Supporting troops = supporting war - A RANT

nonconformist

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Wed Jun-01-05 04:19 PM
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Supporting troops = supporting war - A RANT

I am so sick of the false patriotism in this country. The meaningless mantras, the shallow symbols, the amazing hypocrisy. The nationalism, the condescending comments. The narrow-mindedness, the cold cruelty. Just absolutely, positively SICK of it.

It's nothing new, of course. It surrounds us and has for quite some time now. I've gotten into heated discussions about this, both online and off. I've burnt bridges with "friends". I've ranted more times than I can count to like-minded family members. But as time wears on, the anger just builds to the point where I feel like I could explode. Everywhere I go, the bumper stickers and magnets stare me in the face until I'm literally tingling with outrage. If I watch the news (rare these days), in addition to all of the other crap they're spewing, that hypocritical sentiment is bound to rear it's ugly false head. Then cue me going apeshit... AT THE TV. That's sane and useful, no? But really, it's either that or spontaneously combust.

There are many reasons why I am against the war in Iraq. Many of them are factual or historically based. Most of my pre-war predictions have sadly come to pass - and this brings me zero comfort, because there is no joy in being right in hindsight.

But one of the big reasons why I am against this war is because I CARE ABOUT THE TROOPS. I don't think they should be used as cannon fodder, and I don't think that we should put these people who have committed their lives and sacrificed so much to this nation in harms way unless it's absolutely necessary. As it is, even in peace time, enlisted folk make shit money, work long hours and are separated from their families often. When they retire or leave the military, they're treated like annoyances, like parasites. Enlisted people, more often than not, are from poor or working class backgrounds who had few options in their situation or hometowns. Most are kids, 18-19, when they first join. Some have started, or are starting, families and are attracted by the good health benefits. The GI bill is another major attraction. Many who I know personally we're on the wrong track with their life and felt the only way to get on the right one was to leave their hometown and benefit from the discipline the military teaches. Some are naive, some buy all the bull about it being "just like a regular job" from the recruiters. All of them want to serve their country. But one thing is for sure - they are just trying to better their lives the best way they know how.

I know this first hand. My husband served in the Army active duty from 1993-1999. We married while he was in AIT (the training school you go to after Basic Training to learn your MOS, or job, for the unaware). Our married life began with the military and both of our children were born on a military base. These soldiers we spent years with were our friends, their wives were our friends, our children played together. Most were NOT Republicans nor did they wish for war in the least in my experience - don't buy the hype. They're just regular people, doing a noble job for shit pay because SOMEONE has to do it. I met some of the most amazing people in my life in those years - you cannot box these people into a mold or lump them altogether anymore than you can do that with any diverse group of people.

I care about these people. I would care even if I couldn't relate, because I'm not a sociopath. But I think that because we lived that life the empathy and concern is on a very deep emotional level with me. My heart breaks when I see my husband read news reports about dead troops with tears in his eyes or searching through the list of the dead hoping an old friend's name won't pop up. When I see the spouses and children of the soldiers stationed in Iraq I feel like someone has kicked me in the stomach. I could have been them - and I will never cease to realize that and put myself above these people. I can't imagine the fear and pain they're going through.

So hear come the false patriots, with their China-made magnets alongside their W'04 stickers. They voted for WAR, a war based on lies and propped up by propaganda. The lives of the troops mean jack shit to them. The families, the children, of the troops mean jack shit to them. They vote for a party that cuts military and veteran's benefits and closes VA hospitals. They vote for a party that would like to flat out eliminate the social programs many of these young soldiers need because their pay is so paltry they qualify for things like food stamps, and programs far too many vets depend on to simply live because they've been cast aside like trash. They vote for an Administration who won't allow media coverage of the remains of the people who gave their lives for nothing because they don't think they deserve that respect. They vote for a president who has yet to go to a single funeral of any of these people he has sentenced to death. To them, our military is a symbol like the flag. Something you can wave around, say you love and support without knowing ANYTHING about what it stands for and the people behind it. INDIVIDUAL people - with wives, husbands, children, parents, brothers and sisters. Not numbers, PEOPLE. Not a symbol you profess to support but every action you take is a slap in their face. Ironically, these same people would scream about how you're a traitor who should be jailed for treason if you burned or desecrated the flag. THE FLAG. A SYMBOL. But they're hunky dory with 19 yr old amputees and young fathers with their face blown off. How can someone send someone else to DIE for a cause they're not willing to die for themselves? They're obviously not willing, or they'd be enlisting in droves and since enlistment numbers are in the toilet it's clear they're not willing to give the real support these troops need - fire support. What is it about the troops lives that make them so expendable? Because they volunteered to serve their country? The opposite should be true, actually, because you don't play callously with the lives of people you honor and respect. They volunteered with integrity, the least people can do is treat them with the respect that SHOULD earn.

