Reflections on the Fourth Anniversary of the Attack on Iraq

Tragedy, according to the philosopher Hegel, occurs when the only things you can do are wrong, when, that is, every action open to you is an evil action.

The war in Iraq is a tragedy.

It is a tragedy because if we stay, we inflame passions and we promote more killing. Many people who have studied Iraqi attitudes and Iraqi behavior argue that the presence of over 100,000 Americans with guns and tanks was once a force for peace, but it is now inflaming Iraqis more than pacifying them. So if we stay, we give Iraqis more reason to kill us, and that gives us more reason to kill them--whether we kill in self-defense, or we kill as punishment, or we kill for revenge and anger. "Lead us not into temptation" says one of the most eloquent - and most important - of our cries for help. And every day and every minute we stay in Iraq we lead ourselves into temptation.

But if we pull out of Iraq, we have every reason to believe that the Civil War in Iraq will get even worse. We have good evidence that the Sunnis and the Shiites do not like each other. And that dislike has become hatred, and the hatred has become murderous. If we pull out of Iraq now, the killing will not stop.

Furthermore, we have some responsibility for the murderous hatred of Sunnis and Shiites. We started the war four years ago, the war that both fed the fire and took the lid off the boiling pot at the same time. And just as importantly, over hundreds of years we have been happy to see that fire continue to burn, at least a little. The West has used ethnic and religious rivalries to divide and conquer and to help keep people poor and desperate so that we can to buy things more cheaply.

Martyrs have shown us that poor treatment does not force a person to hate, and so the Sunnis and the Shiites have not been forced by some all-powerful America to hate each other. But we certainly have some responsibility for creating the conditions in which hatred is the easiest response.

So the war in Iraq is a tragedy. If we stay, we foster bloodshed and suffering, and if we go we do the same. Our action is evil no matter which way we turn.

What, then, do we do?

Hegel thought there was a certain inevitability to life and that we should not spend too much time worrying about the suffering that is inevitable in life.

But those of us who see the world a little more through the lens of Christianity would probably say that the root of tragedy lies in our sinfulness, the distance that we create between God and ourselves.

So whatever we do, we need to start with radical repentance. We need to put the lives and the prosperity of the Iraqis above our own. We need to say, "We have done wrong. We have gotten us all into a position that we cannot get out of on our own. We need the help of the God whom both Christians and Moslems worship."

Then, I hope, we will be able to see more clearly just how to get out of this tragedy. But I expect that we might have to suffer to end this tragedy. Jesus did.

Comments (1)

Nora Thomason

Paul, many times I've wished that we would show repentance - not just to God, but, to the world. In my imagination, I can picture that many new resources would rush in to help us (from Europe, other Mid East countries, etc.), that the insurgent leaders would lose their appeal to the Iraqis, that the Iraqis themselves would be willing to take a deep breath - if only George Bush would say to the world, "I have made a mistake. I intended to create a regime change in a country that was not mine to control. Others warned me against it but I went ahead. I can see now that I have created so much pain, hardship and sorrow for so many people. I can see now that what I did was a terrible thing. I want to ask my own people in the US, the people of the world, and especially the Iraqi citizens to allow me to make restitution. I am asking the international community and leaders of other countries to work with me now to repair and rebuild what my wrongful actions have destroyed. I ask that world leaders now assume the leadership role in Iraq and give the guidance I need to repay my debt to Iraq and its people."

If George Bush would say that - I think the world would go hush and so many people would rush in to help.

Posted by Nora Thomason | March 20, 2007 4:24 PM

Posted on March 20, 2007 16:24

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