I have not seen many over the years, but I always smile to myself when I see someone wearing a ‘peace poppy’ pin with a small dove in the center of the flower. It of course symbolizes the remembrance of soldiers who died to defend our nation’s sovereignty, but it also more importantly represents a poignant call for peace so that no more soldiers need to die in the future. In a region wracked by civil wars and international invasions, I can’t help but sense that the notions of remembrance and peace here in Central Asia and the nearby Middle East resonate much more clearly – or at least differently – than back in Canada…
Every time a member of the coalition forces is killed in Afghanistan, the Western world mourns, and understandably so. S/he was inevitably a valiant and patriotic soldier dedicated to the noble cause at hand (presumably the liberation of the Afghan people from an oppressive Taliban/Al-Qaeda regime). Since the start of the war in 2001, 96 Canadian troops have been killed. All of their families and friends have gone through unimaginable grief and hardship but somehow find the strength to rise above their pain and remember what their loved ones died for.
I’m sure I’m going to get bashed for my next point, but believe me when I say that I am in no way trying to detract from the efforts of the coalition forces or to tarnish the memories of our fallen brothers and sisters. However, I’m shocked by the inexcusable dearth of concern about the number of Afghan civilian casualties, particularly in comparison to the number of military casualties (the latter of which, unfortunately, are a part of war, whereas the former should never be). Although I much prefer something more humanistic than the cold, hard facts, they admittedly paint an appropriately grave picture.
As mentioned above, since the start of the war in 2001, 96 Canadian troops have been killed. During the same time frame, upwards of 7000 Afghan civilians have been killed at the hands of coalition military forces. SEVEN THOUSAND. If there were even a few Canadian civilian casualties, we would be up in arms and demanding swift retribution, legal or otherwise. There have been several coalition air strikes that have ‘mistakenly’ hit villages and killed sickeningly large numbers of Afghan civilians at a time. And where do these strikes typically occur?? At none other than such terrorist hotspots as weddings and family picnics. Disgusting. You’d think that with the trillions of dollars in annual military spending, the coalition forces would be able to recognize the difference between a field of playing children and armed Taliban insurgents.
I realize that the situation in Afghanistan is infinitely more complex than the straight-up numbers of casualties. Nevertheless, based on those alone, at what point do we acknowledge that we’re doing more harm than good? One of my friends here who worked in Kabul for 2 years never passes up the opportunity to remind me of all the innocent Afghans who are killed by coalition forces and not even mentioned in the news. It’s as if their deaths never happened – or as if they never even existed in the first place. It’s pretty easy to not care about people who don’t exist, isn’t it? Even if you are somehow able to brush this off as ‘part of war’ (which I hope you are not), you should at least be able to acknowledge the negative implications for our own troops: the more civilian casualties we inflict, the more the Afghan people harbour distrust and hatred towards us and retaliate. Wouldn’t you?
Some people have told me that before you have peace, you must have war. I could not disagree more. War does not have to be the default state of humanity; it only seems that way when we have world leaders who convince us that there is no other option. Okay, I can acknowledge from a pragmatic biological standpoint that homo sapiens are a rather opportunistic and exploitative species, but as compassionate people, not genetically programmed ants, we are capable of standing up to and condemning something that is indisputably wrong like innocent civilian casualties as an appalling, disgraceful excuse for humanity. With increasingly sophisticated weaponry and communications systems (guided by the strategic tunnel vision of many world leaders), the unambiguous rules of engagement of good old hand-to-hand combat are a thing of the past. A general now has the ability to sit in his command center and wipe out entire countries on the other side of the world with the mere press of a button; I suppose it is a whole lot easier to make such a decision when he doesn’t even have to see the faces or hear the screams of the resulting pain and grief. It’s no longer just the soldiers who feel the icy fingers of the grips of war around their necks, but also scores of innocent men, women, and children – the very people the coalition forces are supposedly there to protect – who are displaced, maimed, raped, and killed on the so-called path to freedom and peace.
Here’s to hoping that while we mourn our own fallen this and each subsequent November 11th, we also remember the casualties of the innocent – regardless of what ‘side’ they’re on – and contemplate the price of war we are willing to pay to uphold our ideals.
