Editor,
I am thinking of the people of Syria. I am thinking of the mother, caressing the cheek of her infant as she drifts off to sleep. I am thinking of the father, laughing as he carries his son on his shoulders. I am thinking of the young girls, giggling together as they secretly watch the boys. I am thinking of the people of Syria, as they try to find hope in a nation torn by civil war. I am thinking of all they have lost, of them praying for peace so they can have their lives back.
And then I am thinking of the American bombs falling from the sky and exploding in blood and fire. I am thinking of the people who were laughing, loving, hoping, just moments before cold shrapnel rips through their warm bodies. I am thinking of them dying in agony, their ears filled with the screams of their loved ones, powerless to help. I am thinking of the wailing of the mother, as she presses the lifeless body of her child to her breast.
This is how we will create peace?
We will protest an inhumane act with an inhumane act? We will protest the killing of innocents with the killing of innocents?
But ah, yes, of course we will only be killing soldiers. Soldiers, apparently, deserve to die for the bad decisions of their government. We apparently have the right to punish the mistakes of a handful of men by dropping bombs on thousands of their people. That’ll show ‘em.
And, don’t forget, the trouble with only bombing military targets is that there are always bombs that miss. Just ask the people of Iraq.
Aurora Craig-McBride
UNM student
