Madness of war necessary for return to sane lives

During the past week, support for the war effort in Afghanistan has slipped by 11 percentage points in the United States. It appears that almost six weeks after the horror of Sept. 11, there are some of us who are having "second thoughts" about whether this fight is justified.

Second thoughts? The problem is our glands.

On Sept. 20, 91 percent of our fellow citizens were clamoring for some type of military response to the terrorists and the countries that provide a safe haven for their diabolical schemes. Justice, just one step away from vengeance, was alive and well in our damaged psyche.

It seems every tick of the second hand on our Timex is slowly sucking the life out of our memory.

Our memory? It is our glands.

What galvanized this country into a flag-waving, "God Bless America"-singing republic? And what is happening that is slowly letting the air out of our patriotic balloon?

It is our glands.

That's right our glands. This is how it works. If our eyes can just keep scanning the instant replay of jet-fuel-induced, orange-and-white mushrooms suddenly exploding out of the side of the World Trade Center towers, then we discover our intestines for war.

Or, if we can just silently slip into any one of 5,000 funerals, maybe the bombing runs over Mazar-e-Sharif will make sense.

Let's first admit: war never makes sense. Conflict that results in the taking of another life is an irrational, ischemic event in the timeline of humanity. War gets into lockstep with all the other pathologies that have paraded through history since Cain decided to disable Abel.

So, if you are going to get into this craziness, you'd better have a good reason. We have thousands. The wanton elimination of 5,000 noncombatants in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania sounds like enough reason to get a little crazy.

This war, like every war, is maintained by glands. There are people we have never met, had lunch with or shared a bus stop bench with who are actively trying to kill us. They have succeeded. We have to remember that.

And, I suggest this war is in danger of being canceled if we cannot remember. If the carnage of terrorism ever becomes "acceptable," craziness will keep winning.

War, even though it is birthed in irrationality, ends with a return to sanity. That is what this conflict is all about: a return to a life that makes sense.

Sometimes you have to trudge through the awfulness of insanity to figure out what we really want. This brings us back to our glands.

Feelings power us through the day. They are the stuff of blessing and curse. Life without glands is life without hugs, love, baby-talk with 5-month-olds, splashing in puddles for no good reason and dancing even when there is no music.

I think some of us are having trouble hearing the music of 9/11 on 11/9.

Are we really going to let our initial feelings of violation and injustice be washed away with the passage of 60 days?

A year from now, when there is nothing but an empty hole in Manhattan, a new granite wall on the Pentagon and a freshly plowed field in Pennsylvania, will the feeling die that this nation can never let this horror happen again?

Is it essential that we have the right lighting, John Williams' musical score and Tom Hanks' pathos in order to remind ourselves that our conflict is just? If solutions are not microwavable, do we move on?

Wars are never smart, but they are won or lost. For the sake of the sanctity of all humanity, romping with our grandchildren on a summer lawn and living without fear, we must win this war.

And, winning will require remembering; remembering that we have glands and our glands never forget 9/11.

(Dr. Cal LeMon solves organizational problems with customized training and consulting. His company, Exec-utive Enrichment Inc., can be contacted via the Business Journal at sbj@sbj.net.)