I remember being 24 years old living in Camp LeJeune, NC, and getting in disagreements with my comrades about the political state, then. I was one of the few people who would actually have the balls to say that I would vote for John Kerry. Naturally, I got verbally bashed. It seemed to me the arguments for my willingness to vote for Kerry was nothing more than rote memorization and regurgitation. All the arguments were the same: John Kerry is not for the troops; John Kerry wants to down-size the armed forces; and other arguments along those lines. I was told that George Bush was for the military, was against the terrorists, and would help out the troops.
These reasons for Bush and against Kerry simply do not make any sense! Now, I don’t understand how anyone could be “against” the military if they have lived the life as a commissioned officer, like Kerry did. I also don’t understand how anyone could be “for terrorists” and “for terrorism,” as was implied by saying that Bush is “against” those forces. So...that argument is just political posturing to make Kerry look unpatriotic. I also don’t understand how Bush could “for the troops,” and therefore “help us out,” if he never served a day in a war zone.
Of course Bush is not “for the troops” in any way. I later found out, near the end of my enlistment, that in the year 2004 the Bush administration was tasked with cutting governmental costs. The only thing Bush could cut was veteran’s benefits. Yes, the patriot Bush is going to send American boys and girls (because, really, that is what they are, if those individuals are not above the age of 21) into an incredibly dangerous war zone, and then later “pull the rug” from under the very people who get injured when they come back to the USA. That act alone does not tell me that Bush is “for the troops.” He is for sending us into a war zone to steal a natural resource that belongs to someone else. He is into allowing ancient art and historical documents to burn into ashes – as Iraqi people riot in the streets – as long as the Ministry of Oil is left intact and unscathed. He is for allowing people to enter a fire-fight wearing only the minimal amount of armor to protect their lives. Hell, we still don’t have armored vehicles that can withstand improvised explosive devices.
I also found it incredible that the Republican Party painted John Kerry as unpatriotic, while it put Bush on a pedestal as the only person who could protect this country from the un-Christian dark people. Kerry is a Purple-Heart decorated Vietnam War veteran, while Bush used his power and influence to get out from going to a war zone. Also, our Vice President Dick Cheney got five deferments so he wouldn’t fight in Vietnam. I guess I could glean from that fact that five other people went in his place since those slots had to get filled. I wonder if those five fillers-in made it out alive uninjured and mentally stable.
Cut to today: We know these things now. So why would I bring something up from four years ago? I do it because of what has happened since then. America has been fighting in a war that has (and will) cost this country more than we could ever comprehend, but people still don’t get it. I get so pissed at the fact that, during this war, the American people were asked to sacrifice absolutely nothing. Ziltch. Nada. Zero. American people can do anything and everything, as long as they don’t have to sacrifice anything that would compromise their consumerist lifestyles. They can shop and drive, and shop and drive some more, all the while young kids are fighting and dying and getting brutally injured in a war-zone.
Due to that fact, I feel pangs of anger, resentment, and embarrassment. It dawned on me that I went to a war zone so the American people could shop without restraint. I went to a war zone so people could have cheap gas to drive their gas-guzzling fuel-inefficient American cars.
That is only part of the problem. The war is still going on right now, as I type these words. Right now, boys and girls are being maimed in the name of “freedom and democracy” to people who simply don’t want those things right now. About six months ago, the question came up as to whether a life was “wasted” in this war if someone was killed. Of course, the sheep flag-wavers said, “No, No! They are fighting for democracy!” and all that bullshit. Others said, “Yeah...maybe. Since the reasons of the war changed so often, maybe there is no reason to be there, and therefore the lives lost are wasted. But I’m still a Patriot!” They always have to add that last part in, just incase they are in the proximity of some jingoistic right-wing nut-case who will accuse them of being godless liberals who hate America.
You know what? Those people who do die in Iraq are wasted. Those lives are wasted because the battles we fought, and fight, are for the wrong reason. Young people who enlist know the consequences of that act: They know they may be sent into a dangerous war zone. The only thing they (and I) ask is that the battle be legitimate. The only thing I ask of the people who order me into a battle is that the battle is for something. All those 4000 lives that have been lost in Iraq were wasted because they are in a losing battle against an unstoppable, and unseeable enemy, because we are the invaders. We invaded Iraq for its oil. Nothing else.
Maybe, instead of oil, we should fight to spread democracy and freedom – but only if they Iraqis wanted it, but were denied. Or maybe, we should have never invaded Iraq in the first place, and stayed in Afghanistan. I am sure the 4000+ deaths that have occurred would be more legitimate, since we are trying to get the mastermind of the terrorist attacks. I would think that just about everyone would rather die trying to find that asshole Osama bin Laden, then dying needlessly as war profiteers get unfathomably rich as they fleece the federal government.
I guess my biggest resentment is directed at American people. Even though it is common knowledge the American people were manipulated starting five hours after the terrorist attacks in Manhattan, nobody did anything to bring justice to the people who orchestrated the lies, the spin, and the war itself. I guess they are all too busy shopping online and at the mall.
So, what brought my ire right now? It was two things. Last Friday, I was watching Bill Moyers Journal, and one story featured this Iraqi war veteran who was injured. He was shot through the chest, and the bullet-round exited through his spinal column. He is paralyzed below the nipples down. He cannot cough (which is something I cannot imagine not being able to do), and he constantly gets light-headed because he cannot regulate his own body temperature. He is now in a coma. The second thing that is truly sad is another death in Iraq that was reported today in the news. Of course, people dying in Iraq is nothing new; that has been going on since 2003. It is the way this Army private died that is so gruesome. To save his comrades in battle, he threw himself on top of a live grenade. Throwing oneself on a live grenade is something that I’ve only seen happen in Hollywood action movies. That is fucked-up.
So, what does the future mean for America, as we move forward in time, but not in mentality? There will be bucket-loads of disenfranchisement, for sure. I am disenfranchised with this country and its citizens. I cannot be the only one. I just hope that Americans finally wake up and start questioning everything. I hope they wake up and question the leadership they elect. I hope they wake up and question their place in the world, as individual people, and as Americans. I hope they wake up and question themselves, and improve for the better when they realize they can improve. I hope that Americans wake up and begin to grow.
Then again, who am I kidding? Why would anyone do these things when there is shopping to do?
I totally agree. Every cloud has a silver lining. Bank-breaking gasoline prices will make the bottom 85% of Americans conserve fuel, but the top 15% will continue to buy their SUVs. If gas prices go back down to tolerable levels, people will forget, and just re-buy all their fuel-inefficient trucks again.
Well...that is what happens when Americans don’t get involved in politics. As long as their child is not being shot at, they aren’t going to think about the war because it won’t affect them. If there was a draft, the war would have been over before it started. The author of this postcard is playing to an empty audience chamber.
~~Nick
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