Thích Quảng Đức   June 11, 1963  Vietnam

June 11, 2011

Today is the anniversary of the self-immolation of Buddhist monk Thicj Quang Quc in Vietnam.  He was protesting the persecution of Buddhists by the then regime of Dinh Ngo Diem in South Vietnam.  That regime would later be toppled by an army coup and we know what followed, the ever escalating war in Vietnam that would end in 1975 and cost an estimated 1 million combatants and another 1 million civilian causalities including the lives of over 55,000 young Americans. 

When you witness the Vietnam War Memorial wall in D.C. and it’s  list of our fallen, you have to ponder, was Vietnam vital to the interests of the US as Secretary of State Dean Rusk so vehemently argued for many years. Our failure in Vietnam would bring a domino effect in Asia communist takeover, and possible war with China and/or Russia. 

Fast forward to today:

We had to go to war in Iraq, it was vital to our national interests, we had to destroy their Weapons of Mass Destruction threat.  And that war would only cost us $40 Billion too.  Well, there were no WMD’s and our war in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 has cost our country over $3 trillion dollars*, not including the human toll that will take a generation to recover from.

So today, on the anniversary of  Thicj Quang Quc’s event, let’s ponder the words of another influential Buddhist, the Dali Lama, who says that war is an outdated concept for mankind.  Let’s change our approach to war. What we are doing now is like driving an old gas guzzler from the 60’s, lots of power, high emissions and 10MPG. Not sustainable.

Our long term outcomes can only improve.

*washington post 9/11/10