Battling Their Consciences

Reminiscing a picturesque afternoon of the beautiful summer in Whistler, Vancouver. Lazy mountains in a lover’s embrace with the sunken clouds making it a delight to any painters palette or a poet’s prose, golden rays of a friendly sun piercing the waters resembling diamonds strewn over and overwhelmed thirsty tourists romancing their blinking cameras.

Amidst this background, at the hotel, I was introduced to this broad shouldered Texan ? a US Army Lieutenant,  by a colleague of mine. At first the barrier of cultures seemed an impediment in the initial dialogue, but an hour later the conversation set in motion and converged upon insensitive subjects like family, vacations etc.

My curiosity got the better of me and the desire of probing into the mind of a soldier and  his views on the current Iraq war relegated me to a position of sporting my creative sales questioning hat on. To my surprise and somewhat amazement, he had just returned from serving in Iraq, a battalion under his command.

Seizing the opportunity, of getting a first hand overview of the War and correlating it to the propaganda (in my opinion) from a certain American news channel that the situation is hunky dory and the Americans are winning the hearts and minds of the people, I decided to dig deeper.

At first there was a reluctance in opening up but my persistent probing of the matter along with the welcome company of a few beers did the trick. He was grim in his expressions as he indicated that the soldiers in Iraq are indeed giving their best, building schools, aiding in hospitals, saving lives etc, but haven?t been portrayed by the world media in that manner.

To which I responded by quoting Swift saying “War my dear friend, in the overall realm of things is the child of pride and pride buddy is indeed a daughter of riches”. I stopped, “Besides the Saddam reason, isn?t this all about oil and power.” I knew I was provoking the young man, but my parched conscience gave me the courage to meet him head on. I was willing to take him head on though he was a big man and my street smartness acquired from my tough Bombay upbringing proved a major encouragement in this endeavour.

…Indeed it certainly is not the events of our lives that shape us, but our belief as to what those events mean….

Surprisingly, there was a momentary silence. A true soldier that he was, he rose to defend his country?s views but sensed some truth in my statement because there was a sudden emotional outburst, he then broke down admitting he personally had killed two Iraqi’s fighting his battalion and he went on to say with a mocking tone “They gave me a medal for it”. A statement that needed no further questions and left me seriously wondering the much bigger war these young men wage with their conscience.

We left on a good note, not before him telling me the countries next on the line. In the meantime, he awaits his call either to Afghanistan, Iraq or the next place that America has its interests in (provided it serves their interest). 

After this meeting I was left pondering ‘Indeed it certainly is not the events of our lives that shape us, but our belief as to what those events mean’.  The luggage these men carry in their minds is indescribable, next time you think about these men spare a thought ? they were just puppets in these politicians hands sacrificing their lives for a cause they may have never believed. I bet, there are many there like that – we shall never know.

About the Author: Irwin Rego, a Bombay born Canadian is the grandson of yesteryears’ renowned musician and Konkani writer J.J.Rego ? Bendur, Mangalore and son of the famous Konkani and English writer J.B.Rego ? (Poinari, Times of India).  Irwin is a highly qualified communications and advertising professional, having served on the Corporate Advisory Board for Fedex-Kinkos, Canada, just recently relocated as  Director ? Client Affairs at a  reputed Strategic Communications Consultancy in  Bahrain. A man of many talents, he is also a poet, singer, actor, cook, a well known public speaker, an excellent hockey and cricket player and a regular columnist for the Gulf Daily News – Bahrain.  A die-hard Mangalorean at heart, he has one regret – his weakness in conversing in the konkani language.

Author: Irwin Rego- Bahrain