…this is about healing, about moving on. We need to leave the bandages and the stitches in place long enough for the wound to heal. Then the stitches can be carefully removed. There will be scars, but they will fade in time. Our grief will lose its sharp edges and be replaced by memories of our loved ones. We will move on. If we try to heal, other nations will help us. Compassion is not dead in the world, though it has taken some tremendous hits in the past five years…
by Steve Osborn
When one has suffered an injury, be it a burn, gunshot, auto accident or anything else, we treat the injury. Then we give it time to heal up. Then we move on and resume our lives. Sometimes it takes therapy, or counseling, or just the love of friends and neighbors, but the process does go on, even when the injury has resulted in the loss of a loved one.
The fifth anniversary of 9-11 has come and gone. This was a terrible injury to all of us, indeed to the world, but what would you think of the doctor who came in to your room and periodically ripped off your bandages, tore loose the stitches, then railed about the accident as your fever rose. Suppose he did this every time you started to heal and set you back to the time and condition of the accident? At the same time, as long as you couldn’t leave the hospital, he made more money for himself and the hospital board.
I think you would have him up before the AMA for malpractice and possibly the hospital administration would be removed for allowing such a thing to happen, and to profit by it.
When 9-11 happened, the entire world was horrified. It collectively took us in its arms to comfort us. All we needed was a leader who would ask the world for help in bringing these people to justice so no one in the world need fear such acts again. Had we asked, almost every nation on earth would have turned itself inside out to bring the perpetrators to justice.
What did we get? A Supreme Court appointed, often failed, petty, draft dodging, well protected, schoolyard bully with delusions of grandeur, whose sole desire was to be a “war president.” Even the victims and families of victims of 9-11 asked that no more blood be shed in their names, that enough was enough. But, no, all Bush could do was cry for war and vengeance. How many deaths equals vengeance, Mr. Bush? We’ve lost as many of our children in Iraq and Afghanistan as died in the towers, with thousands of others shattered for life. How many peasants, women and children must die in the Middle East? Estimates range to over a hundred thousand, so far, with the toll rising every day. We lost three big buildings. How many cities and villages around the world must be put to fire and sword to slake your vengeance?
But, this is about healing, about moving on. We need to leave the bandages and the stitches in place long enough for the wound to heal. Then the stitches can be carefully removed. There will be scars, but they will fade in time. Our grief will lose its sharp edges and be replaced by memories of our loved ones. We will move on. If we try to heal, other nations will help us. Compassion is not dead in the world, though it has taken some tremendous hits in the past five years.
World War II was the greatest blood bath in history. For us, it began with the attack on Pearl Harbor and the loss of 2,388 killed and 1,178 wounded servicemen and civilians. It ended with the most horrendous act of destruction ever perpetrated, the atomic bombing of two Japanese cities.
We could have continued screaming “Remember Pearl Harbor!” to this day. We could still be putting Japanese in concentration camps. Instead, we healed. We helped heal Japan and Germany, helped them back to their feet, ended the occupation quickly and moved on. The result is that, though arguably not too good for our balance of trade, we drive our Hondas and Toyotas, watch our Toshiba TV’s and enjoy sushi and sashimi in Japanese restaurants. We eat bratwurst and sauerkraut in hofbraus and drive Mercedes Benz and Volkswagens.
In short, we healed. We let the wounds cover over and the scars fade. We moved on and rejoined the world and life. It is time to do that again and get on with our lives.
Stephen M. Osborn [send him email] is a freelance writer living on Camano Island in the Pacific Northwest. He is an “Atomic Vet.” (Operation Redwing, Bikini Atoll 1956, ) who has been very active working and writing for nuclear disarmament and world peace. He is a retired Fire Battalion Chief, lifelong sailor, writer, poet, philosopher, historian and former newspaper columnist. Steve is a featured columnist at www.populistamerica.com
