Archived Sermons

Introductory Words
When I was young, in my elementary school years, I wanted to be a soldier—an American soldier. I grew up certain that one day I would join the Army, as my father had, and fight for this country. After school and on weekends my friends and I would gather our collection of army surplus equipment and toy rifles and take to the fields to reenact the heroism we saw on TV and in the movies. In the battles with the Japs and Krauts our deaths were few, and when they came they were quick, painless and short lived—our wounds superficial allowing us to continue the fight until all the enemy lay dead. Then it was time to go home for supper. I loved the Army and I loved war.

One of the things that began to change all this was a book my parents owned and kept on the shelf of the front hall closet. It was the only book on that shelf and it was often buried beneath a collection of hats, gloves and scarves. Because of this it felt hidden, and because it was the only book in that closet it felt special. We were allowed to look through it but our parents insisted that we treat it with respect. And so several times a year we (meaning the kids) would take that book from the shelf, sit on the green sofa we inherited from my grandmother, and thumb through the pages mesmerized by what we saw.

The book was a collection of WW II photographs taken by Life Magazine. It was big, heavy, and filled with black and white pictures of soldiers in the heat of battle--just the thing to spark our imagination as want-to-be soldiers.

But that book had other pictures as well—pictures that brought silence to the viewers—pictures that were disturbing. We actually came to know where these pictures lay in the book and as we thumbed through the pages we often paused the page before to prepare ourselves.

These pictures were of dead American soldiers.  Bodies half buried in sand on a beach, or bodies frozen in the snow, or bodies with blood draining from their wounds. We knew these were the real dead--not the movie dead.  We knew these were young men who never returned home, who never sat with their families around the dinner table again, who never saw their loved ones—they were young men like we would be some day.

It was those pictures—and it was slowly coming to understand what they meant in human terms—that started the erosion of my childhood fantasies of war. And as each year passes it becomes clearer to me that the losses in war are much greater, much more horrific, much more widespread than most of us allow ourselves to understand. So every now and then it helps the prospects of peace to remind ourselves of the true costs of war.

Sermon

Most often when people in this nation discuss the cost of a war they speak principally of two things. First the number of U.S. soldiers killed and wounded. Second, the amount of money spent conducting the war. And then often it stops there. It stops there because we think—or want to believe-- these numbers are an accurate statement of what that war extracts from our lives and our society.
But this is a delusion--a tragic delusion. A delusion that hides the true costs of war—a delusion that lowers the threshold to future military operations—a delusion that allows us to pay insufficient attention to the needs of the soldiers who served (perhaps died) and their families.  It is my hope that what is said in this morning’s service pierces some of the fog that is used to obscure the true costs of war.

For instance:
As of January 4, 2009 4,222 U.S. soldiers have been killed in what we call the Iraq War. The number of dead soldiers is the first statistic often given as we try to quantify the cost of war. It is a significant statistic because these soldiers gave their most precious possession—their lives. . And now they are gone—forever, forever, forever. And if one can get beyond the number 4222—if you can go beyond it to understand the lives that were lost, then one begins to get a truer sense of what was sacrificed. When one knows the name of each dead, when one hears their story, when one was a witness to their hopes and dreams—that is when the magnitude of the loss begins to sink in.

But even if this can be done, which most often it is not, this doesn’t capture the extent of the loss associated with these soldier’s deaths. These soldiers were not isolated beings who when broken can be put in the ground and forgotten. These soldiers had children, and spouses, and partners, and parents and brothers and sisters and best friends, and neighbors. And now those children are going to have to grow up without one of their parents—and this is a tremendous loss—a loss that is felt for a lifetime. And those widowed spouses won’t have the support and love of their partners—support so important when raising a family or navigating through life—and this too is a tremendous loss.  And the mothers and fathers of the dead will be heartbroken and devastated by the death of their child—and this too is a tremendous loss. And the pain will accompany them all throughout their lives.

No, the impact of the death of a soldier does not end when his or her body is laid in the grave. There is a tidal wave of loss that begins with the violent death then crashes into the lives of those close to the soldier and continues on through neighborhood, town and nation. Families become more vulnerable, neighborhoods become more vulnerable, cities become more vulnerable when a soldier falls.

