There is an excellent article on Clint Eastwood in the Friday, October 13, USA Today. The legendary actor and Oscar winning director says he has lost interest in the fantasy of war. Now, he is consumed by the tragedy of it.
The director's new film, Flags of Our Fathers, opens Oct. 20 and tells the stories of the Marines who were famously photographed raising the American flag during the battle of Iwo Jima. That iconic photo came to represent the unflagging nature of the American spirit, but Eastwood's film raises questions about how the men and their heroic actions were co-opted by the U.S. government to raise money for the last stage of World War II.
"World War I was there, and that was going to be the one to end all wars," says Eastwood, 76. "And then World War II came along and that was going to be the war to end all wars. Then, five years later, Korea. Not too many years after that, Vietnam. And all the little skirmishes, Yugoslavia, Gulf War I, Gulf War II ...It doesn't speak well for mankind. It seems like it's just inevitable that they'll go on forever. Is that the way it's supposed to be? Is man most creative when he's at war? I don't know. We're always hoping every one is the last one."
Flags celebrates the sacrifices of the thousands who died capturing the island of Iwo Jima, while simultaneously scorning what Eastwood calls "the futility of war." Eastwood honors the soldiers involved, and all soldiers by implication, for their courage and sense of duty. But he questions the manipulation of facts by the governmental war machine, even in the so-called greatest war, WWII.
Over the years our country and others have witnessed the sad reality of old men sending young men to die and be maimed in wars for questionable reasons. Yet, sadly, it keeps happening. The same mistakes are repeated again.
The lifelong Republican, (a former mayor of Carmel, California), was drawn to that party by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eastwood said he hoped that such a distinguished veteran of the horrors of war could lead the United States away from wars in the future.
Eisenhower surely tried, ending the Korean War, and giving a famous farewell speech in 1961, at the end of his two presidential terms, where he warned, "We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations. This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. "
The great general and successful President went on to raise this challenge: "The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. "
The decorated war hero prayed for peace: "You and I -- my fellow citizens -- need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nation's great goals."
He expressed ideals that we need to hold fast to today. He proclaimed: "To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and continuing aspiration:
We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love."
Both Eastwood and Eisenhower should be carefully considered today. The toll of any war, including the current one in Iraq, is huge, and the influence of the military industrial complex remains strong. Military expense, for current defense and past military service, continues to dominate the national budget.
Over $500 billion has been spent or pledged on a war half a world away, and for the rebuilding of what our bombs destroyed. Add to that monetary total the immeasurable price of the over 2500 young Americans dead, and over 20,000 Americans injured (one fifth with serious spinal and brain injuries), plus over 50,000 Iraqui soldiers and civilians killed. The numbers do not come near expressing the suffering that war causes innocent men, women and children, much less our young American soldiers who signed up to defend our country and have a good future for themselves.
Real people in real lives yearn for peace all over the world. When will leaders reflect that truth? All of this has happened since the war began in 2003. All of that taxpayer money has gone overseas, while our battered educational system is under funded, while forty million Americans are without health insurance and our health care system costs are spiraling out of control, while we live with a debilitated bridge and highway system, while our children atttempt to cope with an environment that is becoming more poisoned and polluted each day. These issues are seldom discussed and almost never mentioned by our increasingly tabloid news outlets. Yet how might that $500 billion have been spent here at home, on these very real American needs, as well as invested in true homeland security like comprehensive port and truck cargo inspections?
We need to listen closely to one of our greatest artists and one of our greatest generals on these issues that affect us so importantly in such a time as this. Our children and grandchildren are depending on us.
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