A mother greets her son. Her knowing smile tells him ‘not to worry I wont embarrass you.’ She ruffles the top of his head. A distilled glee radiates from the boy, and the mother beams with pride.
The boy’s brothers run up to greet him searching for the insult that will best convey their affection. “You look stupid in that hat” one of the brothers says, their quiet admiration now beginning to show. The boy picks up his khaki clothing and knapsack, and with relief prepares for the rest of his journey home.
I live in a city that is home to one of the biggest military bases in Australia. Our budget thrives predominantly on the town’s involvement with the defence force. ‘Lavarack Barracks’ as they are called are essentially our bread and butter.
I see sights like this all the time young boys coming to the city to train for their ‘long’ and ‘prosperous’ career in the army. Hoards of men in open sided khaki trucks jeering and shouting at each other as they are transported to and from different sections of the base. Every time I see one of these trucks passing through our often quiet roads I can’t help but recall every doomsday movie I have ever seen.
I am often hearing complaints from women my age who’s boyfriends are overseas – again. These women become different people for three or four months at a time. They act as though someone had left a hole in their stomach - constantly depressed or angry. In two weeks I will be attending the memorial service of a young man killed in Afghanistan.
Every moral code I have ever stood by tells me that what I am witnessing is wrong. Does this mother not realize that she is supporting the preparation of her son for his early death? Don’t these women understand that it’s quite probable that one day their boyfriends aren’t going to come home? Don’t they ever ask why they are shipping their kids off to face almost certain emotional trauma?
A pointless war has nearly reached a pointless end, and now America is just fishing for minerals. I simply don’t understand how an endless charade that is getting nowhere can manage to fill Townsville residents with such swelling pride that they would overlook something like the death of a young boy.
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These people aren't dying for nothing you know. Sure, deep down it might just be America trying to gain access to fossil fuel deposits but that doesn't mean it's still not doing good for the Afghani people. The human rights violations that are still ongoing in the Taliban controlled regions are a travesty. Those boys died with more meaning in their short lives than I will have in my (hopefully) long one.
ReplyDeleteIt'd be nice if the cost of liberating a people from a totalitarian government was nothing, but it's not.
True_Libertine you are right when you say the human rights violations by the Taliban are a travesty, but western involvement hasn't entirely been a beacon of sunshine for the locals. America has wiped out entire villages in Afghanistan, and did not rebuild them even though they promised otherwise. I don't believe those boys died with any meaning. It seems as though the war is coming to a close. England has pulled out already. Certainly there is a cost for liberation, but war has never been the only option.
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