On Monday the Associated Press reported that the United States military announced the death of a Marine soldier in the Anbar province of Iraq. The announcement comes after Marines Lance Cpl. Clifford R. Collinsworth, 20, Lance Cpl. Nathan R. Elrod, 20, and Lance Cpl. Nicholas J. Manoukian, 22, were killed Saturday in Anbar. Their deaths now bring the total number of U.S. military killed in Iraq for the month of October to 87 – the highest number for any month this year. Many of us were on campus when the war in Iraq began in 2003. All of us remember vigorous debate among students — both for and against the war. We remember protests on the grounds of the University and passionate pleas from all sides and perspectives. Something has changed. No longer is the war a suitable topic of conversation for students. Too often those who attempt to broach the subject are quickly quieted. “Let’s not start all that” and “Can’t we talk about something else?” have become our mantra. And after living with war since most of us were in high school, sometimes that doesn’t sound too bad. However, we believe it is time for students to speak up. The recent surge in violence has shown that the war is not a dirty little secret hiding at the back of our conversations. It is a real event that is shaping the course of our lives. The ages of the Marines above prove that we all must speak up. Younger than many of us, these soldiers gave their lives fighting in a war students feel “uncomfortable” even discussing among ourselves. Whether you agree with the war they were fighting is a choice everyone must make for themselves. But make a choice. Speak up. We cannot in good conscience stay quiet on this campus while the men and women we grew up with fight our generation’s war. The Italian poet Dante Alighieri once said, “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crises maintain their neutrality.” This is our crisis.
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