From Operation Warhawks –
How Young People Become Warriors
By Dr. T. Webster-Doyle
What is written in this book is a realistic and direct view of what creates warriors and war. To some, it may be very disturbing. There are adults who believe young people should not be burdened with this knowledge because it will frighten them. They feel young people should be protected from seeing what war is really like. But young people today see tremendously frightening and violent movies, videos, magazines and television programs. They experience life on the streets, sometimes watching their friends get beaten up, scarred for life, or killed.
Showing young people the truth about violence, rather than glorifying it, helps them understand it. No matter what we do to try to prevent it, young people are going to see violence. Therefore, let's help them see what creates it and how they can avoid it. Let's help them think in healthier, more intelligent ways, which will help them act in those ways. We can help our children understand how we all create conflict and prevent peace from happening. The only question is—will we do it?
I cannot find words strong enough to describe how I feel about the horrors of war. Please understand that being a warrior is a deadly serious occupation. I am sure that if we think carefully and are truly concerned about each other we can resolve our problems in more intelligent and peaceful ways than by creating warriors and wars. I would like to develop a new occupation—Peace Educator —a person who studies the Art of Peace and teaches people how to avoid conflict and live happy lives. We have academies dedicated to the Art of War; we need to start academies dedicated to the Art of Peace.
As you read this book, please seriously consider what is being asked of you. Most importantly, QUESTION! For questioning will help free you from being put to sleep. If you are asleep, people can control you, even train you to be a killer! For thousands of years, people have been "put to sleep" and trained to go to war. Some people have kept themselves awake and tried to wake up others. You do not have to be brainwashed, to fall asleep—you too can keep awake by questioning.
If you do fall asleep, waking up can be harsh, disturbing. The first step in "waking up" is to see that you are in a dream, that you have been put to sleep by being conditioned to accept unquestioningly the dreams of others, of society—dreams passed down from generation to generation. The dream is only that—a dream, just like you have at night as you sleep, except that it is daytime. Daydreaming may take many forms: the dreams of success, ambition, fame and fortune; the dreams of honor and duty, of defending one's homeland; dreams of heroes and enemies, good guys and bad guys; dreams of glory and patriotic action, and the social respect it brings.
The dream of glory, of being a warrior, is one that concerns me here. I, too, had been conditioned to dream this dream. I went to sleep and ended up being trained as a warrior. I woke up in the middle of it, and it was very harsh, very frightening. The dream was all I knew. For a long time after I woke up, I didn't know who I was or what I was supposed to be.
Now, being awake is wonderful! And yet I still see the sorrow, confusion and violence in those who are asleep, who live in their dream worlds of warriors and wars—a living nightmare played out each day with everyone convinced that it is all real and necessary. The terrible thing is that none of it is real or necessary. It is only a dream! And yet we carry out the horror of it year after year, generation after generation. This is why I have written this book, to wake you up, to show you that the dream of glory is a terrible illusion that we take to be real. Waking up can be disorienting, but if you are awakened because another cares about you, then I feel it will be all right.
Please see that this book is not trying to hurt you, but to help. I want to "creatively disturb" you so you will not become a warrior—so you will not kill or be killed. Being a warrior is a bad dream, which could become a terrible nightmare if you go to war. If I can begin to wake you up with what is written and pictured here so you will question all those people who tell you that the way to peace is through war, then I have done my job. If only a few young people decide not to become warriors and hurt other human beings, I will feel happy.
It's now up to you. This book lies before you. It is an "adventure," a challenge to look at how young people like you become warriors. My only hope is that at the end you come away with the one most important question burning in your brain "Is there another way?"