Never-ending Wars, a Worldview, and a Christian Enigma - Pt. 1

A question that readily comes to mind when considering our nation’s current involvement in hostilities abroad is:

Who ultimately pays the wages of war?

From the United States’ entry into World War I until today, more than 600,000 Americans have lost their lives in combat; a total equal to the current population of cities such as Baltimore, Boston or Denver. By any measure, that’s a terribly steep price to pay.

The question becomes all the more compelling when we stop to consider that the law of the land has been cast aside in favor of a quasi dictatorial institution that now allows for war-making decisions to reside solely within the oval office; as opposed to where they should be -- in the people’s house: the Congress of the United States of America.

One very sad answer is that far-too-many innocent people all-too-often pay the ultimate price. When civilian non-combatants are injured or killed, the garish term “collateral damage” cavalierly minimizes the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) who have suffered such fate since the USA first invaded Iraq in Gulf War I.

The veil of convenient ignorance, however, is being shredded to reveal the ugly and brutal side of war. From the torture scenes at Abu Ghraib, to the killing of innocent civilians—including women and children—at Haditha, Iraq and Kandahar, Afghanistan, even the most casual observer would have to conclude that as opposed to [supposedly] creating democracies friendly to the USA, we are rather giving rise to the recruiting efforts of our sworn enemies -- as well as subjecting ourselves to severe judgement from the community of nations at large.

Thus, it cannot but be concluded, that the consequences of America’s Middle-East foreign policy—from the diminishing of our constitutional rights at home, to foreign policy failures abroad, to the trillions wasted by engaging in devastating, unconstitutional and fruitless wars—have been negative in the extreme.

One final food-for-thought question: exactly who are the profiteers of perpetual wars?