The fact that the U.S. military failed to in its mission to capture Osama bin Laden and destroy his al Qaeda network seems not to have daunted his enthusiasm for bloodshed and destruction. While G.W. has been lost in boyhood fantasies about how exciting it is to play war (which is much easier to enjoy when you aren’t one of the soldiers getting shot at or killed), I have been thinking about devastating war is, for soldiers, civilians and especially for the environment.
Perhaps because we haven’t fought a war on U.S. soil since the Civil war of the mid-1800’s, most of us don’t even think about how missiles, bombs and other implements of war kill the birds, plants and animals that live in the target zone. Do you know that when a heavy bomb goes off, it creates temperatures of approximately 3,000 degrees Celsius? The heat alone not only annihilates all flora and fauna; it also destroys the lower layers of soil, which can take anywhere from 1,500 to 7,400 years to regenerate. So while Bush is dreaming about destroying Saddam Hussein, I find myself wondering what Mother Earth would say if she could talk to the humans on the planet. The following is what I imagine she might say.
Dear children,
Most of you presidents, prime ministers and other leaders have been acting like school playground bullies, beating up countries that you perceive to be smaller and/or weaker in order to get their resources and fighting back to prove how tough you are. I’m sick of your silly squabbles over who has the best resources, the best land, and the best water. I have given you everything you need. There is plenty enough of everything to go around if you would all just share. Your greed is killing me. With your weapons of mass destruction, every military and terrorist attack ends up being an even greater assault on me. And just how do you think you are going to live if you manage to completely destroy me?
I’ve tried to be patient, but I’ve had it up to here with you. Stop this fighting at once and go to your rooms! And don’t even think about taking your game boys, walkmans, cell phones, TV sets or anything to play with while you’re in there. This is serious punishment.
Go To Page: 1 2
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Regina Sewell's Gender & Society topic, please visit the Discussions page.