I feel remiss in that there are so many things happening about which to blog and, as my last post noted, so little time for it. This morning, my wife was telling me that the news is reporting the terrific progress we’re making in Iraq.
Let me say right out of the chute that the guys in Iraq are under tremendous pressure. I’m personally willing to grant that and to possibly cut them slack. After all, I’m not there . . . yet (see below). And ordinary Americans are being asked to do extraordinary things to preserve the corporate American dream.
Still, it’s a little disconcerting to hear a Marine say,
It’s all political. This Marine has been under attack for days. It has nothing to do with what he did. — Corporal Keith Hoy, 23, quoted in Michael Georgy, “U.S. Marines Rally Round Iraq Probe Comrade” (November 16, 2004) Yahoo! News.
But I’m in complete disagreement with anyone who jumps the gun (no pun intended) to try and convict the soldier who allegedly “murdered” an Iraqi insurgent. Soldiers sometimes do immoral things during war. (Remember Mai Lai? Of course, how could you when you’ve already forgotten Abu Ghraib?) When they do, investigations and appropriate punishment should follow. But let’s remember that perfectly healthy “terrorists” willingly blow themselves up; a wounded and possibly-already-dying Iraqi “insurgent” might be even more motivated to take out a few of our kids with him, given the chance.
So let’s wait for the investigation before we draw and quarter the guy, okay?
Besides, with the exception of minor drawbacks like this one, the war is going swimmingly. If we could just get some of these whining weenies to respond to our needs, why, we might not even need a draft!
I consider myself a civilian. I’ve done my time. I’ve got a brand new baby and a wife, and I haven’t touched the controls of an aircraft in seven years. I’m 47 years old. How could they be calling me? How could they even want me? — Rick Howell, a major from Tuscaloosa, Ala., who said he thought he had left the Army behind in 1997 after more than a decade flying helicopters, quoted in Monica Davey, “Former G.I.’s, Ordered to War, Fight Not to Go” (November 16, 2004) The New York Times [subscription required].
Who’s he kiddin’? Flyin’ helicopters! It’s like ridin’ a bike, right? You never forget how to manuever inherently unstable aircraft under fire!
Besides, what does he have to worry about? I’m a 46-year-old former Navy corpsman. I haven’t worked in the medical field for probably 20 years, but I’ll be happy to sew him up when they draft tap me!
1 response so far ↓
1 Mark // Nov 17, 2004 at 6:42 am
The thing that amazes me about this war more than anything else is how many Americans are apparently oblivious to what Bush and his corporate cronies are doing to us in Iraq. Sure, they’re making money (that’s the whole point of this mess to them), but they’re also making generations of muslims who will consider America to be their mortal enemy.
Those who attacked us on September 11 (you remember, the ones the Bush administration refuses to go after) say they attacked us because they blame the United States for what has happened to the Palestinians through the years. Our continual support of Israel and what goes on between Israel and the Palestinians is a large topic that could be debated forever. I’m not going to make any blanket statements about that one right now.
One thing cannot be denied: the United States is directly responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of muslim civilians in Iraq — a country that never attacked us and that we now know beyond any shadow of a doubt did not pose a credible threat to the United States (something the Bush administration knew before the war and lied about to the American people). This short-sighted empire-building misadventure has already cost us the lives of more than 1,100 soldiers — losses that have devastated the families and friends they have left behind. The eventual cost to us in the lives of civilians lost in this country to muslim terrorists will certainly be much greater, probably on a geometric scale.
We are creating generations of terrorists who will see America and Americans as targets in what they consider to be a holy war. Sure, Bush’s buddies are making a killing on no-bid government contracts. Bush’s father is making a ton of money selling us the weapons we’re using to kill civilians (he owns a chunk of the Carlyle Group). All Americans will eventually pay a dear price for these obscene and immoral profits that are going to a handful of greedy individuals.
Can anyone seriously say that it’s worth it?
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