So not only are these hypocrites voting for the policies that hurt the troops through every stage of their lives and putting them in grave danger, not only are they unwilling to join the ranks of those they claim to hold in such regard, but they further insult them by marginalizing them into meaningless propaganda symbols. Is that RESPECT? Is that SUPPORT? Or is that DECORATION, a FASHION statement? The profits from all of these WAR SOUVENIRS purchased and used with the same level of emotion as a trinket picked up on a Disney World vacation doesn't even go to help the troops - it's nothing short of blood money lining the pockets of the morally bankrupt. How many are sending care packages to our troops? How many are writing their representatives about the piss poor care our veterans receive? How many are putting pressure on lawmakers to pay these troops a fraction of what they're paying Haliburton employees and mercenaries? How many of them are writing letters to the editor about the lack of protective armor these troops are receiving from the government they chose? How many of them are demanding that the troops be allowed to call home occasionally for free, because they've earned that, instead of allowing families already living below the poverty level to go into debt just so their children can remember what daddy's voice sounds like? But who needs all that stuff when you have a MAGNET, made in the good 'ole Republic of China.

And it's not just the damn magnets and bumper stickers... it's everything. It's the shallow mantra in general. It's the widely accepted belief that being pro-war means you support the troops and the equally disturbing belief that if you are against this war you hate the troops. How can you be pro-ANYTHING while refusing to partake and supporting policies that are directly hurting the thing you claim to be PRO about? Alternatively, how can you be against this war but don't give two shits about the troops? All things being equal, if you had your way they'd all still be ALIVE.

My anger came to a head, surprisingly, the other day when I was watching a news segment on CNN (and I hardly EVER watch TV news anymore) about portraits that had been made of soldiers that had died in Iraq. There were drawings, paintings, collages - even carvings - all displayed together. It was quite moving, and the family members of the deceased were very touched. The segment wrapped up by stating that while all of the artists that contributed to this were predominately against the war, how great it was that they come together and do this for the families, despite their differences. They made a real effort to underscore how the artists and the families are on different ends of the spectrum in their beliefs, implying all the while that anti-war = anti-troops and pro-war = pro-troops. They went on to say that because the artists were anti-war (of course they were, it was a MEANINGFUL gesture) that it was nothing short of amazing - bordering on a miracle - that they would honor the troops in such a way, because these particular people against the war we're the exception to the rule. This was the point where my head exploded.

BEING PRO-WAR AND SUPPORTING THE TROOPS IS MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.

It is simply impossible to support this administration and their policies and support the troops at the same time... unless my definition of "support" is flawed and that actually means chant mantras while shitting all over someone.

BEING AGAINST THIS WAR AND SUPPORTING THE TROOPS BY YOUR VOTES, MEANINGFUL GESTURES THAT HELP THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES, AND HAVING RESPECT FOR THEIR LIVES IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF SUPPORT.

I'm adamantly against this war, but I vote for people who support policies that benefit the troops in many ways, I write letters about VA benefits and medical care, letters about active duty wages at poverty levels, I've sent care packages to Iraq and Afghanistan, I personalize them every chance I get so that people are forced to see them as more than faceless volunteer drones on a suicide mission, and most importantly I protested and wrote letter after letter to try to stop this unnecessary war from happening in the first place. I'm the wife of a veteran, I've lived the life, my kids were Army brats. I DARE ANY OF THESE FOOLS TO SAY FOR ONE SECOND I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE TROOPS. Like the old Army commercial, I've done more for them by 9am than these treasonous cheerleaders do in a lifetime.