Purity and Innocence

[Trigger Warning: War/Violence]

Following assistance from the State Department and Senator Chuck Schumer, a Afghanistan resident who was permanently disabled during the war has been flown to the United States, where he will receive free medical treatment in a residential setting.

He will also presumably receive free rodents for life. This is because Mitch, as he goes by (or so I'm told) is a bird, a steppe eagle to be precise.

Sure. This is a great thing. United Statesians deserve a pat on the back. Yay us! Yay U.S.!

However.

I can't say that the offer of free lifetime healthcare extends to, say, wounded Afghani people. There are good reasons for this. We can't afford it (although in fairness, we're having a hell of a time coming up with the money to maim them in the first place). And in theory, US (and allied) troops are doing what they can to improve the healthcare infrastructure of Southwest Asia.

A cheaper alternative would have been to not invade Afghanistan in a war of choice. Then there'd be fewer injured birds. And people. And hospitals. Not choosing to go to war would have been, as the kids say these days, a more sustainable solution.

Thus, this is really a post about things that aren't injured birds. I have a sneaking suspicion that our eagerness to care for wildlife (and children, which oddly enough seem to fall into the same category), stems from the values we map (or don't) on to them. Wildlife is pure. Children are innocent. We have a sacred responsibility to care for them/not shoot them in the wing. Call me a socialist, but I actually agree with that. However, what is it about the adults in Afghanistan that frequently doesn't get them the same care and attention?