Political Rant #1
/begin rant
So today the Pentagon ordered an additional 1,500 troops over to Iraq, from our very own 82nd Air, stationed in Ft. Bragg. The reasoning of course is, there will likely be an increase in violence leading up to the elections scheduled for October. Now who would have ever imagined that? I mean I was under the impression that everything was hunky-dory in Vietn- I mean Iraq. Oh wait...I forgot that the Sunni portion of the Iraqi population feels left out of the "democratic process" its leaders are now making plans to attempt to DEFEAT the first new constitution in Iraq. This can't be a good sign, and that's just the non-radical leaders. It's more or less been established the more extreme Sunni leaders are the ones responsible for organizing and executing the attacks on American soldiers and American interests. Add to that the fact that Al-Queda, which had no presence in Iraq prior to the U.S. invasion is now well established and working in tandem with these militant groups, and things start to look pretty grim. So grim in fact that respected Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, who served in the Vietnam conflict and received a purple heart, said Iraq is rapidly beginning to resemble that same ugly situation. Come on GW, even YOU have to know things are getting pretty bad when a ranking member of your own part publicly says we're failing in our mission and that "Stay the course" is not a viable foreign policy. It just goes to show that there are in fact a few reasonable and intelligent people left in the Republican party.
Now, lets talk for a moment about Cindy Sheehan. In case you've been living in a cave for the last three or four weeks, this is the woman who set up camp down the road from GW's Texas ranch, in protest of the death of her son in Iraq. Since then she's been joined by about one hundred other anti-war protestors, who have quietly and peacefully showing their opposition to the "war" in Iraq. (For the record, people need to top referring to it as a "war". It is at BEST, a peace keeping operation....and at worst a hostile occupation. The fact is, we never declared war on Iraq or it's people...it's a misleading way to refer to the situation.) So anyway, since these protestors set up their camp. which is on public land btw, they have been shot at, threatened, had parts of their camp run over by angry Republicans in pick-ups, and now a SECOND camp, inhabited by PRO-Iraqi supporters, has sprung up. Why the second camp you ask? Well popular perception among the conservatives in this country is that anyone opposed to our involvement in Iraq are disrespecting the brave men and women who serve in our armed forces...and this is the reason for the anti-protest, protest. This is completely ridiculous, and while I certainly don't oppose anyone's right to protest pretty much whatever they want, I think this is a pretty ludicrous stance to take. I personally think that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was one of the biggest mistakes in the history of this country, and that 50 years from now our children will look back and wonder what in the hell was going on, but that does not mean that I have any less respect or admiration for people in uniform. I understand completely that they took an oath to serve and protect this country and it's interests, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with the orders they are given; orders which they have no choice but to follow, regardless of personal opinion.
You see, in the military they don't ask you if YOU think it's ok to shoot the person they tell you to shoot, they just tell you to shut up and shoot. I take great pride in our military, and that fact that we are the most powerful country in the world...I really do. However that does not give us a mandate to do whatever the hell we want anywhere we want to, or to spend the lives of our children frivolously in a country where we are not wanted, and in which we never should have become involved in the first place. To quote Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility." The invasion of Iraq was NOT part of that responsibility. The men and women of our military take the oath they do with the assumption that they will never be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice without good reason. What does it say that now more then 60% of the country (according to the latest numbers) no longer thinks Iraq qualifies? Is our country destined to keep sacrificing the lives of its soldiers in Iraq because our President is to stubborn to admit he made a mistake? It certainly seems like it.
/end rant
*Thought of the day: It's interesting how acts of heroic "revolution" can become acts of cowardly "terrorism" depending on which side you're on.
*Addendum: That is not to say that I in anyway think said acts are right or justified...I just find the question of perspective interesting.
So today the Pentagon ordered an additional 1,500 troops over to Iraq, from our very own 82nd Air, stationed in Ft. Bragg. The reasoning of course is, there will likely be an increase in violence leading up to the elections scheduled for October. Now who would have ever imagined that? I mean I was under the impression that everything was hunky-dory in Vietn- I mean Iraq. Oh wait...I forgot that the Sunni portion of the Iraqi population feels left out of the "democratic process" its leaders are now making plans to attempt to DEFEAT the first new constitution in Iraq. This can't be a good sign, and that's just the non-radical leaders. It's more or less been established the more extreme Sunni leaders are the ones responsible for organizing and executing the attacks on American soldiers and American interests. Add to that the fact that Al-Queda, which had no presence in Iraq prior to the U.S. invasion is now well established and working in tandem with these militant groups, and things start to look pretty grim. So grim in fact that respected Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, who served in the Vietnam conflict and received a purple heart, said Iraq is rapidly beginning to resemble that same ugly situation. Come on GW, even YOU have to know things are getting pretty bad when a ranking member of your own part publicly says we're failing in our mission and that "Stay the course" is not a viable foreign policy. It just goes to show that there are in fact a few reasonable and intelligent people left in the Republican party.
Now, lets talk for a moment about Cindy Sheehan. In case you've been living in a cave for the last three or four weeks, this is the woman who set up camp down the road from GW's Texas ranch, in protest of the death of her son in Iraq. Since then she's been joined by about one hundred other anti-war protestors, who have quietly and peacefully showing their opposition to the "war" in Iraq. (For the record, people need to top referring to it as a "war". It is at BEST, a peace keeping operation....and at worst a hostile occupation. The fact is, we never declared war on Iraq or it's people...it's a misleading way to refer to the situation.) So anyway, since these protestors set up their camp. which is on public land btw, they have been shot at, threatened, had parts of their camp run over by angry Republicans in pick-ups, and now a SECOND camp, inhabited by PRO-Iraqi supporters, has sprung up. Why the second camp you ask? Well popular perception among the conservatives in this country is that anyone opposed to our involvement in Iraq are disrespecting the brave men and women who serve in our armed forces...and this is the reason for the anti-protest, protest. This is completely ridiculous, and while I certainly don't oppose anyone's right to protest pretty much whatever they want, I think this is a pretty ludicrous stance to take. I personally think that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was one of the biggest mistakes in the history of this country, and that 50 years from now our children will look back and wonder what in the hell was going on, but that does not mean that I have any less respect or admiration for people in uniform. I understand completely that they took an oath to serve and protect this country and it's interests, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with the orders they are given; orders which they have no choice but to follow, regardless of personal opinion.
You see, in the military they don't ask you if YOU think it's ok to shoot the person they tell you to shoot, they just tell you to shut up and shoot. I take great pride in our military, and that fact that we are the most powerful country in the world...I really do. However that does not give us a mandate to do whatever the hell we want anywhere we want to, or to spend the lives of our children frivolously in a country where we are not wanted, and in which we never should have become involved in the first place. To quote Spiderman, "With great power comes great responsibility." The invasion of Iraq was NOT part of that responsibility. The men and women of our military take the oath they do with the assumption that they will never be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice without good reason. What does it say that now more then 60% of the country (according to the latest numbers) no longer thinks Iraq qualifies? Is our country destined to keep sacrificing the lives of its soldiers in Iraq because our President is to stubborn to admit he made a mistake? It certainly seems like it.
/end rant
*Thought of the day: It's interesting how acts of heroic "revolution" can become acts of cowardly "terrorism" depending on which side you're on.
*Addendum: That is not to say that I in anyway think said acts are right or justified...I just find the question of perspective interesting.
posted by CarpeDM | 5:18 PM
1 Comments:
Just a little info- the military- Air Force specifically- has been asked to stay out of DC this weekend due to protests. This was just interesting to me.
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