Iraq and Karma

(For information on this image of Thich Quang Duc, click here.)

The U.S. led Iraq invasion and occupation is a crime in progress. The president, vice-president and members of the cabinet and administration have committed fraud leading to war, violated the United States Constitution, broken international laws, and authorized war crimes.

It was a failure of our other elected officials, the press, and ultimately the American people to have let this happen. I am not a lawyer, but the question would be what responsibility does one have as he or she passively watches a homicide being committed?

After five years in Iraq, the U.S. military has suffered over 33,000 casualties, more than 29,000 wounded and 4,000 dead, and it remains engulfed by three converging currents that constitute the Iraq War – the underlying military conflict, the battle for political control, and grinding civil strife. (Click here for more information.)

Because there is no functioning national government in Iraq, outside authorities must be relied upon for some information. The Opinion Research Business in January, 2008, gave the Iraqi violent death estimate as a range of 946,000 to 1,120,000, since the 2003 U.S. invasion.

The Buddha taught that all beings live within the law of Karma. Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others.

Christians have a similar statement in the New Testament : "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Galatians 6)

I believe that both perspectives are true. So we must ask ourselves "What exactly have we sown in Iraq? What shall we reap?"

Buddhists believe that all life is precious. "No killing" is the first Precept. For those who have, with intent and foresight, harmed or caused harm, their future is set within the law of Karma. This isn't judgment; just a statement of cause and effect.

But how are the many Americans to be viewed, having allowed this continued killing?