Friday, August 12, 2005

Support Our Troops, NOT the War

I read a story on the front page of the LA Times this morning about 2 brothers who went to fight in Iraq; sadly only one of them came home alive. The two brothers were from the Ohio reserve battalion, the “Three Twenty-Five”, which is now famous for having lost 47 men since arriving in Iraq in March. The article told a touching story about a community paying tribute to one of its fallen sons, and there was a lot in the article that angered me.

The slain marine’s young widow gave a brave eulogy, and I admire her for being able to do so. “In order for me to get through this, honor all our service members every day. If you see one, salute them. Or stop in the recruiting office, or the VFW, and thank them.”

NO! I wanted to yell at her. Don’t thank them in the recruiting office. Convince them not to sign up instead.

The surviving brother also spoke at the funeral. He explained that his dead brother “believed he was fighting to protect his family and fellow citizens.”

My response: in Iraq? He was not protecting his wife and his baby son by being in Iraq, by dying in Iraq. Stop believing the lies already.

The brother went on to tell the story of his brother “scoring” the first combat kills for their battalion when he shot 3 insurgents who were attempting to plant roadside bombs. “He sent all three of those guys to hell where they belonged.”

Perspective is an interesting thing. Why are so many Americans still so sure that we are right?

The surviving brother is not being sent back to Iraq because the unit is scheduled to return home next month. “I wish I was still with them, fighting the good fight.”

It is not a good fight. It is a pointless war.

“I know my brother feels the same way.”

Your brother is dead, tragically and for nothing.

I am deeply disturbed by how so many people think it is their patriotic duty to keep supporting the war. Enough already. Patriotism is better served by objecting to the war, by protesting the war, by bringing our troops back home.

10 comments:

beamis said...

Right on sister!

beamis said...

It is all so simple: when the U.S. gets out of their Holy Land the bombings will stop. You'll see, if it ever happens.

The Hezbollah have stopped the bombings in northern Israel because the Israelis are no longer occupiers of their territory. 9/11 was a direct result of stationing U.S. troops on the Arabian peninsula. They don't want our imperialist asses anywhere near their holy sites! Does anyone on Bushes staff speak Arabic? Do they understand even the most basic rudiments of a culture they wish to impose the "gift" of democracy upon?

Here's a simple concept: leave our country or else. I'd be streamiing into Texas through neighboring Oklahoma to fight an invading infidel that had killed and maimed my fellow relatives and countrymen.

And NO, I don't see any sucesses in this war. I see only naked bald agression targeted towards a populace that never lifted a finger to harm this country. Why has the president, like Hitler, never once attended a soldier's funeral or shown even the slightest hint of compassion for those killed conducting his vicious warmongering?

Not only have we been soundly defeated but I also see the U.S.A. incurring the emnity of the entire planet over the impending fireball that this is ultiamtely leading us all towards.

We had better get our house in order soon because China is holding the credit card on this fiasco, and I don't see where the 400 billion spent so far and the nearly 2,000 dead and 25,000 wounded Americans is much of an asset in return for the expenditure. Not to mention a wrecked country and 25,000 - 50,000 civilian dead (countless thousands wounded) as much to build democratic hopes upon.

I will say that $67 a barrel oil must make old Count Cheney laugh a ghoulish cascade of sinister chortles down the cold dark corridors of his bat filled castle.

This is not a war about anything other than vain and greedy ambitions of unholy empire.

beamis said...

The so-called "insurgents" are no different than any other person in the world who wishes to fight a foreign invader aggressively occupying their territory. The success of the "insurgent" is almost always guaranteed due to his fervid desire to oust the invader by any means at his disposal. Meanwhile the poor slob soldier sent to kill and maim has no desire to be in, much less conquer, this strange and smelly country he has been shipped to against his will. I don't know what else I need to know (as you imply)in order to see myself doing the exact same thing under similar circumstances.

The U.S. Constitution was written to govern our country not the entire world. The reason we are targets of violence is because of our bases in Saudi Arabia and unquestioning support of Israel, our regional pit bull. The U.S. is a meddler, an atomic bomb dropping war maker with as much style and grace as well.....George W. Bush, the cute, very fit, little dummy sitting on Count Cheney's knee.

The war in Afghanistan and Iraq has already been lost and everyone knows it. Shock and Awe my ass! The U.S. has been whooped and whooped good. Let's all hope this will be her last foray into agressive empire building and just let the whole thing crumble into secession among the 50 states. President Ah-nold of California.

