The Myth of Collateral Damage: Truth, Consequences and a Challenge to 'Say It Plain'

Maybe mainstream media's penchant for superficial and divisive reporting, combined with the Department of Defense and State's culture of secrecy, have created a popular vocabulary that reduces wide-scale human suffering to a necessary and insignificant cost, the equivalent of a few broken eggs. Maybe there are too many reporters telling the same story from a barely-sourced news feed instead of reporting from the ground, showing and telling the stories as they unfold.

At the outset of our invasion of Iraq, our press took its unquestioning cue from policy makers like Donald Rumsfeld, promulgating a Hollywood vision of post-war, Phase IV reconstruction Iraq where throngs of Iraqi citizens would wave in a new era of goodwill on the joyful breeze of thousands of American flags, so the Iraqis could cheer their noble liberators.

We know the story unfolded differently, and predictably. The throngs quickly became looters, and the flags were shelved. Made vulnerable by policies that wishing makes it so, our troops were making sacrifices on the premise that their own suffering and that of the Iraqi people is and always was for a greater, long-term good.

It is the tragedy of this invasion that the people we sought to help are suffering on a scale that should have been predictable and remains the Allied force's responsibility, given our plan for reconstruction and our failure to realistically plan for required troops, budgets, infrastructure, reconciliation, time, materiel, expertise, security, stability, and all the other factors required for a functional Iraqi government.

Caught in the tsunami of this war-of-choice, Iraqi men and women are being forced to face the very real possibility that they may never get home. If we do not address this in our press and in our policies, other forces unfriendly to our country will feed, secure and protect many of these refugees, and new generations will grow up hating us for invading with good intentions, but nonetheless having left them destitute and displaced.

What are the statistics?

• Nearly 5,000,000 Iraqi people are now displaced.
• Over 2,000,000 of these men, women and children live as refugees in neighboring countries
• These numbers represent the highest percentage of people seeking asylum in the world. (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)
• Total Iraqi population in crisis in and out of Iraq? 7,900,000
• Of these, approximately 750,000 are trying to survive in Jordan, where it is illegal for them to find legitimate employment because of their status as displaced persons from Iraq.
• As of January 2010, draconian cuts in UNHCR supported assistance will further reduce subsistence levels of health care, food, water and other assistance.
• Rising food prices have cut daily caloric food content from 1300 to 1100 calories per person, including children. That is for those who receive such food.

What are some of the consequences for this group of displaced persons?

According to the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children,

"Generally it is (displaced Iraqi) women who work (illegally) outside the home, since men and boys are more likely to be deported. Working illegally as waitresses... and domestic labor, women are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse by their employers and colleagues... Some women have resorted to sex work... to provide for their families, putting themselves at incredibly high risk of sexual violence. All of this takes place in a climate of complete impunity: women rarely come forward after they have been raped, and rarer still is the successful prosecution of the rapist."

Our press should be putting a face on these statistics. They should be telling the stories that turn this massive humanitarian crisis into a compelling, personal tragedy that moves our people and policy makers to take action. Precedent exists across modern American history; from the Displaced Persons Act of 1948 to the post-Vietnam War 'orderly departure' policies, modern American history is replete with instances where journalists informed the public and policy-makers, and America did the right things for displaced persons and for our country.

It is the role of the media to challenge us to consider that we should face this humanitarian crisis, if not out of basic decency then out of overriding self-interest, since displaced and desperate people are vulnerable to the influence of the first person or group to offer help.

The Fourth Estate has a responsibility to reach, challenge and inform the public and politicians, policy makers and military, to challenge the "party line" and provide us all with an unflinching analysis of what we would otherwise be unable to know or see.

How does our Fourth Estate use its unparalleled powers in response to a humanitarian crisis we helped create and can help to correct?

The choice is ours. We will have to respond to this crisis by design or by default. It would be refreshing to respond by design, instead of having to address further crises that unfold due to our neglect.

What can we do?

While the Departments of Defense and State would take broad issue with the position that the military or the State Department are somehow responsible for or condoning of physical abuse, torture, or the use of food as a weapon, Iraqi refugees who fled what remained of their homes experienced one or more of the gruesome practices, often at the hands of neighboring clans, tribes, ethnic and religious groups or competing and often physically combative political parties.

The current administration has pointed out that it inherited this problem from its predecessor. That said, this tragedy continues to unfold. It is time for proactive policy and action; for Americans to make friends of the people we were seeking to help by doing the right things for the refugees who attribute their current suffering to our reckless invasion and policy of reconstruction-through-wishful-thinking.

Let's do the right thing for the refugees, and we will surely benefit as we have benefited before from surges of gratitude, intellectual contributions, safety, alliance and innovation that every previous group of displaced persons has brought to our country as they return to their own country or emigrate to others.

The life of an Iraqi refugee is defined by lack of basic human necessities -- food, clothing, medical care, clean water, and education. These traumatic conditions stress in the extreme all aspects of their lives -- physical, emotional, psychological, financial, and spiritual. The results are predictable as solid families unravel into poverty, violence, hopelessness, and despair, becoming the perfect candidates for radical rage against those who would have been their liberators.

