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let them fall. Won't affect me, perhaps we can finally get that glorious revolution... blah, blah, blah
Ok I have worried about a civil war for years now... mostly have seen how others have come to be. But unlike those of you who think how glorious this will be... I know the true cost, seen it. So let me share with you some stories. First off, I cannot give you real names. Nor real locations, unless they are in a damn history book. that said... these are real... and they keep me awake at night.
Let me introduce you to Carlos... now a seventeen year old, bright boy, sandy hair, brown eyes, dark chocolate skin. His story starts the day the army walked into his town in the middle of the boondogs. He was thirteen at the time. The army came at the break of dawn, and in screams got everybody to the center of town, separated males who were of military age, or near it, and basically gave them a choice... sign here (army enlistment contract) or else. His dad didn't. And like many other men he was marched to the edge of town where they machined gunned. Then they turned to the rest, same choice, most signed and were loaded on army trucks... and taken away. Carlos has not seen his family since... and he was forced to participate in many actions across the war... most of which he is not proud off. The only thing he says he was happy about is that he didn't starve during the worst of this. (Been years, I wonder what happened to him, though I hear he was sent to a camp where he was given training to rejoin civil society)
Then there is Karla... she, and her family, were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bad men picked them off the street and took them to a house. They were repeatedly raped and threatened. Hell, they raped her kids in front of her. Her husband was taken somewhere else, and she's never seen him again. Her daughter is mute from the trauma and her son is pretty mistrustful and keeps watching over his shoulder as he eats.
Of course there are Herrero and Julio. They were going to evac casualties from the field, They were stopped by an army checkpoint and forced to transport troops in their clearly marked ambulance. Herrero died, and Julio was taken by the guerrilla... he spent three years in captivity... and was beaten often. He knows the army would have done the same if they said no.
Then there is Victor, a young lad of 19... with a haunted look in his face. He joined the guerrilla believing in the glorious revolution. His first "mission" was to kill the cacique. He skulked in with his partners and drove the knife in, into the neck. The old man died ten minutes later. After that they proceeded to rape the family, kill some of the servants and then destroy all the crops from the village since they supported the army. They also killed many others of military age that refused to join them. Those who survived the violence were forced to leave for refugee camps and an uncertain life.
Now if any of you believe this would not happen in the US... aka you being forced to take sides by whoever controls your region... I got a bridge to sell you. Or to the violence, read on Sherman's march to the Sea... not the cleaned up versions, there are diaries. But this is what happens in a civil war. So yes, bring on the glorious revolution indeed...
Call me a coward, but I'd rather have our crisis solved without resorting to any of this shit.
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