suffer because of this silly idea about how to resolve a situation. In the end I am comforted by my faith: I know that in the eternal scheme of things it doesn’t matter how long we live or how we die. I trust in God that we will all come to a merciful eternity.