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Don't Support Our Troops |
Current rating: 80 |
by Ted Rall
(No verified email address) |
14 Mar 2003
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Win or Lose, War on Iraq is Wrong |
NEW YORK--Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential frontrunner, opposes war with Iraq. Despite this stance, he suggests that Americans should set aside their political differences once the Mother of All Bombs starts blowing up munitions dumps and babies in Baghdad.
"When the war begins, if the war begins," says Kerry, "I support the troops and I support the United States of America winning as rapidly as possible. When the troops are in the field and fighting--if they're in the field and fighting--remembering what it's like to be those troops--I think they need a unified America that is prepared to win."
Fellow presidential candidate Howard Dean, who calls Bush's foreign policy "ghastly" and "appalling," is the Democrats' most vocal opponent of a preemptive strike against Iraq. But once war breaks out, he says, "Of course I'll support the troops."
This is an understandable impulse. As patriots, we want our country to win the wars that we fight. As Americans, we want our soldiers--young men and women who risk too much for too little pay--to come home in one piece. But supporting our troops while they're fighting an immoral and illegal war is misguided and wrong.
An Unjust Cause
Iraq has never attacked, nor threatened to attack, the United States. As his 1990 invasion of Kuwait proved, Saddam is a menace to his neighbors--Saudi Arabia, Iran, Israel--but he's their problem, not ours. Saddam's longest-range missiles only travel 400 miles.
Numerous countries are ruled by unstable megalomaniacs possessing scary weaponry. North Korea has an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the western United States and, unlike Iraq, the nuke to put inside it. Pakistan, another nuclear power run by a dangerous anti-American dictator, just unveiled its new HATF-4 ballistic missile. If disarmament were Bush's goal, shouldn't those countries--both of which have threatened to use nukes--be higher-priority targets than non-nuclear Iraq?
Iraq isn't part of the war on terrorism. The only link between Iraq and Al Qaeda is the fact that they hate each other's guts. And no matter how often Bush says "9/11" and "Iraq" in the same breath, Saddam had nothing to do with the terror attacks.
That leaves freeing Iraqis from Saddam's repressive rule as the sole rationale for war. Is the U.S. in the liberation business? Will Bush spread democracy to Myamnar, Congo, Turkmenistan, Cambodia, Nigeria, Cuba, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan or Laos, just to name a few places where people can't vote, speak freely or eat much? You be the judge. I wouldn't bet on it.
Of course, it would be great if Iraqis were to overthrow Saddam (assuming that his successor would be an improvement). But regime change is up to the locals, not us. George W. Bush is leading us to commit an ignominious crime, an internationally-unsanctioned invasion of a nation that has done us no harm and presents no imminent threat.
Germans in the 1930s
We find ourselves facing the paradox of the "good German" of the '30s. We're ruled by an evil, non-elected warlord who ignores both domestic opposition and international condemnation. We don't want the soldiers fighting his unjustified wars of expansion to win--but we don't want them to lose either.
Our dilemma is rendered slightly less painful by the all-volunteer nature of our armed forces: at least we aren't being asked to cheer on reluctant draftees. Presumably everybody in uniform knew what they might be in for when they signed up.
"I'm horrified by this war," a friend tells me, "but once it starts we have to win and win quickly." For her, as for Kerry and Dean, our servicemen are people performing a job. They go where the politicians send them.
The thing is, we don't really have to win. Losing the Vietnam War sucked, but not fighting it in the first place would have been smarter. Losing to Third Worlders in PJs led Americans to decades of relative humility, self-examination and taking the moral high ground in conflicts such as Haiti and Kosovo. Our withdrawal from Nam was mainly the result of antiwar protests and public disapproval that swayed our elected representatives. It also saved a lot of money that would otherwise gone to save more "domino" dictatorships from godless communism.
Most Americans who didn't actively protest the war at least sat on their hands during Vietnam. We should do the same during Bush's coming unjust war of aggression. Members of our armed forces don't deserve insults, but their role in this war doesn't merit support. Cheering them as they leave and holding parades when they return would certainly be misinterpreted by citizens of other countries as popular support for an inglorious enterprise--and it would make it easier for Bush to send them off again, to Iran or Libya or wherever. Let's keep our flags under wraps.
I want our troops to return home safely. I want them to live. Like a good German watching my countrymen march into Poland and Belgium and Luxembourg and France, I don't want them to win and I don't want them to lose.
Ted Rall is the author of "Gas War: The Truth Behind the American Occupation of Afghanistan," an analysis of the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline and the motivations behind the war on terrorism.
Copyright 2003 Ted Rall |
See also:
http://www.rall.com/
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Comments
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Ted Rall Is A Traitor |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: -3
14 Mar 2003
Modified: 03:35:04 PM |
Ted,
You pinko leftist coward. In general, I have a wonderful messing with most of the NutBags on this site, but your article has to be the loopiest, most treasonous act I have since John Walker sold our sub secrets to the Soviets.
You have the nerve to call yourself a Patriot. I am going to give the benefit of the doubt here and pretend you meant you meant to type Patsy. Are you hoping for a high American Casualty Count so people will say "Hey maybe that Ted Rall guy wasn't such a flaming "Dick Weed" after all. (This by the way will be highly unlikely)
I really have no hatred for anyone, but I would seriously recommend that you forget about writing and apply for one of the Human Shield posistions that are available. Hurry. You can still request a power plant if you hurry.
