It turns out that Edwin Starr was wrong when he sang, "War, huh. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. Say it again." The war with Iraq has served one undeniable purpose -- it has united Americans across social, racial and economic lines for the greater good of all.
Do you remember the movie "Independence Day"? The 1996 sci-fi thriller was ostensibly about Earth being attacked by a superior and hostile race of beings hellbent on our destruction. In the film, the skies over the world's major cities are darkened by the mass of the alien spaceships. Eventually, the aliens unleash their power and destroy the White House with one wild, kinetic, firestorm blast of condensed energy, before the citizens of Earth rally to save themselves from total annihilation.
While the movie plays well on the action and special effects level, I believe that writer/director Roland Emmerich was attempting to send a much deeper message to the summer movie-going audience. In one poignant scene, people from all sorts of races and ethnicities respond to a call to arms by America's president -- played by Bill Pullman -- and set aside their differences in the face of a common enemy. What Emmerich was trying to tell us is that the reasons that we use to divide us from each other and to hate one another will dissolve when we are faced with a crisis that threatens our way of life and our very survival.
It is a lesson that has been proven true across America over the past fortnight.
Many Americans live for the diversion of television. We lead the world in ownership of VCRs and DVD players. We have TIVO, so that we can watch our favorite programs at the precise hour that we deem fit. Many of our homes contain more remote controls than they do books. "TV Guide" is the country's most widely read magazine. Yet, the moment that the first bomb dropped on Baghdad we learned that NBC's been lying to us these past many years -- it really isn't "Must See TV." We've learned that we can live without Ross and Rachel and the doctors of "ER." We discovered that it doesn't really matter who eats the most disgusting bugs the fastest on "Fear Factor" or who wins the most immunity challenges on "Survivor," because reality television -- in the truest sense of the phrase -- shocked and awed us into praying for the quick return of our boys and girls battling a war that the United Nations failed to endorse.
While there can be no doubt that we would trade almost anything to have spared the many lives that have been and will continue to be lost in this war, the fact that the cycle of mindless television viewing has been broken is a good thing for many Americans.
Another way that the war has brought us together is evidenced by the many signs that have been erected on local businesses in support of our soldiers. The psychology behind the signs is peculiar because they portend to be a public declaration of support, yet the people they are meant to inspire will never have the chance to read them. It could be argued that they are designed to comfort the families the soldiers left behind, but I somehow think that sentiment rings false. Can you imagine one of your friends saying, "I was really upset that Bob was sent to Iraq with the 914th, but then I saw that Pizza Hut had a sign up saying they supported the troops and I felt much better"?
The signs do serve a useful purpose, however. They are created by us, for us. By publicly stating our support for the troops, we are also publicly declaring our commonality as Americans united against an enemy brandishing the threat of unleashing weapons of mass destruction. George Carlin used to do a bit where he said that your house is just a place to keep your stuff. The more stuff your own, the bigger house you need. Carlin then went on to say that when you packed for a vacation you had to decide which of your stuff was the most important, for those were the items that made it into your suitcase. Carlin also mused on the scenario that unfolds when you take a daytrip while on your vacation. Again you assess and prioritize your stuff and take an even smaller amount -- in a duffle or handbag -- along for the day.
War makes us do that as it pertains to how we define ourselves. In times of peace, someone locally may describe himself or herself in somewhat the manner that follows: I am an American. I am a New Yorker. I live in Niagara County in the city of Niagara Falls. I live in the South End. I am a registered Democrat. I am a Caucasian. I am a male.
In wartime, that same description gets shortened to this: I am an American.
It is what is most essential of our stuff -- the daytrip handbag, if you will.
Is it safe to say that even those among us who are crippled inside with bigotry, sexism and racism are liberated from those demons in the face of a common enemy? When Iraqi television broadcast images of captured soldiers, the most haunting detail was the look of terror that clung to the eyes of Spc. Shoshana Johnson. The 30-year-old single mom, from El Paso, Texas, is African-American. Is it possible that the neo-Nazis and members of the KKK that call America home took delight in her horror and wished her ill? After all, she put her life on the line to ensure them the continuing freedom to espouse their doctrine of hatred, protected by our laws of free speech.
War has taught us that our enemies make no distinction as to the color of one's skin. Those in power in Iraq despise all Americans -- black, white, brown, red and yellow. Do you think that the guy with the white hood tucked into his suitcase as he flies the not-quite-so-friendly skies would rather sit next to two black men or two followers of Saddam? War, like politics, makes for strange bedfellows. Sometimes that is for the betterment of us all.
If I could be granted one wish pertaining to the aftermath of the conflict in Iraq, it would be that our memories run long and deep in remembering that we stood united in support of our men and women in uniform. For this one moment in time, we classify our fellow man by three colors and three colors only -- the red, white and blue of America.
If we can still say the same when the doves of peace replace the planes of war in the skies, then this war may indeed have been good for something after all.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | April 1 2003 |