Veterans for Peace
Last January, on a cold and somber Sunday afternoon, on my way out of the Ashes and Snow exhibition, I walked by the Santa Monica Pier and into a field of white crosses There was little left to the imagination but the Arlington West Memorial stirred my heart. The white crosses were for all the fallen military men and women, most of them very young, that the war in Iraq has claimed. I now vividly remember that Sunday afternoon because I recently read that a similar memorial in Santa Barbara was being discontinued; There are too many crosses and it is difficult to properly maintain the Memorial.
Obviously, current political events have brought the war in Iraq into sharp focus but it all pales in comparison to the reality portrayed by all those white crosses. I consider myself non-partisan and as such give little attention to the all the political reasons for the war in Iraq and all the political fallout that has resulted and will continue to result from it. However, all those white crosses require reflection. I do not want to be part of a cynical nation that believes in sinister reasons for the war in Iraq. I rather believe that our President and his administration were misguided. I rather believe that our President's intentions were good: To combat global terrorism far away from our shores and to establish a beacon for democracy that would spread throughout the Middle East. Otherwise, how can one properly acknowledge all those white crosses sown into the sands of Santa Monica? All those dreams never to be reaped from the sands of Iraq?
Of course, I also believe that "... the road to hell is paved with good intentions!"
Labels: ramble
