Scott Chisholm Lamont, RN.

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)O( Green Man

Mysteries and excesses.

The power and mystery of open water never ceases to entrance me. This evening I was taking a walk on the perimeter path around the west and north side of Treasure Island. The sun was low and golden in the west, with clouds hovering low over the Presidio and spilling between peaks in the Marin Highlands. The water was choppy and green with a low swell, and the flood tide just beginning. Only a couple of sailboats remained on the Bay, and the ferries were dashing back and forth with the evening commuters. One of the big Coast Guard cutters that are stationed at Coast Guard Island in the estuary between Oakland and Alameda was swinging around Alcatraz. By the time I got an all the way down to Northpoint and then back to Westpoint, she was under the Golden Gate and heading out for the open ocean. There is something terribly evocative about a ship putting to sea. It raises images of leaving the known shore behind you, of exploration and facing the unknown in a realm that is far, far larger than yourself. It would seem that we could not possibly impact something so vast and so overpowering. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I spotted a bit of plastic floating on the water, and was reminded of a segment of NPR’s Science Friday that I heard last week. They were interviewing biologists who do deep-sea exploration looking for new species. One of them said that one of the most surprising finds that she had made was the variety of human garbage that has been swept far out to sea and has sunk down to what were once pristine depths. It is times like these that I am ashamed of the willful ignorance and excesses of our civilization.

Speaking of excesses, at the post office the talk was all about the “friendly fire” incident involving the Italian journalist. The people in line who were discussing it seemed to have the details somewhat wrong: they believe that the journalist had been killed (it was actually an Italian government agent), and they seemed completely unaware that despite the opinion of the Italian people, their government has supported the invasion and occupation of Iraq and still has troops stationed there. What does seem to upset the people involved in the discussion was the notion that there are people in the world who believe that the action at the checkpoint was deliberate. “How could anyone think such a thing of us?” exclaimed one woman. Unfortunately, there is precedence that would lead some people to suspect such a thing of the US, although I think that it is an unreasonable charge in this particular case. However, it is also unreasonable to have secret and unquestioned rules of engagement for checkpoints that interface with the civilian population that the military is supposed to be there to “protect”. What strikes me as excessive here is the amount of firepower brought to bear in circumstances where it would seem most of the time they are dealing with civilians, not insurgents. If not for this high profile incident, I think the majority of people would be unaware of the fact that civilians routinely get shot and killed by troops who are ostensibly protecting themselves. No one is held liable for these incidents, although some families do receive a paltry sum of money for their loss at the discretion of the local commander. The upsetting part is the apparent lack of value placed on other people’s lives. Are Westerner’s lives really worth that much more than anyone else’s? Would anyone have reported this incident at the checkpoint if it had been a family of Iraqis instead of Europeans? I’m uncomfortable with the probable answers to these questions, just like I’m uncomfortable with the notion that the military’s undisclosed philosophy is that it is better to accidentally kill civilians (who do not count for much and are not counted when they are killed) then to risk American lives. That strikes me as a value judgment that flies in the face of the concept of liberty and justice for all.