War is a Terrible Thing

I grew up with my father's war, World War II. Some of my earliest memories are of his stories of war, and being bombarded with images of war in movies and on TV. When I was young, war seemed like a natural and heroic state.

When I turned 17, I joined the Navy. It was the thing to do. All young men joined the military and went off to war to reap honor and glory. In my case, it was Vietnam. It wasn't much of a war, but it was the only war we had at the time.

I think it was off the coast of Vietnam, as I watched a bloated body float by on the tide, that I began to truly realize the folly of war. I had my doubts before ever reaching the shores of South East Asia, but I was driven on by the dream of an idealized war.

I learned from hard experience that war is not heroic, honorable or glorious. It's sad, stupid and bloody. Unfortunately, it seems to be a natural state for man, and the futility of war is something we must relearn every generation.

I watched in horror as the towers collapsed in New York, and felt a terrible sadness as the bombs began to fall on Afghanistan. I fear that we are at the beginning of a war that will extend into the foreseeable future — a "holy" war that could tear our world apart.

This won't be my father's war, a war of conventional battle, army against army. And it won't be like my war, Vietnam, confined to a far-off corner of the world. And it won't be about political or social ideology, it will be about religion, and that's the scariest part of all.

As you will read elsewhere in this issue, the water industry is bracing for the threat of terrorist attack. Initially after Sept. 11, I didn't see that as a serious threat. Terrorists, by their very nature, use terror attacks to sway the opinions or influence the actions of a populous or government. While those attacks can kill large numbers of people, as we've seen, typically that's not their primary purpose.

But in war, death becomes the goal. And poisoning a water supply might be seen as a viable option. People in the water industry must awaken to the fact that they are now on the front lines, and their jobs have become doubly important.

I hope with all my heart that this new war doesn't grow into a war between Christians and Muslims, but I fear it might. We must focus on the fact that this is a war against the purveyors of terror, not the followers of Muhammad.

The dead of Sept. 11 must be avenged and the terrorists hunted down and eradicated. It is clear that we have a duty to ourselves and the world to put an end to global terrorism. But we must not let the thrill of war overtake us. We must limit this battle to the task at hand. And we must communicate to the world — most importantly the Islamic world — that this is our sole purpose.

I hope that we have the restraint and the skill needed to spare the innocent as we set about punishing the guilty. America is the most powerful country in the world. I hope we have the wisdom to use that power wisely, or our children could be fighting this war, and their children to.

James Laughlin, Editor