Unlike our mainstream society, the indigenous people of this world knew with every fiber of their being that a warrior goes to war only at the request of his or her people. Because of this, the responsibility for what happens in war is shared by the entire tribe. The warrior serves as an extention of the will of the people and has sanction to kill in the heat of battle. But all tribal members share in the sorrow of this killing, not just the warrior. So when a warrior returns from war, he or she is accorded great honor and great forgiveness for their deeds. The tribal people also knew that war changes a man, and that to once again rejoin their tribe the warrior must be transformed from war to peace. The haunts of war shared by all, the guilt of war spread among the people, the rage of war forgiven and understood.

Where are we in modern America with this? We send our young off to war, but we do not share in their agony and we do not reach out to welcome them home. Sure we have token parades and speeches, but these are meaningless gestures because we refuse to acknowledge the horror of their experience. We refuse to know the agony and the desperation, the heartbreak and the numbing slaughter of others. The American people, by and large, stand with token handshakes and vacant cheers for our warriors. but we do not look them in the eye and say; "Thank You, I share in your agony of war, I forgive you for what you did in war because you served in my name for all our people." The warrior wants nothing more than to return to his or her life and rejoin society. But rather than assist them in their healing from the wounds of war, we ignore them and shrug off their pain because we do not want to accept responsibility for what we have asked them to do.

The United States of American has gone to war, without discussion or rational thought. We have hurled our young people, our best and brightest, into the maw of war for no justifiable reason. We are slaughtering our young and the innocent because a petty tyrant has demanded that we do so. The shame of Iraq, as the shame of Vietnam, is that the American People have abdicated responsibility for the lives and wellbeing of their own children to appease the megalomania of our insane leadership. Our children are being maimed and killed because Americans couldn't be bothered to ask questions and demand reasonable answers from our politicans.

Iraq isn't just a failure of leadership, it is a failure of the American people to participate in their own country.


Honoring Warriors Past and Present
By GRETCHEN RUETHLING

Published: June 10, 2006

""Where are your lands?" a trader once taunted Crazy Horse.

"My lands are where my dead lie buried," the Sioux chief responded.

About 200 people crossed that rolling prairie on horseback last week, riding from Nebraska to South Dakota in a four-day tribute to honor all military veterans and the revered Crazy Horse.

"It was a way to say thank you to our warrior culture," said Charles Brewer, 40, of Pine Ridge, S.D., who organized the ninth annual Crazy Horse Ride..."

(pictures by Jerry Swope)