Seriously, How many of you confused NUTBAGS agree with him here?
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Bush Is An Insider Traitor |
by Soldier
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 5
14 Mar 2003
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Serve your country: follow Bush's example.
Here's how.
In a news conference on 11 October 2001, President George W. Bush said "we learned some very important lessons in Vietnam." All members of the U.S. armed forces should take a moment and familiarize themselves with the important lessons that George Bush learned during the Vietnam War. Since war in Iraq is inevitable, let’s do everything we can to encourage the men and women of the U.S. armed services to follow the example of their Commander-in-Chief when called upon to go into battle.
In May 1968, American soldiers were dying in combat in Southeast Asia at a rate of about 350 per week. George W. Bush was twelve days away from losing his student draft deferment (meaning that he’d be eligible for draft into the Vietnam War) when he abruptly decided that he should join the 147th Fighter Group of the Texas Air National Guard. In spite of the very long waiting list and having only scored the lowest acceptable grade on the pilot aptitude qualification test, this son of a Houston-based congressman managed to enlist on the same day that he applied, and a special ceremony was staged so he could be photographed swearing in for duty (a second special photo opportunity was arranged when Bush was commissioned a second lieutenant as Bush’s father the congressman [a supporter of the Vietnam War] stood proudly in the background). According to Shrub’s former commanding officer, Bush “said he wanted to fly just like his daddy.” Other members of the Texas Air National Guard at the time included the aide to the speaker of the Texas House and at least seven members of the Dallas Cowboys professional football team; Bush’s 147th Fighter Group was known as the "Champagne Unit" because it also included the sons of future Senator Lloyd Bentsen and Texas Governor John Connally.
Immediately following his promotion to second lieutenant, Bush was put on inactive duty status and spent more than two months in Florida working for Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, Edward J. Gurney. When he wasn’t handing out Gurney press releases and making sure that the reporters didn’t oversleep, Bush returned to Houston for weekend Guard duty. In early 1970, Bush rented a one-bedroom apartment at the exclusive Chateaux Dijon complex in Houston, a building with six swimming pools where Bush played all-day water volleyball games and dated many of the single women who lived there.
In 1973, as Bush’s daddy was being considered for a new job as chairman of Nixon’s Republican National Committee, Dubya secured an early release from the National Guard to start at Harvard Business School, eight months short of his full six-year hitch, and transferred to a reserve unit in Boston for the rest of his time. “One of my first recollections of him,” says classmate Marty Kahn, “was sitting in class and hearing the unmistakable sound of someone spitting tobacco. I turned around and there was George sitting in the back of the room in his [National Guard] bomber jacket spitting in a cup.” Bush’s acceptance into Harvard Business School surprised some, since he had graduated from Yale a full five years before.
Urge enlisted men and women to do like Bush did: avoid combat at all costs, hang out, sleep late, and lead an active social life; when called upon to fight a war for your great nation, see if you can to pull political strings in order to avoid the infantry and chose instead to spend two years in flight training in San Antonio and another four years in part-time service in your home state. If you lack the ruling-class connections, than you should be obliged to do whatever you can to follow the lead of your Commander-in-Chief: cheat, lie, malinger, and go AWOL. Desert while you can; killing and dying for ruling-class petrocrats is for chumps. |
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Don't Ask, Don't Tell Soldier |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
14 Mar 2003
Modified: 11:03:51 PM |
Good Evening "Shit for Brains"
If you doubt George Bush's courage, ask yourself: "How many super sonic fighters have I flown in my lifetime". They typically loose a few each year in some sort of horrible fireball. The widow gets the remains in a dustpan. So until you know of what you are talking about, I suggest you shut up. I suspect you are a white knuckle flier.
By the way, is not dodging the draft something you guys admired about Semen Clinton ?(That was not his military designation).
Interesting that you sign your name as soldier. Is this like the cop or the Indian in the Village People kind of thing going on here? It is isn't it.
To sum up, EAT SHIT
Your Good Friend,
Jack
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Re: Don't Support Our Troops |
by Mink!
mink (nospam) tcp.com (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
15 Mar 2003
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I think we should support our troops. We should stand behind them and bring them home!
Would this be expensive? Sure it would. But it'd be a lot less expensive than fighting the "Battle of Baghdad," a LOT less expensive than the results of setting a precedent saying that aggressive war is somehow okay all of a sudden, and a lot less expensive than watching the blowback terrorist attacks roll in as a result of our prosecuting an illegal war overseas. None other than the heads of both the CIA and the new Department of Homeland Security have stated that the main risk of future terrorist attacks on our soil happens if we go ahead with this offensive war against the Iraqis.
Might Bush lose face? Yeah. He might. On the other hand, he could still sell this as a grand move to put the pressure on to let the inspections work - and they are working - and then prudently withdraw the stick when it no longer needs to be brandished. War is not inevitable.
Support our troops. Bring them home.
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Mink |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: -2
18 Mar 2003
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Mink,
I am sure you are sincere in your thoughts. I think it is cool that you know how to boldface lines that you think are important. I think it would be cooler still if you ever had a fricking point.
Your Friend,
Jack |
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