By Wes Pedersen
Ten years.
Ten years to track down and assassinate the world’s most wanted assassin.
Ten years of war in two countries. Ten years of men and women killed in those wars and returned to Dover Air Force Base for transfer to Arlington National Cemetery or some other veterans’ cemetery.
Ten years of wounded men and women returning to Walter Reed hospital in Bethesda, Md., and veterans’ hospitals around the U.S.
Ten years of transformation, from a nation at peace to one roaring with anger and eager for retribution to one largely forgetful of the sacrifices being made by their troops on gritty battlefronts half a world way.
Ten years of transformation from a nation with American flags flying from porches and glued to bumpers to one largely devoid of such mementos of war save for “Support our troops” decals proudly displayed by the parents of the heroic men and women doing their jobs minus the hurrahs of earlier years
Ten years of transformation in the way wars are fought, with stealth bombers and unmanned drones now common, roadside land mines taking their weekly total of GIs, suicide bombers claiming the lives of soldiers and civilians alike.
Ten years of veterans searching for jobs when there are no jobs.
Ten years of transformation in the medical devices and appliances used to save lives and limbs on the battlefronts and at home. Ten years of constant miracles.
Ten years of transformation for the U.S. economy, from a country that had inherited a budgetary surplus to one deeply in debt to other countries. Ten years that have bled the country of human as well financial treasure.
Ten years of obscene profits for munitions makers and lobbyists on Capitol Hill. Ten years of contracts with the U.S. government for public relations crews trying to explain the war and publicize the work of the our military in trying to bring democracy to people who have known only authoritarian rule.
Ten years that will be extended if the armchair generals in Congress and the White House have their way.
Ten years of decline in American prestige abroad.
Ten years we can never recoup.
Ten years that tell us we must never let any conflict go on so long for so little gain. Ten years that say no more Vietnams, no more Afghanistans, no more Iraqs. No more saving countries that will revert to their old ways once we do actually leave.
Ten years of valor and sacrifice that tell us our fighting men and women merit every word of praise we can bestow upon them.
Ten years that remind us that wars are not won by politicians but by the grunts with boots on the ground who now seem so often to be the forgotten men and women of those wars.
Ten years that remind us that the first victims in the war against terrorism were largely civilians manning the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon, and grappling with the terrorists on a third plane aimed at Washington – and bringing it down over a field in Pennsylvania.
Ten years of tears and fears.
En garde, America!
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Wes Pedersen is a retired Foreign Service Officer and principal at Wes Pedersen Communications and Public Relations Washington, D.C.
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