by Joel Lidstrom

There has been a lot a talk about ìcourageî lately, and how it has affected each of our presidential candidate's lives. The military said John Kerry was an unusually courageous naval commander; a few today say he was a dishonorable soldier. Still others cite the courage of George Bush to send troops into Iraq.

When I was of draft age during the Vietnam War, I didnít have the ìcourageî to do what it took to escape the draft. My brother did. He had the daring to pretend to be crazy. He saw a psychiatrist repeatedly in hopes of convincing him to provide a deferment. (My brother didn't get it, but did get a high lottery number. He is a psychiatrist today.) Of Mr. Bush's courage regarding Vietnam, I am unsure. I do know that Mr. Kerry had the courage to volunteer for two tours of duty in Vietnam.

Despite fighting valorously in Vietnam, Mr. Kerry also had the courage to tell the Congress that what this country was doing there was ill-conceived, and harming us as a nation. Today, some among us seem to have a loose kind of courageñcall it recklessnessñin smearing Mr. Kerry. I can only think that these people hate any soldier who is simultaneously more courageous than they, and more aware that the result of war is not all glory and triumph, but also grief and profound loss. (It is here that Mr. Bush could show some true courage, and forthrightly repudiate anyone attacking veterans on the basis of their political views.)

Some call President Bush's prosecution of the war in Iraq a courageous response to the attacks of 9/11. But Mr. Bush has admitted that Iraq had nothing to do with the attacks. Now that we are there, many cite his unwavering response to spiraling violence as evidence of his courage. But why keep our troops in such a precarious position when it was such a tremendous mistake to put them there in the first place? After all, our diplomatic pressure, with the help of our allies, had successfully forced Saddam Hussein to completely disarm (though we didn't know it at the time) and agree to unfettered inspections of virtually his entire country. It is no surprise, then, that most of the world, shocked and deeply agonized by the events of 9/11, has turned against Mr. Bush for seriously escalating a situation that was slowly improving.

We now face a rapidly growing pool of Iraqi citizens who, while initially welcoming the fall of Saddam, have grown to hate us. Why? Ten thousand Iraqis ñ mothers, fathers, children and grandparents ñ have died since we invaded Iraq. Despite this, any way you measure it, the quality of life there continues to decline. There is little safety for Iraqi families in many parts of the country, and a large number of children have been unable to return to school. Where there had been electricity, often there is none; where there had been a substantial network of health care, now there is little. There is vastly greater unemployment than ever, and what little help is available is provided by fundamentalist Islamic groups.

We cannot succeed if we do not have the courage to admit that the way we have responded to 9/11 has been wrong from the outset. It is not easy to be courageous; it is human to be self-centered and fearful, and protective of ourselves when we're wrong. But for each of us, for our children and our children's children, our President needs to understand that courage isn't about assuring his place in history.

The world is in short supply of intelligent direction. it is easy and popular to call for the deaths of a thousand of the enemy for every one of ours. Do we want our relationship to much of the world to be like the relationship between the Israelis and the Palestinians? Each believes that if they retaliate just one more time, the other will yield. But the killing breeds more resentment, and an even greater desire for retribution. It won't end until individuals with true courage are willing to stop the hate, and take the risk of humility and diplomacy.

I hope our nation has the courage to realize that there is no shame in turning back in time, and to pursue the exceedingly difficult task of diplomacy rather than the easy, self-righteous path of revenge.

Joel Lidstrom lives in Caledonia.

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