Posted on 05/20/2006 12:40:28 AM PDT by neverdem
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I can't go out and eat because we're in Iraq?
Little over the top for me.
You like it. Politicians love it.
George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld not only love it, but regard it as essential to their tenures in office.
But it's not true.
War is not a finely-calibrated tool of civil government, like setting short-term interest rates to alter M2.
War is an atavistic, primitive reflex which nevertheless obeys certain rules, or laws. If anyone studied military history anymore, we could have a few people in government with a clue.
But we don't, so we bumble from Korea to Vietnam to Iraq, electrifying rural villages, building health centers, winning hearts and minds, and getting our asses kicked.
Most people, including most FReepers, recoil from "nuke 'em 'till they glow, then shoot 'em in the dark".
But we are playing a very primitive game, with some of the most primitive people on the planet.
William T. Sherman, an otherwise civilized man, carried out a campaign of unprecedented barbarity (for his time and place), but observed "War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over".
When the leaders of Atlanta pleaded to be spared, he replied, " You might as well appeal against the thunder-storm as against these terrible hardships of war. They are inevitable, and the only way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and quiet at home, is to stop the war, which can only be done by admitting that it began in error and is perpetuated in pride. We don't want your Negroes, or your horses, or your lands, or any thing you have, but we do want and will have a just obedience to the laws of the United States. That we will have, and if it involved the destruction of your improvements, we cannot help it."
Think on that. "If it involves the destruction of your improvements, WE CANNOT HELP IT".
That's what war is. War is savagery. War is destruction. War is able to be controlled only a little bit, and with great care lest its aims not be diverted.
There is no evidence - none - for your postmodern fantasy that war can be carried out (to victory, anyway) without sacrifice from the people in whose name it is waged.
President Bush does remind 'America' of a need for all to remember and sacrifice while offering appreciation to those in our Military etc. . .but his is more a voice in the wilderness post prime time. . .
The Left wants - and needs - America to be it's own worst enemy. . .
Personally, I'm glad the war kind of disappears when I'm home or away from here. When you take a break from a combat zone, you want a break from it. Not to dishonor our troops in any way, but I enjoy the time I can briefly forget about the war.
So more power to all the people back home living life as it should be lived! After all, that is what our noble armed forces are fighting for - to preserve our way of life.
If everyone were all miserable back home due to the war, I wouldn't want to go home on leave. I'd have to find someplace fun to go. As it is, going home is fun, relaxing and invigorating.
The media has made this Bush's War. I work with a bunch of assholes that I have to "ignore" every day regarding this subject. They (mental Midget bimbo) walks around calling the President "an asshole". One believes there was no reason to attack Iraq. Another made a comment just yesterday "I can't wait until Bush is out of office". I ignored him. You see these people are hicks and as long as they have their bars and dart league they are happy. They learn politics from Michael Moore. It is truly pathetic bunch.
AGREE 100%!
I think we would have to go back to WWII to find a nation with a "sense of war"
The war we are in now isn't demanding a large share of our resources and capabilities. When one had to buy gasoline with coupons, it was a lot easier to have a sense of war. And Victory Gardens and collecting scrap steel. . . all things we haven't had to do.
It was non-stop front page news that you watched or read with complete detachment unless you had a personal involvement with it. Like if you had a close friend or family member in Vietnam.......
It was just going on but since it was "over there" you just read over it and moved on to the sports section..........I see the same thing happening today.
This website is the only chance I get to talk about and read about the war. Nobody at work even mentions the current war, none of my friends mention the war, when my family gets together nobody mentions the war. It doesn't exist!
...and it makes me furious and sick!
When I was in the Army it was like time had stopped. This may sound strange but when the movie Apollo 13 came out, that was the first time I had ever heard about that event........
WOW! (I love that movie; I own it.) Were you in Vietnam when Apollo 13 happened? I remember it, but I was a kid at home and everyone was glued to the TV sets.
Thank you for your service.
Here's what's really weird. When I'm home, nobody mentions the war to me at all. It's like they don't want to acknowldege it. If I make a reference to it (Hell, it's my life right now), it's brushed off.
I had one dear friend who was the opposite and wanted to hear all of my "war stories" when I was home. I think he understood that it was somewhat therapeutic for us to talk about it, but he was also obviously genuinely interested.
Unfortunately, he passed away last year. He was about the only person who discussed it with me. It's as if it's a taboo subject back home.
re "I long for those determined Republicans we had who gave us the Contract with America." has it not occurred to you that they also gave us 9/11? Did they really have the right priorities?
So people just forget?
I also remember a sense of war during Desert Storm, but that was so short that it didn't need to be sustained, so it fit with today's "instant gratification" trend in society.
No, I was in Panama for about 2 1/2 years. When I look back on it, I remember that that was a period of no television or radio. I think we may have had a tv in the day room but it was never used because the channels were all spanish as were the radio stations...... LOL!
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