53421972.

doc Page 1 of 5

January 31, 2008

Iniquities of War, Inequities of Life

By Ray McGovern

“For the oppressors, what is worthwhile is to have more — always more — even at the
cost of the oppressed having less or having nothing. For them, to be is to have and to be
the class of the ‘haves.’ ”
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Finally, the truth is seeping out. Contrary to how President George W. Bush has tried to
justify the Iraq war in the past, he has now clumsily — if inadvertently — admitted that
the invasion and occupation of Iraq was aimed primarily at seizing predominant influence
over its oil by establishing permanent (the administration favors “enduring”) military
bases.
He made this transparently clear by adding a signing statement to the defense
appropriation bill, indicating that he would not be bound by the law’s prohibition against
expending funds:
“(1) To establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the
permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq,” or
“(2) To exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq.”
But, if you have been asleep for the past five years, you may ask, what about Iraq’s
weapons of mass destruction and its ties to al-Qaeda?
A recent study by the Center for Public Integrity found that Bush made 260 false claims
about these in the two years after 9/11. He was followed closely by then-Secretary of
State Colin Powell with 254.
Nor can they any longer pretend they were deceived by faulty intelligence, since
accumulating hard evidence shows they knew exactly what they were doing.
Moreover, it has become abundantly clear that the “surge” of 30,000 troops into Iraq
was aimed — pure and simple — at staving off definitive defeat until Bush and Vice
President Dick Cheney are safely out of office.
Some, but not all, of those 30,000 troops are slated for withdrawal, but those who still
expect more sizable withdrawals have not been reading the tea leaves. It is altogether
likely there will still be some 150,000 U.S. troops, and even more than that number of
contractors, in Iraq a year from now.
In the administration’s view, the oil-and-bases prize is well worth the indignity of
refereeing a civil war and additional troop casualties.
That view was reflected recently in the words of a well-heeled suburbanite, who
suggested to me, “You must concede that a few GIs killed every week is a small price to
pay for the oil we need. Many more died in Vietnam, and there wasn’t even any oil
there.”
That person was unusually blunt, but I believe his thinking may be widely shared, at least
subconsciously, by those Americans who are not directly affected by the war.
It is easier to assimilate and parrot the administration’s dishonesty than to confront the
reality that these are consequential lies. They bring untold death and destruction — and
53421972.doc Page 2 of 5

not only in Iraq, where several hundred thousand civilians are dead and one out of every
six families has been displaced — but to thousands of our fellow citizens as well.
The Human Cost
Not only have almost 4,000 American troops been killed, but another 30,000 have been
wounded in action. Based on VA documents obtained by Veterans for Common Sense,
nearly 264,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans already have been treated at VA
hospitals, including more than 100,000 for mental health conditions.
According to a Harvard University report, VA is projected to spend up to $700 billion over
the next 40 years for medical care and disability payments for veterans of the two wars.
Add the billions sunk every week into the quagmire of Iraq -- it is madness.
Soon, you will have a trillion-dollar war, while our Treasury is bankrupt, our economy is in
shambles, our infrastructure crumbles, and oil company profits soar.
For a fraction of the money wasted on an un-winnable occupation-cum-armed-referee-
duty in Iraq, premium health care could be provided to every American, including those
veterans whom we owe big time, and the almost 50 million of our brothers and sisters
who lack health insurance.
The iniquities of war have widened the inequities in our society — the gap between the
haves and the have-nots.
I am one of the haves; it is not right that I should have so disproportionate a share of the
nation’s wealth and opportunity. And nowhere is this more obvious than the access to
excellent health care to which privilege has “entitled” me.
A recently discovered challenge to my health brought this home to me like a ton of
bricks.
Why Me?
The doctors said they needed more tissue from what they called the “mass” in my lower
abdomen, so they could determine what kind of cancer had set up shop there.
There was some sense of urgency, so just days later a surgeon made room for me at the
end of a very busy New Year’s Eve.
The cutting was over; the stitches were in; the pain was slight; and there I was, wide
awake in a comfortable hospital room, welcoming 2008 with painful questions.
For the hundredth time I found myself asking, Why me?
But wait — it may not be what you’re thinking.
The troubling question was why was I privileged to have prompt access to the best in
medical care, when such is not available to most of our veterans and some 50 million
sisters and brothers in America.
We are called to be concerned about our brothers and sisters. It did not seem fair.
Why was it that I could expect excellent doctors to plan a course of action that would
shrink the grapefruit-sized cancerous mass and add still more years to my 68?
What about the others? Without access to good doctors and advanced medical
technology, would they not be likely to become aware until their cancer was the size of a
melon — perhaps too late?
The anesthesia had worn off, and the only real discomfort came from the dangling
questions.
53421972.doc Page 3 of 5

