Patriotism and the Iraqi War
Yesterday was Veteran’s Day; a day to reflect and celebrate the sacrifices US soldiers have made to protect this country.
My grandfather was in WWII. He worked for the telephone company in Monroe, Mi and when the war began he was asked to serve his country and set up communication lines in Germany. He would run behind tanks and lay down telephone wire. That is about all I know from his WWII experience because he never talked about it.
At the beginning of the movie “Jarhead” (a movie about the first Gulf War), Anthony Swofford is asked by the Marines Drill Sergeant if his father fought in Vietnam. Swofford replied yes. The drill sergeant asked if his father talked about it. Swofford said never. The sergeant yelled, good, that means he really fought.
Where am I going with this? War is ugly. It is the worst action, besides genocide, that humans do. It should be avoided at all costs and when it must be done people must question if it was done for the right motives.
Yesterday, in a speech to Army Veterans, President Bush stated it is wrong to question the Iraqi war. He explained, “The stakes in the global war on terror are too high, and the national interest is too important, for politicians to throw out false charges. These baseless attacks send the wrong signal to our troops and to an enemy that is questioning America's will. As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them to war continue to stand behind them."
President Bush became the first president in American history to initiate a war. And he worse than just doing that, he and his administration lied. There were no weapons of mass destruction. This war did not stop the spread of terrorism. Saddam Hussein was not linked to 9/11 or al Qaeda.
After he declared major combat operations in Iraq were over, rebel troops and terrorists have taken over large portions of the country and are killing coalition troops and innocent civilians every day. There was the Abu Graib scandal, reports that US troops do not have the proper equipment to fight the rebel insurgents and scripted interviews aired to the public to try to portray this war as a success.
What President Bush said yesterday was cowardly and indefensible. If this war was so necessary, he should not have to worry about defending his choices. His actions should speak loud enough.
Moreover, how dare he question one’s loyalty and patriotism to a country because one disagrees with his war-mongering attitude. I love this country and that is why I question his actions, because I want a US and a world that lives in peace and can use compassion and understanding to advance humanity. Thank you to all who question his lies and deceitfulness.
At the end of “Jarhead”, when the war was over, Swofford said to his sniper partner Troy, “I didn’t even get to shoot my gun.” He sounded relieved yet disappointed. I thought I bet there are thousands of parents, friends and relatives who wish their loved ones could have been that lucky.
To date 2,062 US soldiers have died in Iraq (91% of the total fatalities) and 15,586 have been wounded in action.
Please President Bush, end this senseless war and NEVER question one’s patriotism because they do not want to see Americans die in an unjustified war.
Visit http://icasualties.org/oif/default.aspx for more information about casualties of the Iraq War.
My grandfather was in WWII. He worked for the telephone company in Monroe, Mi and when the war began he was asked to serve his country and set up communication lines in Germany. He would run behind tanks and lay down telephone wire. That is about all I know from his WWII experience because he never talked about it.
At the beginning of the movie “Jarhead” (a movie about the first Gulf War), Anthony Swofford is asked by the Marines Drill Sergeant if his father fought in Vietnam. Swofford replied yes. The drill sergeant asked if his father talked about it. Swofford said never. The sergeant yelled, good, that means he really fought.
Where am I going with this? War is ugly. It is the worst action, besides genocide, that humans do. It should be avoided at all costs and when it must be done people must question if it was done for the right motives.
Yesterday, in a speech to Army Veterans, President Bush stated it is wrong to question the Iraqi war. He explained, “The stakes in the global war on terror are too high, and the national interest is too important, for politicians to throw out false charges. These baseless attacks send the wrong signal to our troops and to an enemy that is questioning America's will. As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them to war continue to stand behind them."
President Bush became the first president in American history to initiate a war. And he worse than just doing that, he and his administration lied. There were no weapons of mass destruction. This war did not stop the spread of terrorism. Saddam Hussein was not linked to 9/11 or al Qaeda.
After he declared major combat operations in Iraq were over, rebel troops and terrorists have taken over large portions of the country and are killing coalition troops and innocent civilians every day. There was the Abu Graib scandal, reports that US troops do not have the proper equipment to fight the rebel insurgents and scripted interviews aired to the public to try to portray this war as a success.
What President Bush said yesterday was cowardly and indefensible. If this war was so necessary, he should not have to worry about defending his choices. His actions should speak loud enough.
Moreover, how dare he question one’s loyalty and patriotism to a country because one disagrees with his war-mongering attitude. I love this country and that is why I question his actions, because I want a US and a world that lives in peace and can use compassion and understanding to advance humanity. Thank you to all who question his lies and deceitfulness.
At the end of “Jarhead”, when the war was over, Swofford said to his sniper partner Troy, “I didn’t even get to shoot my gun.” He sounded relieved yet disappointed. I thought I bet there are thousands of parents, friends and relatives who wish their loved ones could have been that lucky.
To date 2,062 US soldiers have died in Iraq (91% of the total fatalities) and 15,586 have been wounded in action.
Please President Bush, end this senseless war and NEVER question one’s patriotism because they do not want to see Americans die in an unjustified war.
Visit http://icasualties.org/oif/default.aspx for more information about casualties of the Iraq War.
posted by az at 9:09 AM
2 Comments:
If I lie, nothing really bad happens. I wish it was like that for everyone. You could make a spoof film in bad taste: Vietnam: Part Deux.
you could and that's sad. i've lied before and no one has really gotten hurt...that i know of. but shit like this makes me sad
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