Hitler was notorious for refusing to acknowledge the sacrifices and deaths of his soldiers, most especially so after Stalingrad and the cold cruel death of millions on the eastern front.

(This was gleaned from my recent reading of the two-volume Hitler biography by Ian Kershaw.)

I see no reason not to point out the similarity to the current U.S. president who is asking for the same sort of blind obedience to ever changing war aims, plus all of the same lies, deceits and propoganda.

I think the current Cindy Sheehan thing will be the start of a big decline for Bush and hopefully will be the trigger for the eventual fall of a very corrupt and criminal form of government.

beamis said...

I'm glad you can feel pride in the past accomplishments of the U.S. military.

By the way U.S. military is still stationed in Korea (45,000 soldiers strong) as well as Germany, Japan and Iraq (currently in conventional war role).

I don't wish to be as insulting as you've been to me, by questioning my knowledge, but you are a truly delusional person if you actually believe this war is about anything other than greed, oil and raw naked power, which will very shortly and abruptly fall into the scrap heap of history.

Why aren't you fighting in Iraq? Do you know anyone who has fought there recently. I do, and these people are not all right by the experience.

For what I ask? For what?

beamis said...

As far as your assertion that the fighters in Iraq are foriegners then you don't understand the nature of Islam. By the same token the early guerilla fighters for Israel in the 40's were mainly from somewhere else and not born in the Palestine. So what?

The fact is they are ousting the infidel quite handily whether or not they possess Iraqi birth certificates.

beamis said...

You've obviously not read my words or taken the time to comprehend their meaning. You bandy about words like Pan-Arabism and such but never get down to discussing the essense of the issue, which is this: the U.S. is waging war against an innocent civilian population that never laid a hand on our country. There are many people in that region of the world who resent this invasion and have joined together to defeat it's aims and oust it completely from the region. Which, by the way, is what is happening.

What people do in their own country or world region is none of my business nor should it be that of the U.S. military.

Nuff said.

beamis said...

As I've stated repeatedly: if I were to come under similar attack in my home region of Utah I would join an "insurgency" to fight the unwelcome invader.

And, oh yes, I support the current "insurgency" against the brutally agressive occupiers of two formerly sovereign nations, Iraq and Afghanistan.

They've already kicked some serious ass and are just getting started on the hated invading infidel.

Maybe they'll eventually learn a lesson and go home-----for good.

beamis said...

My support of the troops extends only as far wanting them to come back home where they belong; especially the National Guardsmen who are needed to fight forest fires and aid flood victims not blow up Iraqi cities.

I don't support the U.S. government's mission in the region and have sympathy and understanding for an insurgency that is attempting to expel an unwanted foreign invader.

Where the chips may ultimately fall among the Shites, Sunnis and Kurds is not my fight. The current Pandoras box of civil war is one the U.S. government blasted open with the first shots of Shock & Awe, the consequences of which we will not see settled for several decades to come.

As for my own involvement in war I'll take it on a case by case basis. If Mexico or Canada started to saber rattle about overthrowing Bush, I'd have to at least give 'em a listen. Who knows, they might have something good up their sleeves. After all it has rarely been this bad when it comes to government leadership. The U.S. regime, in general, is one I doubt I'd ever fight to preserve. If you'll check out my blog posts you'll see I'm quite a committed secessionist.

How you can uphold this corrupt regime for anything other than unjust murder and mayhem I'm at a loss to understand.

Audie said...

If the celebrated (and inebriated) "Bush twins" were in the military, we would not have initiated our unprovoked attack against Iraq. Plain and simple. Shrub is not willing to offer himself what he is asking of the rest of the parents of this country (nor is the Congress). And he fakes them out by painting this red white and blue picture of what a noble sacrifice they are making (in reality, to make him and his wealthy inner circle even wealthier). It's an argument that's only persuasive to the desperate and the ignorant.

As Chris Rock said a few years ago about gays in the military: "Hey, if they wanna fight, let 'em fight. Cuz I ain't fightin'. I wouldn't give a fuck about a Russian tank rollin' down Flatbush Avenue. I ain't killin' nobody. So call me a faggot. At least I'll be a faggot with two legs, walkin' like this -- 'Hey, whassup!'"

Audie said...

BTW, good point, cossax.