Protesting the Iraq War: Veterans Need Our Support
Of course, the question was practical and on everyone's lips; what do you hope to accomplish? To spread the word about why this is wrong? To register our personal moral objections? These answers seem to pat to me now, too trivial. After all, we weren't doing this for ourselves; we were trying to lessen the harm done to Iraqis and make the domestic situation more amenable to veterans speaking out against the war. We were determined that any veteran returning with bad things to say about this war would not be spit upon as happened with veterans of Vietnam.
And that last objective has so far been successful. Just do a google video search of Iraq Veterans Against the War and watch as these people who have been there tell you truly horrifying stories of what they saw, did, and were ordered to do. One soldier is now my favorite based on the work he is doing with AWOL soldiers. His name is Darrell Anderson, and he received the Purple Heart for having nearly died in one of Iraq's notorious car bombs. You can google video his name for a list of clips of him talking to audiences (at protests, where else), or you can just watch this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSpa9Tx503U
Looking back at Vietnam and the protesting surrounding it; I have become increasingly aware of this fact. Protests had little to do with ending the Vietnam War. Anti-war organizations are mainstreamed into worrying about legislative battles and ignoring the plight of those soldiers going AWOL. Legislative battles don't stop a war though. What stops a war is a conscious decision by the warriors. Bush is not a warrior but a war-maker. The warriors are on the ground in Iraq, and our hope for an end to this travesty should be equal to the volume of the veteran's voices, the strengths of their actions. If you are against the war, then allow me to suggest where your "stubborn ounces of weight" can best be put.
Give your precious money and time to groups that go into high schools and run counter-recruitment drives that warn young folks about the dangers of military service and lies that recruiters tell. Wars require lots of cannon fodder. The harder we make it for the military to recruit, the quicker this war will be over. Efforts have been successful so far. New recruit numbers have been falling since the war began on the average.
Do what you can to publicize the voices of these returned warriors who have awesomely frightening stories to tell about what goes on in a war zone. This isn't CNN. These guys don't automatically get heard just by being veterans and having something to say. Only by lots of work from lots of unnamed people can they be heard by the widest audience. These are ultimately the people who can end the war. The rest of the protestors would do well to see themselves as supporters and get on with that job.
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14 Comments
Post a CommentBetter the war in Iraq than America. I would rather see those bastards die than Americans who are innocent. Then again, those Muslim terrorists kidnapped innocent Americans FIRST and brought this upon themselves while WE DID NOTHING. I am glad Bush had enough courage to get Hussein and bring the war to Islamo Fascism. I support the war and the troops, especially the Army in which I served at one point. I wish the best for the future president Mitt Romney and America as they bring democracy to parts of the world where it has no roots.
I like (actually I'd rather not at all, but...) to go back to Prescott Bush and Hitler and banks. Halliburton's profits due to the Viet Nam war. The links between Halliburton, Cheney, Kellogg, Root & Brown, and the Bush clan involvement. The only thing I know for sure about war is that the Iraqi mother just wanted to live to see her blown apart child grow up to give her grandchildren and all die naturally. Kind of the same stuff I think most ladies world wide want, if only our leaders would lead to mature, peaceful resolutions to conflicts. 2007 and we still act like cavemen or people who thought, for sure, that earth was flat and the sun revolved around it.
Cute, you've got battle scars. What does that prove? Try responding to something I've written just once. The veterans of Iraq (you know, the ones doing the protesting according to the piece above) have plenty of battle scars. Want to do something besides mindlessly attempts at one-upping me? This is so freakin boring, but it pays the internet bill.
((Micah Myers: I rather like dealing with substantial issues instead of finding fault with people. You gloat about your life so, that I doubt anything you have to say, at least about yourself, is true. The high horse is a nasty substitute for content with substance, tastes like Saccharin.))
Wanna bet? Got a lot more battle scars than you will ever see my leftist friend -- and to think you are the one called a protester...beyond sad really...
(PS Can't really climb on the horse can you?...LOL...try a soap box...oops...you are already on one...my bad...carry on...)
I rather like dealing with substantial issues instead of finding fault with people. You gloat about your life so, that I doubt anything you have to say, at least about yourself, is true. The high horse is a nasty substitute for content with substance, tastes like Saccharin.
Oh my!...Hearst and Hooverville...got to rate up there with some real human atrocities...that BA in politics is paying off now, let me tell you...lol...and you were part of which of these may I ask?...oh, I see...you listened to the lectures...got ya...well, that's almost like being there I guess. What's that?...oh and you wrote a paper or two...hmmm...that does give it some weight...wow!...LOL...Dude...give it up...you have no idea what a protest or repressive government is...your best view of Big Brother is out of a novel, not from watching the communist neighborhood party leader turn someone in...so, until you offer better, I like my high horse very much thank you...(admit, you envy the high horse don't you...LOL...catch you later)
Ummm...have you ever heard of the Pinkerton Detectives or William Randolph Hearst or the Hoovervilles or COINTELPro??? We have a rich history of protesting and getting the mess stomped from us as we do it. You don't need to lecture this American, or most Lefties who have not forgotten, on the power, privilege, and responsibility of protesting. Get off your high horse and addresss substantial issues, instead of trying your hand at character assassination.
(Micah Myers: Not naivete, but lack of commonsense, makes your statement that war is freedom less than Orwellian. "No country left to protest in"? That's right. Use the power or lose it. Just another corporate stooge you are. )
I seriously doubt that you would know what a protest really is...there is little repercussion for your actions in the land of the free from your so called protest...perhaps you may take the protest to a place where it would literally cost you a pound of flesh for having the gall to do it...maybe then you can lecture me on protest and common sense...until then, a lap top and air conditioning does not much of a protester make...lol...but hey, you are good for a laugh or two...continue the fight my good man...
Rolando Cruz: (Micah Myers: Exactly what communist hell hole did you crawl out of?) That would be a little place called "Cuba"...perhaps you have heard of it my Left leaning friend...perhaps a little time there and or any place like it might do wonders for your one-side and rather naive perspective of the world we live in...Maybe if you were to spend part of your grade school in solitary confinment for not saluting the flag of a backwards nation like Cuba's, you might even gain a perspective on what a protest really is all about...but that may be asking too much...no?
Not naivete, but lack of commonsense, makes your statement that war is freedom less than Orwellian. "No country left to protest in"? That's right. Use the power or lose it. Just another corporate stooge you are.