The Freedoms My Brother Is Defending

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/25/AR2006122500459.html

The Freedoms My Brother Is Defending

By Emily Miller
Tuesday, December 26, 2006; A25

...

The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is who controls the armed forces. Civilian command of the Army is a cornerstone of our democratic system.

My brother told me that he takes his oath to defend the Constitution seriously and that he will fight and die if necessary to honor his commitment. When I asked him if he would be offended if I participated in activities opposing the war, he replied that it was not only my right but my obligation, and the obligation of all civilians opposing this war, to try to change bad policy. "Give us good wars to fight," he said.

While acknowledging that another possible moral option is to refuse to participate in a bad war, my brother chooses to place his oath to the Constitution and his belief in our democratic system at the pinnacle of his moral convictions. That some of us might differ with him is basically irrelevant -- we (most of us) are not faced with his decision.

For the record, he believes that the war on terrorism is necessary to deal with real threats facing the United States. He is not convinced of what Iraq has to do with the matter, which puts him fairly well in the mainstream of American opinion.
...

The writer is a member of Military Families Speak Out, an organization of more than 3,100 military families opposed to the war in Iraq.

[TahitiNut]

1. He "chooses to place his oath to the Constitution and his belief in our democratic system at the ...

He "chooses to place his oath to the Constitution and his belief in our democratic system at the pinnacle of his moral convictions."

Exactly. When a person chooses to 'escrow' their civil liberties as a citizen, in service to their democratic nation, it is the People (civilians) who are the trustees of those liberties and whose ultimate authority determines how the service of those personnel will be used. When we fail to fully exercise our authority and abdicate to a 'civilian leadership' acting contrary to the express will of the People, we have violated the trust placed in us.

[me b zola]

5. Beautifully said, TN

:thumbsup:

[TomInTib]

6. Well put, TahitiNut.

That was about as close to the bone as it could get.

Where the fuck have you been for the last all-too-many years?

Damn, man, that was one of those beacon-in-the-night statements.

[yorgatron]

2. K&R

:kick:

[The Stranger]

3. No government may bestow freedoms -- only take them away.

Know your Enlightenment thinkers.

[roody]

4. The constitution says that

only Congress can declare war.