December had brought surprise and new awareness. I needed some quiet time to
process it all, and the turn of the year seemed appropriate. So I turned off the TV and
scribbled what follows:
To hear I had been invaded by cancer was a bummer. But from the very start that
unwelcome surprise was softened by awareness that I was one of the lucky ones. No, not
“lucky” — privileged.
A health insurance card lay in the white knapsack full of privilege that I carry around with
me, usually without much awareness on my part. The voice of conscience was
whispering that it is not right to be unaware.
One out of six Americans have no insurance card in their knapsack or in the plastic bag
that serves as their chest of drawers. Is that the America of which we were once so
proud?
It started with my swollen right leg. No big deal, I thought; I had simply sprained that
ankle too many times playing basketball. And besides, varicose veins run in my family.
Small wonder my blood was having trouble circulating down that way.
But at my annual physical my doctor saw it differently. We needed to find out what was
causing the swelling. Sclerotherapy, a sophisticated, expensive procedure seemed
indicated, but would my insurance cover it? It would, so we went ahead.
But the swelling got worse, suggesting some kind of blockage higher up. Enter the world
of multimillion-dollar technology — CT-scan, PET-scan, and pinpointing of the mass,
followed quickly by a needle biopsy. All covered by insurance.
It looked like lymphoma. But the oncologist wanted to be sure of exactly what variety of
lymphoma it was before he decided what the optimum treatment regime might be.
Hence, the New Year’s Eve surgery and extraction of tissue immediately dispatched to
the Mayo Clinic for a thorough pathology report. See what I mean about privileged?
Stress Tests...
My thoughts went back to the thallium stress test before the surgery. The nurses
injected some dye and measured my heart on an accelerating treadmill to induce stress.
They encouraged me, stood ready to catch me if I fell off.
And I found myself thinking of less benign ways to induce stress — stress positions,
sensory deprivation, and what President Bush calls “an alternative set of procedures.”
And my thoughts went to Guantanamo and the hundreds of prisoners flown there in
shackles with no assurance they would survive the kind of deliberately induced stress
they would encounter there.
And then they strapped me onto a narrow gurney where I had to remain still for twenty
minutes while another million-dollar machine hovered low over my chest and took
pictures. There were two technicians and nurses there to ensure my comfort and allay
my concerns.
And I thought of the gurneys of Guantanamo and the strapped-in prisoners surrounded
by other kinds of folks, including physicians and psychologists who, in a mockery of the
Hippocratic oath, do their best to inflict, not alleviate pain.
...and Suicide
I also thought of the two dozen Guantanamo detainees who tried to starve themselves to
death two and a half years ago. They, too, were strapped onto gurneys, while thick
plastic tubes were forced through their noses to force-feed enough nourishment to keep
them alive, lest the Bush administration be embarrassed.
53421972.doc Page 4 of 5

On June 10, three detainees did succeed in hanging themselves, the first successful
suicides after 41attempts by some 25 individual detainees.
Those detainees’ hope was for the release that comes with death; I could hope for
healing.
The three who killed themselves incurred the wrath of Guantanamo commander, Rear
Adm. Harry B. Harris, Jr., who announced that the suicides were “not an act of
desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare against us.”
In similar spirit, Colleen Graffy, deputy assistant secretary of state for public diplomacy,
told the BBC that the suicides “certainly (are) a good PR move to draw attention.”
I wonder how Graffy would describe the actions of those U.S. veterans experiencing such
suffering that they, too, commit suicide.
A recent CBS study showed that in 2005 alone, 6,256 veterans of Korea, Vietnam, Iraq,
and Afghanistan took their own lives, many of them after experiencing very long waiting
lines for medical treatment. That is an average of 17 suicides a day. Shame on us!
Many U.S. servicemen and women can blame their cancer on contamination from the
depleted uranium used in artillery and other shells and toxic chemicals that have
saturated regions of Iraq, including populated areas, leading to a spurt of cancer
illnesses.
Against this background, I reflected on how fortunate I was that the cause of the cancer
that invaded me would probably remain a mystery. I wondered how it would feel to be
able to trace a fatal disease to the instruments of war; how it would feel to be an Iraqi
parent watching a child die of cancer, or living in fear that a new child might be born
with serious birth defects.
No, I cannot blame my illness on someone’s negligence, or cavalier disregard of the
consequences of highly toxic weaponry. But thousands of Iraqis can.
And so, too, can those U.S. troops who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq — including
in the virtually “casualty-less” Gulf War in 1991. How many Americans are aware that, of
the almost 700,000 deployed to theater during the 1991 Gulf War, roughly one in three
has sought medical care from the VA?
You didn’t know that? Please ask yourself why.
Higher Powers, Favorite Philosophers
President Bush has recently taken to talking again about his “higher power” and
redemption.
The higher power with whom I am familiar is concerned first and foremost with justice
and then (only then) peace. In the biblical sense, peace is nothing more nor less than the
experience of justice.
I would guess the president’s higher power was appalled at the Coliseum-type spectacle
Monday evening, as the President of the United States played cheerleader for Team
America killing still more people — to standing ovations from his supporters in Congress.
Nor would the person President Bush has called his “favorite political philosopher,” Jesus
of Nazareth, be likely to endorse the spectacle, much less join in. He had a pretty clear
take on all this.
As we reflect on the growing inequality in this country, manifested so clearly in whether
or not one has access to quality health care, we might remind the president of what his
favorite philosopher had to say about goats — not as in “My Pet Goat,” but goats
portrayed as lining up for a serious, long-term “alternative set of procedures.”
53421972.doc Page 5 of 5

“And the goats will turn and ask: ‘Lord, when did we see you...ill...and not attend to your
needs?’
“And he will answer: ‘As often as you neglected to do it for the least of these, you
neglected to do it for me.’ ” (Matthew 25)

Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of
the Saviour in Washington, DC. He was a CIA analyst for 27 years, and is co-founder of
Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).