Posted by AuntieMel on November 19, 2004, at 11:53:51
In reply to Re: off topic, but important » gromit, posted by MKB on November 18, 2004, at 8:07:04
<<<<<<The only positive thing I can see is unlike our last misguided "police action" we are not blaming our own soldiers for doing their job. Mostly they are heroes who have the misfortune to have a boss who is not.....gromit
<<<<<<They serve because they choose to. No one has forced them to sign up. They love the Army, love this country, and admire our President....MKB
Both of you make valid points, and both of you speak to things that touch me personally.I remember well the first police action that gromit speaks of. My ex served in the jungles and saw many of his friends reduced to chipped beef. This was something he struggled with for a very long time [hence the ex. try as I wanted to help, I never could.] I also had several friends over there.
While I was a rabid peace-nik, I never, ever blamed the guys over there, never spat at them or called them baby killers. Most of them were drafted and would have rather been at home, so it was actually easier to separate the war from the warrior.
Fast forward. My son was in the air force between the '91 gulf war and this one. He supported (from the ground, luckily) the enforcement of the northern and southern no-fly zones and was sent over during the serbia/albania conflict. While I *strongly* supported the missions, I was scared poopless when he was over there and watched cnn 24 hours a day.
Fast forward again. I have very mixed feelings about the conflict we are in now. I never believed that there were "wmds" over there, and I didn't believe that they were involved in 911 either, but I did feel that anyone that would gas his own people should be dealt with, and I still believe we should do our best to stop similar situations.
BUT this *is* turning into an echo of the first "police action" where we are taking a spot, then giving it up. There isn't enough orginization or manpower, and I think anyone would have to agree it isn't going well. I strongly fear that it will turn into something that is stretched out for years and years, or worse, that we will abandon the country and leave it a worse mess than it was.
And I have a really hard time with the term "insurgent" in this context. Because I can guaran-darn-tee you that if our contry were invaded, now matter how bad the leadership, I would be out there scratching and clawing to get them out.
And "terrorist" in this context is bad too. Terrorism is directed toward innocent folks, designed to induce fear in the populace. Any manner of attacking troops is, by definition, not terrorism.
Remenber we got our independence with the use of "unconventional" warfare.
I'll get off the soapbox now.
poster:AuntieMel
thread:416960
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20041114/msgs/417907.html