President Obama stated, on February 27, 2009, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina,

"let there be no doubt: Iraq is not yet secure, and there will be difficult days ahead. Violence will continue to be a part of life in Iraq. Too many fundamental political questions about Iraq's future remain unresolved. Too many Iraqis are still displaced or destitute... And even as Iraq's government is on a surer footing, it is not yet a full partner - politically and economically - in the region, or with the international community. In short, today there is a renewed cause for hope in Iraq, but that hope rests upon an emerging foundation."

Get them the help they need. Do it now while we still have the troops and other resources in place to facilitate their return and rehabilitation.

Luis Carlos Montalván is a former Army captain and the Director of the Iraq Veterans' Refugee Aid Association (IVRAA).

 

Comments

[Blackorpheus]

It is glibly inaccurate to say the US "did the right thing" by invading Iraq. However violently despotic a country may seem, it is still a sovereign country. Fundamental change should be generated by the people of that country; and, where that fails, by international bodies with a mandate for peace.

Yes, it is the US's responsibility to rebuild the country it razed for no legitimate reasons; and in the process of razing, killed or displaced many thousands of Iraqi non-combatants while littering the country with toxic depleted uranium which has a devastating effect of small children.

And whenever the mindless, ritualized invasion of Afghanistan and Pakistan ceases, the US will have a similar responsibility there.

Meanwhile the US suffers through its Great Recession.

[slowtono]

This is the purpose of the mideast wars. You want war we will give you war and all it's left over results. You want to attack some one and have a battle? fine you start it I'll choose where it will occur, your back yard! You want the glory of war well you are living it. This should be the report! 16 US casualties this week with 10,000 moslems killed. A weekly count of them and us. The truth about these wars is futility, for 4,000 dead Americans 2,0000000 moslems have died. Hope they are enjoying the honor of war!

[WilliamL]

I was a dependent in the USAF, 65-83, witnessed how offensive the self interest of the American Civilian population can be in regards to impact of our military forces upon the civilian populations. As we know, the draft was a principle motivator of anti-war demonstrator(s) then and the lack of a draft has equally impacted the lack of interest by many in this country in regards to a two front war currently underway.

As we saw in Vietnam following the Paris Peace Accords which, the concern for the civilian population in SE Asia was non-existent after the with-drawl of US forces from the region. As I understand, it was stipulated that in the event of genocide/mass violence upon the civilian population, US forces would return. Over 3 million people who were slaughtered by the Khmer Rouge may have appreciated the return of US soldiers and there are parallels in both theaters.

Although I believed at the time and still do that, our invasion of Iraq was premature at best and illegal at worst, the fact remains, the US has left a blood stain on the region that will take a life time to clean up and many in this country fail to recognize the responsibility towards these Human Beings.

The “way it goes” mentality is unacceptable. We have a moral reasonability for our use of force and it is in the interest of all Americans we address the human condition created.

[GarryLad]

As much as I would like to agree with you and even if I accept all of your numbers and the incredible suffering that this war is causing, I still accept this horror and misery as a collateral incident to War.

War is not a good even if intentions are good. Innocent people get hurt. I am glad the damage is considered collateral for I would never accept that a country, would, as a matter of policy cause this amount of harm intentionally.

The effects of war in Iraq are different than say the bombing war against Nazi Germany where Bomber Harris purposefully attacked population centers to crush the moral of the Germans. At the same time, it was this self same Bomber Harris who directed the bombings that made the Allied success in Normandy possible. French Civilians were killed in their thousands but I do believe that these deaths were collateral

[Tom Joad]

In a previous era, war was waged with an objective of conquest. To the victor went the spoils. But the history of war reveals that conquest never succeeds over the long march of time. Victory in war is an illusion. There is never 'victory', only misery for all parties. What's wrong with the human thought process that this simple truth cannot be realized?

[piul05]

Excellent article, Captain.

[rlugbill]

Sorry, people would rather read about balloon boy and Octomom and Jon and Kate. This sort of blame America story for human suffering doesn't sell advertising. That's what journalism is all about- $$.

People like the cheerleading-style coverage. USA! USA! The truth is painful and who wants to spend their spare time reading about painful things. Only a few masochistic types. Look at how many comments there are for this article versus how many comments there are about Jon Gosslin.

[research]

The USA doesn't care about it's own citizens, why should it care about foreigners?

[jajenkins]

It should care because in these circumstances it is guilty of more than just neglect.

[Billy Hell]

That is all just part of the US terror campaign against the peoples of the Middle East. It won't stop until they have all been brought to their knees and fully subjugated.

[mickthebiologist]

This is an astoundingly well-written story, from many angles. It is compelling, fluid, factual, well-reasoned, ethical in its precepts and correctly deduced.

It places responsibility for exposure, education and rectification of this most heinous of outcomes to an act of utter hegemony precisely where it belongs: the so-called Fourth Estate.

The lack of response so far to what Montalvan has iterated may be the most telling reality as to why this crime of crimes has such perpetual perpetration: the american media is totally culpable, and has contributed quite successfully to the denial rampant in us of a society.

Captain Montalvan, you are to be admired. Yours is the comportment so desperately needed by all military leaders and civilian counterparts who somehow see themselves as above or outside human misery and thus fail the test of true courage.

Keep writing, keep speaking, keep doing. You have emerged from this long hell a much wiser, stronger and necessary man than could ever be hoped for. You are an example for all of us.