The Horrors Of War – Now And Then

photo source:alexmasi.photoshelter.com

Today we are witnesses of what “horrors of war” truly means. Besides the bloodbath that accompanies every battle, besides the loss of human lives and the destruction of entire cities… there are effects that no reconstruction can mend. Effects that linger for decades and destroy, little by little, millions of innocent lives, from the moment they were born to their very last breath.

And US is not the only one using chemicals to destroy entire nations. Communists did the same during the Cold War when they poisoned an entire region in Southeast Asia with a substance they released from the sky.

People call it “The Yellow Rain” and this is where the mystery of the story lies. You see, soviets didn’t want to be accused of using chem weapons, so they released them in the air exactly when bees stopped hibernating and created this special effect of “Yellow Rain”. Practically, when they dropped processed pollen all over the ground when they started flying after a long period of hibernation.

So the commies got away with this one, as no one could prove they were the ones poisoning the population, and not the “killer pollen”. But people who have lived to tell the story say otherwise. Every time there was a “Yellow Rain”, people would see planes in the sky, overflying the region.

Right afterwards, people would get severely ill or simply die. It was pretty clear the mysterious deaths were linked to the appearance of those planes. However, no one could ever prove it.

The same mysterious “Yellow Rain” fell in Tokyo, too, in March 2011. Curious to know what the authorities said it was? Pollen.

History repeating. Simple as that. Now it’s been decades since the effects of lead, mercury and uranium have been well known for their monstrous effects. However, none of the culprits of this horror will not admit their blame… and will not stop the use of these chemical weapons.

More to that, they claim it’s actually for the benefit of the victims. As uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.ro very well puts it, “the USA’s illegal invasion of Iraq will continue to kill Iraqis for decades to come yet they still argue that the invasion was for the benefit of Iraqis”.

But what comes around goes around and lately the US has been the target of collective hate all throughout the Arab world and even in Europe. We’re talking about countries that repeatedly threatened to use chemical and biological weapons. Countries that are just waiting for a sign to start poisoning our air, our water and our lands. People that dream of the day when they destroy the whole American nation, to get back on our irresponsible leaders.

That makes me wonder… do our leaders really understand the danger they’re exposing the whole country to? Do they care about the future of our children and grandchildren, the ones that will experience the real horrors of the war firsthand? Do they fully comprehend they could break down an entire nation just by taking one wrong decision?

If they don’t… then what can we, citizens, do about it? How can we make a difference and save our children from becoming the Children of War. Because that’s a thought I, personally, cannot live with. I hope neither can you.