The Cost of War Conference, Bend,OR, March 26
We had a very successful event yesterday. In complete distinction to the disingenuous drivel the R.D. Buschman posts, we actual had coherent things to say about the horror of George Bush criminal policies in Iraq. In addition to the "human side of war" speakers listed below, I gave a half-hour presentation titled "Money, Money, Money" about the dollar cost of the war.
bendbulletin.com
Peace promoters object to human cost of Iraq war
Published: March 27, 2005
By Yoko Minoura
The Bulletin
The severe physical and psychological wounds inflicted on American soldiers in Iraq, some area residents said, make war unacceptable.
"Our young people are going to pay an incredible price," said Bend resident Don Hartsough, one of the attendees at a Saturday conference billed "What are the Costs of War?"
Conference speakers discussed the toll the ongoing war is taking on soldiers and their families, in addition to the historical and economic factors at play in the conflict in Iraq.
The event, held on the Central Oregon Community College campus, was hosted by the Central Oregon Peace Network, a local ad-hoc group that opposes the war.
Bend resident and coordinator Diana Popp said she had very personal reasons for organizing the event.
Previous wars, she said, wreaked havoc in her family. She said her grandfather died from respiratory complications that stemmed from exposure to mustard gas in World War I. Her father fought on the front lines in Korea.
"(My father) had a lot of unresolved anger and sadness," Popp said. "(It) came into our family as a lot of chaos and dysfunctional behavior, and that left my sister and me to pick up the pieces."
Dr. David Kinzie, a psychiatrist who spoke at the conference, said the trauma of being in a combat zone has long-term psychological consequences for service members.
The psychological fallout from combat often includes depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcoholism and drug abuse — the last two often a response to untreated disorders, he said.
Conference attendee Hartsough, himself a retired clinical psychologist, said he was particularly concerned by the psychological impact of the war.
"The military people are exposed to huge amounts of trauma," he said. "It's a horrible thing to put them through."
Washington resident and featured speaker Lietta Ruger, however, focused on the loss of life. According to The Associated Press, 1,520 troops have died in Iraq since the beginning of the war.
Ruger herself has a son-in-law and a nephew who are deployed in Iraq.
"We need to get out, we need to get our kids safe," she said. "There is no argument (for the war) that has any value when you look at the human cost."
Ruger said she and her husband, Arthur, are members of the regional chapter of Military Families Speak Out, a nationwide organization of families that have loved ones in Iraq and are opposed to the war.
Arthur Ruger, who served in the Air Force in Vietnam, said every day is a trial for the families of service members.
"If your community has parents with sons, daughters, husbands in Iraq — talk to them. Help them out. Buck them up," he said.
Holding the U.S. government accountable for a costly, messy war, Arthur Ruger said, "(is) my duty to my son (and) to your son and daughter."
The Rev. Jeanne Pupke, a Universalist Unitarian minister and another speaker at the conference, said her partner's previous military service has informed her perspective on the war.
"People in the military are very concerned with not having a spurious war," she said. "The best military officers love their soldiers, so war means losing the very thing they love."
Pupke said she hoped people at the meeting would reach out to others who may not necessarily share their opinions in order to support the troops.
"The big illusion is it's somebody else's son or daughter that went to Iraq," Pupke said. "They're all our sons and daughters."
Gretchen Valido of Bend, another conference attendee, also stressed her support for U.S. troops despite her opposition to the war.
"We're not opposed to soldiers, we're opposed to the policies," she said. "I have a lot of empathy for them."
Event organizer Popp had a virtually identical comment.
"I get the sense that most people empathize with the soldiers but disagree with the policies," she said. "That's really hard for people, to get that subtlety. (Our opposition) is not about the troops." |
