My Son and War

Painfully typed in from the American Legion Magazine, Vol, 156, No. 1, pp. 30-31 | January 2004 | Frank Schaeffer

[MEG33]

"Most are made stronger!"

I am grateful to those who serve our country.May God watch over them and bring them home safe.

[billbears]

...Some of us served. Many, including me, did not. Vietnam was our excuse. I say excuse because since that war ended, the upper classes - especially the most educated - never regained any sense of moral obligation to serve, let alone the desire to see their children volunteer..

Moral obligation to what? The State? I think the thousands upon thousands of dollars stolen out of my paycheck for over two decades to pay for government waste and 'moral' wars should suffice. Where exactly is the WOT going to go next? It's hit a deadend (much like the search for the 'phantom' WMDs). Considering that the majority of terrorist supporters are in nations that have not been bombed yet or are called 'ally' (i.e. Saudi Arabia), it's time to get on the ball and get to the next one. They'll be at it for years at this rate. Or is this just the perpetual war that Frum, Perle, Wolfowitz, and their ilk wanted? At the expense of the brave men and women that signed up to defend this nation of states.

I will be the first to sign up, even at my age, and defend this nation of states from foreign invaders. However I would not sign up to go to war to 'spread democracy'. I have a moral obligation to help and support others in foreign lands by personal funds, visits, work, etc.. However I do not have a moral obligation to support actions to establish our form of 'government', that is foreign to others, in another nation because the government tells me it is the 'moral' thing to do. Come back in a generation or two when the 'democracy' this adminstration forcibly installed in Iraq has failed and tell me how great the need was. Maybe by then they'll have found an ounce or two of WMDs in Iraq as well....

[Old Professer]

He is still talking down to us; he is reconciled, not reconstructed.

[Burkeman1]

You amoral Coward? How dare you not want to sacrifice your life or the life of a son to spreading Democracy in other lands? You must be a traitor, commie, or Islamic spy if you don't follow the gubmint blueprint demanded of you!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[ohioWfan]

I think you should vote for Dennis Kucinich.

He wants a "Department of Peace." That should be right up your alley.......

[MEG33]

Thank you for respecting our military although you disapprove of the war.It shows one can be anti war without insulting vets,the armed forces or their families.

[Burkeman1]

That would be just as stupid and Orwellian. I liked it when we called it The Department of War. That was honest at least. But for you and yours- too honest I suspect.

[MEG33]

see my #97

[mathluv]

There was a man and his son on Fox - Fox & Friends, I think, about a year ago. I wonder is this is the same man.

[ohioWfan]

But for you and yours- too honest I suspect.

What a bizarre statement. Who, exactly, is 'me and mine?' And what makes you think 'me and mine' aren't honest?

Actually, I like calling it a Department of War, and I like calling Rumsfeld a Secretary of War.

He's a good one too.

[ohioWfan]

Actually, it is a backhanded compliment to be insulted by one of little courage or character.

[sauropod]

You get those too eh? Along with ads for the Paris Hilton video.

[MEG33]

Amen.I rather like the Secretary of War and the War Department .They changed it after WW2.

[sauropod]

I see that. But its a damn sight better than it could have been.

[sheltonmac]

I think the faulty premise is that service is looked upon as "noble" or as a "moral obligation" regardless of the reason or the cause. Those who went along without question in every unconstitutional military conflict in U.S. history (e.g., Bosnia) are considered "noble" because they "did their duty." Those who refuse to take part, whether on moral or constitutional grounds, are considered unpatriotic cowards who don't deserve to live. It seems people will think or say anything to set their minds at ease.

The problem is that no one ever bothers to stop and question why our sons and daughters are dying. Why did we fight in places like Vietnam and Somalia? How were we made safer? Were U.S. troops really defending our freedoms in those situations? Since our country continued to flourish despite being unsuccessful in those conflicts, does that mean they died in vain? These are tough questions, but they are ones that need to be asked - otherwise we may never see an end to it.

[ohioWfan]

The problem is that no one ever bothers to stop and question why our sons and daughters are dying.

This is an absurd statement that is patently untrue.

Do you think everyone in a military family is an idiot?

[MEG33]

One can be anti war without insulting the vets,the military or their families.

[sheltonmac]

How is it an absurd statement? I never hear professing conservatives question why we went into places like Vietnam or Somalia, much less admit that it might have been wrong to do so.

[sheltonmac]

How is what I said insulting? I believe the questions I posed are serious and need to be addressed. You don't agree?