Taking Life for Granted

Trey Smith

Over the course of my lifetime, the United States has been involved in numerous wars or something like a war that is called something else. Each time the president comes before the American people you can be assured that you'll hear certain terms, phrases and words bandied about: national interests, national security, freedom, democracy, nuclear deterrence, halting the spread of communism and/or fighting terrorism. But there is one general sentiment I don't think a one of them has uttered -- the sanctity of life.

It seems to me that most government leaders and the ruling elites take life for granted -- at least, lives other than their own. How else could they so easily adopt policies and strategies that lead to many deaths, maimings, injury, poverty and suffering!

Our current presidential administration has fallen in love with drone warfare. While most of the deaths caused by drones are rarely acknowledged, when we do hear about them, it's always in terms of fighting terrorism and preserving our national security. I can't recall President Obama offering the slightest bit of remorse for "accidentally" killing civilians. It's like the thought never crossed his mind!

Not only do our governmental leaders not show much concern for the scores of innocent civilians who have died at our hands, they also don't show much concern for the lives of our own soldiers! Remember back a few years when we learned that the Bush administration was shortchanging our soldiers in the field by not supplying them with adequate body armor? That's really a callous and uncaring attitude!

Once our soldiers have completed their service, we don't offer them much in the way of superior health care or assistance in dealing with the emotional horrors of war. Many of them become throwaway people -- their lives forever damaged, never to be redeemed nor reclaimed.

And it's not just in terms of war that we see this general disregard for the sanctity of life. Governments around the globe are instituting draconian austerity measures which impact the least among us the most. Here in the US, it has been reported that heating assistance programs are being cut to the bone during the coldest months of the year! For seniors on fixed incomes, this can be tantamount to issuing them a death sentence!

Shouldn't protecting and enhancing life be the strongest criteria of any country's national interests? What's the point of adopting measures for a nation's national security if the greatest enemy of the people turns out to be their own government? If we truly believe in the notion of the sanctity of life, wouldn't we go to extreme measures to ensure that innocent civilians are not killed and maimed as we prosecute war?