And we often rationalize such death by saying he gave his life for his country—to protect and defend it. The loss of life is justified by the good that comes out of the struggle. But this war is not about protecting and defending our country—Iraq did not pose a credible threat to our nation. Although those who have lost a loved one in this war understandably don’t like to hear it said—to me it seems clear that those 4,222 soldiers died in an unnecessary war. And that too takes a toll on this nation. It undermines our trust in our leaders, it encourages us to be cynics, and it leads us to lose faith in our government. All this is part of the true cost of this war.

Then there are the wounded. As of January 4—almost 31,000 US soldiers have been wounded in Iraq.  If you are like me you picture these soldiers being patched up, maybe given a new artificial leg or arm and then released to return to their pre-Iraq life. Heck on TV I see guys with artificial legs playing basketball and running.  This view allows me to skim over the figures of the wounded because I want to believe they will be good as new thanks to the quality of medical attention they receive.

But this is another fantasy. Many soldiers who were wounded in the line of duty cannot return to the lives they we living or dreamed of living because of the extent of their injuries. The U.S. Army the medical teams are able to save the lives of more severely wounded soldiers but this means more veterans are living with major disability. .  20% of the wounded have serious brain or spinal injuries—wounds serious enough to require long-term care. These soldiers will not be returning to their homes in the near future, will not be rejoining their families soon. Even when they can, their wounds will limit what they can do—limit their income perhaps, limit how they play with their kids perhaps, and limit how long they live perhaps. The human body is an amazing organism but bullets ripping away muscle and shattering bone have lasting affects.

But unless you know a wounded veteran it is so easy to assume that once they are home all is OK and the loss involved is minimal. But that is not the reality of many wounded soldiers. Pain management is a reality. Driving hours to and from the nearest VA hospital is a reality. Fighting for disability benefits is a reality. And I believe there is so much more that I am unaware of. All this is a part of the true costs of war.

So let’s say the soldier is not killed or wounded and finishes his/her tour and returns home. Everything should be fine right. Get them home and turn them loose to pick up where they left off. Again, unfortunately this is not reality. 30% of US troops develop serious mental health problems within 3 to 4 months of returning home. The stress and depression caused by combat often don't appear until a few months after a soldier has returned to the states. Six months after their deployment ended, the number of soldiers referred for mental health care was nearly three times as high as when they first returned, and the number reporting relationship problems with their families and others quadrupled. Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome is the term used frequently to categorize these mental health problems. And it can disable a soldier as as much as a missing leg or arm. It can tear apart families, increase domestic violence, and lead to suicide.

The statistics bear this out. Every day, five U.S. soldiers try to kill themselves. Before the Iraq war began, that figure was less than one suicide attempt a day. In 2002 350 soldiers attempted suicide—in 2008 2100 did (a six fold increase).  And these figures pertain to just soldiers in the military not veterans. A CBS News investigation uncovered a suicide rate for veterans twice that of other Americans. Suicide is even more prevalent among veterans who are VA patients. A recent study confirms that suicide rates were very high among depressed VA patients.
Again, I am probably missing so many other aspects of what soldiers returning from this war face—the price they are paying for their participation. But hopefully you are getting a sense of how much more complex and deep the real cost of war is beyond the numbers of dead and wounded. The human cost to this nation and the individuals who served and their families is always grossly underestimated.

Notice, if you haven’t already, that the cost of war in terms of human lives is usually measured by the number of U.S. soldiers killed and wounded.  In our nationalistic myopia we tend to ignore the Iraqi casualties—as if their deaths don’t represent a loss—as if their wounds will not impact the world. But an accounting of the true cost of this war must take into account what the Iraqis have lost. And this begins with assessing the number of dead. Estimates vary widely but several sources report that between 500,000 and a million Iraqi civilians have been killed since the invasion began and 35,000 Iraqi military have died. Again, you are most likely just hearing these as numbers that don’t begin to capture the depth of loss associated with these deaths. But the loss that occurs with each American dead is also the same with each Iraqi.

And then there are the Iraqi wounded and maimed. Interestingly I couldn’t find any figures on the numbered of wounded but if a half a million civilians were killed the number of wounded is usually several times that. 2 or 3 millions wounded and a significant portion of these disabled in some manner. The loss is unimaginable.

