Discussion with my 28 year old Fraternity Brother Son

[Jiyah]

We were discussing the war in Iraq and he started shaking his head. I asked him what was wrong.

He, paraphrasing said,

"It's amazing. When you were young, you asked your parents why Truman went to Korea and your parents said they didn't know. When I was young, I asked you what we fought for in Viet Nam and you told me 'I wish I knew.'

I'm just realizing that, when I have kids, my kids will ask me why we went to Iraq. And I'm going to have to give them the same answer I used to hate you giving me about Viet Nam. Because I don't know why we're there and I don't know when we'll leave."

Keep in mind, this is a man, who, as a Graduate Student today, will go up to 18 and 19 year old college Republicans who support the war and give them business cards and information on enlisting from the local military recruiter just to see their reaction, then call them "gutless pukes" when they refuse to take the information and "put their money where their mouths are."

[Davitalvitch]

1. Teen College Republican War Supporters

I LOVE your son! I would love to have those exchanges captured on film.

There was a recent DU post-er who wrote a lengthy, never-sent response to her niece, who had a friend die in Iraq. Some people didn't understand the Aunt's reaction but it is infuriating to listen to smug, self-involved college-age Republicans. I was waiting to get into the Library of Congress last year and there were three kids in front of me, wearing some round Republican badge. The thin blond girl (the Republican female stereotype) was telling the others how her teacher was a Democrat. According to her, she made some point to him, he replied that he'd never thought about it that way, and supposedly up and turned Republican! Oh, how they chuckled over that.

Kids are generally somewhat milky, still sorting out their beliefs, but it's these young twits who behave in such a smug, superior fashion that make me want to knock their heads together. Trust me, living in D.C. and taking the metro after Bush 'won' the 2004 election, seeing the women in their furs, the men in their cowboy hats, and these kids with their "Bush: STILL the President!" pins was tough to handle. That is why I would love to see the same kids be approached by your son, reject his recruiter business cards, and be called "gutless pukes." As one college Republican stated when asked why he wasn't in Iraq, he "chose" to stay here and to write in support of The War, for he's a "fighter, but with words." No, you're a hypocritical pussy, kid.

[dave_p]

2. I blame the grownups

I was a pretty naive and bombastic as a kid, though my politics were always of the left. But there were adults around to tell me that the world just wasn't as easy as ir seemed at the time, and I needed to start with the questions before leaping to answers.

What's changed is that the grownups aren't there any more, or when they are, they're just not getting their voice heard. Even high-level political discussion's dominated by right-wing clowns who sound like a mirror of me at 16 rather than informed specialists.

It's tragic that young minds are being shaped by national policy analysis that once wouldn't have made it through a junior essay contest. We need to hold academia and the media to account, and demand that "our" side doesn't just duck the fundamental issues and go along with the right's agenda.

[lapfog_1]

3. In general I don't like Tweety...

but his college Hardball tour of a few months ago (year ago?) was great.

Asks all of the students that support the war in Iraq to stand. Then asks those standing if they are willing to enlist to remain standing (90 percent sit down). Everybody starts laughing (nervous laughter). Chris then starts asking those that sat down to raise their hands and come to the microphones...

[yurbud]

4. we do know why, much more clearly than Vietnam

I'm doing this on my phone, so I can't paste links and the like, but if you read that behan piece on commondreams, he does a good job of summing up the oil motive. You might also read or watch Greg Palast's work on this.

Like the Pentagon Papers on Vietnam, there is a pretty substantial paper trail on this, and even video of some of the key players talking about their role.

Iraq's oil is worth tens of TRILLIONS of dollars. Before the war, no American majors had concessions to pump it. Now they are dictating terms of Iraq's oil laws and terms of their concession contracts with our troops there as enforcers.

As Greg Palast found out and the DSM later confirmed, oil companies were also worried Saddam was going to ramp up production when sanctions came off, and drive prices down. So essentially, we are spending our tax dollars and sending our troops to die so we can spend MORE at the pump.