Hate President Bush, Hate the War in Iraq, Love the Soldiers
The Difference Between Anti-troop Hate-tactics and Being Pro-Peace
So let's get this straight from the beginning: I hate the war. I hated it even more when we began attacking Iraq. I hated the way old Dubbya convinced the nation that this was some kind of holy, righteous war. I hated the way he used the deaths of all those innocent people in the World Trade Center to justify killing thousands more innocent people in another country. I do not believe in this war. I am pro-peace.
So every time I see that yellow ribbon tied to my tree, a symbol of my support to our troops, it's a little odd, even for me.
My cousin joined the military after the war began. He didn't join because he wanted to "get some scalps" in Iraq. He joined because he couldn't afford college, he couldn't support himself on mediocre jobs, and he wanted to be a soldier. He wanted to train and grow strong, and he wanted to see the world. He wanted to make a difference, and this was his way. I am proud of him for his courage.
So now he and his buddies are in Iraq, and you know what? He doesn't know if he supports the war either. He's just out there with his friends in the dry, blazing heat, risking his life. Out there on the front lines, the notions of "war," "peace," and "killing" aren't philosophical debates that grad students discuss over coffee. They're daily life. When the insurgents shoot at you, you damn well better fire back. It's not about morality or ideals. It's about life or death, and the lives of your friends.
I asked my cousin how he could stand being out there if he doesn't support the war. He told me about life from the perspective of his troop. Iraq, he said, is in a civil war. His troop, at least, is not killing innocent people. He's protecting them. Basically, they go on a mission into the city and sweep for insurgents and rebels, trying to make the city safer for everyone who lives there: Yes, this includes Iraqi men, women, and children.
He isn't sure about the overall, grand scheme of the war. He does, however, know that what he as an individual does on a daily basis is protect people. And I agree with him. He risks his life and struggles with uncomfortable conditions, a single pawn in a huge game of chess that he doesn't understand or agree with. But his move is right. His move protects life.
Does he also destroy life? Perhaps sometimes. But what would you do if a bunch of people started threatening you and your buddies?
So as angry as this war in Iraq makes me, it makes me angrier still to see people protesting with signs that say "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" at the funerals of fallen men. War is a horrible, negative thing. What good does it do to add to the negativity by attacking the families who are stuck here everyday worrying about loved ones? Why add to the sorrow of death? People are dying on all sides, and all deaths are equally terrible. Dead soldiers aren't going to end this war. Death only creates more bitterness on both sides and perpetuates the very spirit that creates war and violence to begin with.
I hate the war. I hate the prejudice that started the concept of war centuries ago. However, generating a prejudice against soldiers is not the solution. They're people, like us, doing the best they can. The soldiers are not the war. The soldiers are, as overly cliché as this may sound, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, and friends to someone. I hate the war, but I'm proud of my cousin. If you hate the war, you hate it because you love your fellow human beings in Iraq and wish them no harm. Guess what? Soldiers are fellow human beings, too.
I'm as anti-war as you can get. I protest war, promote peace, and tie yellow ribbons around my tree-because peace is about supporting all humanity, including soldiers.
Published by Heather Leah
The most important job in the world is to teach others, whether through writing, classrooms, or friendship. It's a job we all have. I enjoy teaching others that there's more love, compassion, and magic tha... View profile
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9 Comments
Post a CommentThese negative comments causes low moral with the troops that are fighting for your freedom and your right to post such bullcrap if it was left up to you flipflopping liberals there would be another attact today to go unpunished just like you suggest that the world trade center should have been
I completely agree, it is possible to disconnect the war and the soldiers. Afterall, they did not choose this war, they were assigned to it.
i hate bush to. heres why, bush has stocks in oil so he started a war that raised oil prices vastly. bush used the deaths of good poeple to kill more poeple, i dont care if your cousin knows he's fitghing a war that not worth it, he now has NO say in the matter, none of them do. We dont have any say in the matter ether, if we did we would not be in iraq. do we need another nam..........
They are all adults. They are choosing to kill Iraqis. The president is to blame, that's true. But so are the soldiers - they are choosing to murder, and they have to live with that choice.
War... damned if you do, damned if you don't... it will take a wiser man than myself to understand war, its gain, its loss, its true costs. Are we in Afghanistan for revenge? Sure... for Oil? Yep... to prevent future attacks on the homeland? Absolutely. There are many points of view on this war, and you can find something right and wrong about each of them. The one truth we must never forget in this argument is the Soldier or Marine, who is laying it on the line. They have earned our support with their deeds, not debate.
As for Bush, remember this simple truth: There are no Republicans or
Democrats in Washington, only politicians...
Rashawn and Jeff -- thank you for your peaceful, anti-war support and words of encouragement! :) Greg, thank you also, for adding a different viewpoint. I personally don't know a terrible lot about politics and warfare. I can only approach war from a base, human, emotional perspective. I don't like war. Most people dislike war. From the sound of your post, I think you dislike war also. But you see it as a necessity, as self-defense. I don't claim to know what the fundamentalists believe in their heart of hearts or to know whether or not this war is necessary. I do know, however, that whether or not we agree on supporting the war or not, we should always support and love the people involved in it. In the end, other people are all this world has. So whether or not war is necessary, whether or not peace is possible right now, I believe that love, at least, is both. :)
I thank you for making this post, because I have seen young men and women opposed to war yet supporting troops and caught in arguments and engagements with no real way to support themselves in the midst of it. With your use of humanity in explaining how you feel, I, another anti-war American, understand even more. I wish you and your family the best.
Sorry, Greg but I don't (and never have) bought that arguement that they want to convert us all, and we are in a struggle for humanity...if you swing your A.M. radio dial and stop and listen to many religious stations you can find hateful rhetoric from that side too..there is plenty of room for peaceful support of all humanity..we had the opportunity after 9/11, when the world was with us..bush decided instead to push for hate, division, and animosity..sadly, he blew the best chance we might get for some time..
So Heather, how do respond to a fundamentalist who says "convert to Islam or die." That is the message from the radicals (not all Muslims) and they WILL NOT waver from it. There is no talking, negotiating, trying to understand this minority sect of Islam. Yet, while they are a minority, they are the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks killing innocents around the world. Do we ignore them so that we can be peaceful and support all humanity? I submit to you that the "peace only" mentality is a recipe for the destruction of freedom and democracy. Sometimes, as in World War II, and as in Afghanistan, war is the only answer.