Putting aside personal stances on the war in Iraq, it is important to remember that the soldiers putting their lives on the line were leading normal lives like the rest of us two-and-a-half years ago. Supporting them in spirit is easy and fairly common; offering concrete support is less common, more important, and not much harder. While a magnetic yellow ribbon on a car is a nice gesture, this symbolic solidarity offers little real consolation to the men and women serving on the front lines. Several easily-accessible organizations offer the opportunity for concerned students, faculty and citizens to connect their emotions and beliefs to concrete action.
“This war, without a draft, and with such controlled media coverage risks becoming an abstraction, unconnected to the sufferings of its victims and the sacrifices of those fighting it,” said Professor Vincent Miller of the Georgetown Theology department in an e-mail. “Since those connections aren’t provided for us, we have to make the effort to find them ourselves-seeking alternative media, corresponding with soldiers and Iraqis, talking with vets.”
The first places that offer solid opportunities for contribution are mainstream organizations like the United Service Organizations. It offers five different causes to which money can be directed. Three are geared towards facilitating communication between soldiers and their loved ones, including providing refurbished computers to their families and distributing pre-paid calling cards to soldiers.
There is a variety of more creative donation options as well. Websites such as cellphonesforsoldiers.com and booksforsoldiers.com-tagged as “care packages for the mind”- offer necessary goods to soldiers that are often overlooked. Both websites have input forms where soldiers and family members can put in their specific requests. Those looking for something quirkier can donate to “Operation Beef Up Our Troops” and provide one of the most requested items by Iraqi soldiers tired of their MREs: beef jerky.
Meanwhile, the organization Any Soldier, Inc. distributes packages to troops who are not receiving regular mail from family and friends. The idea, hatched by Sergeant Brian Horn in 2003 during his time in Iraq, has expanded to include several websites (all available accessible from anysoldier.com) detailing the very simple items that can be sent to members of all branches of the armed services.
Opportunities to help Iraqis also exist, though they tend to not be as direct. On the website of UNHCR, the UN refugee agency (unrefugees.org), one can set up a monthly donation to benefit internally-displaced Iraqis. Iraq Partnership (iraqpartnership.org), a U.S. Agency for International Development-sponsored website unveiled last month, offers an array of critical need projects ranging from education to infrastructure to medicine to which donors can directly contribute.
Whatever side of the debate you are on, it is important to remember that the war is real, not just an abstract dilemma. American soldiers and Iraqi civilians are dying daily, and we should take the time to make concrete connections with the situation. Become a pen pal, send a soldier some Pop-Tarts, it will mean far more to them than idle debate.