And then there are the human costs associated with:

• Internal Displacement--as of May 2007 – 2 ¼ million Iraqis have fled their homes and are living some place in the country.
• Refugees—there are over 2.1 million Iraqi refugees live in Syria & Jordan. Between the displaced persons and the refugees about 16% of the Iraqi population has fled their homes.
• Iraqi Unemployment Rate in some places is 60%
• Consumer Price Inflation is 50%
• 28% of Iraqi Children Suffer from Chronic Malnutrition
• 40% of the professionals have left Iraq since 2003 - 40%
• 1/3 of Iraqi physicians have left since the invasion
• 2,000 Iraqi Physicians have been murdered since the invasion
• 70% of the Iraqis are without access to adequate water supplies

This list can go on and on—all adding to the unreported human cost of this war.

And then there is the cost in financial terms. How much is it costing the citizens of the nations waging war to fund the conflict. It is each government spending the money but it is the citizens paying for it.

The Washington Post writes: “These costs, by our calculations, are now running at $12 billion a month -- $16 billion if you include Afghanistan. By the time you add in the costs hidden in the defense budget, the money we'll have to spend to help future veterans, and money to refurbish a military whose equipment and materiel have been greatly depleted, the total tab to the federal government (meaning the U.S. taxpayers) will almost surely exceed $1.5 trillion.

But the costs to our society and economy are far greater than what the Defense Department spends on a war. When a young soldier is killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, his or her family will receive a U.S. government check for just $500,000 -- far less than the typical amount paid by insurance companies for the death of a young person in a car accident. The $500,000 is clearly only a fraction of the total cost society pays for the loss of life -- and no one can ever really compensate the families. Moreover, disability pay seldom provides adequate compensation for wounded troops or their families. Indeed, in one out of five cases of seriously injured soldiers, someone in their family has to give up a job to take care of them.
But beyond this is the cost to the already sputtering U.S. economy. All told, the bill for the Iraq war is likely to top $3 trillion. And that's a conservative estimate.&rdquo. The Christian Science Monitor reports that the total costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan accounting for continued military operations, growing debt and interest payments and continuing health care and counseling costs for veterans is $5 - $7 Trillion. . [McClatchy, 2/27/08]

“Think what a difference these trillions could make for so many of the United States' -- or the world's -- problems. We could have had a Marshall Plan to help desperately poor countries, winning the hearts and maybe the minds of Muslim nations now gripped by anti-Americanism. In a world with millions of illiterate children, we could have achieved literacy for all -- for less than the price of a month's combat in Iraq. We worry about China's growing influence in Africa, but the upfront cost of a month of fighting in Iraq would pay for more than doubling our annual current aid spending on Africa.

Closer to home, we could have funded countless schools to give children locked in the underclass a shot at decent lives. Or we could have tackled the massive problem of Social Security--for far, far less than the cost of the war, we could have ensured the solvency of Social Security for the next half a century or more.
Economists used to think that wars were good for the economy, a notion born out of memories of how the massive spending of World War II helped bring the United States and the world out of the Great Depression. But we now know far better ways to stimulate an economy -- ways that quickly improve citizens' well being and lay the foundations for future growth. But money spent paying Nepalese workers in Iraq (or even Iraqi ones) doesn't stimulate the U.S. economy the way that money spent at home would -- and it certainly doesn't provide the basis for long-term growth the way investments in research, education or infrastructure would.&rdquo. [By Linda J. Bilmes and Joseph E. Stiglitz, Sunday, March 9, 2008; B0. Washington Post]

This war has not brought greater stability or peace to Iraq or the world. Has not made our nation safer. Has not strengthened our standing in the world community.  Has not brought democracy to the region. Has not diminished the threat of terrorism. Has not improved the lives of most Iraqis. Has not reduced the threat of weapons of mass destruction. It war has needlessly created death and destruction—and we, our children, the Iraqis, the world community are paying and will continue to pay a high price.

“Every gun that is made, said Dwight David Eisenhower, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity.”  As only one who has witnessed its true costs.

©2009 Rev. Daniel S. Brosier