Get us out of Iraq now!This question was recently presented to me: As a retired and disabled military Veteran do you approve of the invasion of Iraq and would you be willing to give up the life of one of your children on behalf of this war?Wow! What a loaded question! Someone got that one off the evening news.When one considers that I hail from a lengthy military oriented family, this question presents staggering connotations. My wife was in the Army, I had a daughter in the Airforce, a son in the Marine Corps, another son in the Army Tank Corps, a nephew in the 82nd Airborne Division, one in Explosive Ordinance, a niece in the Army JAG, and two (2) nephews presently serving in the Army, one on his way to the area in question. (This is only my immediate family.)Having almost lost my life in the Vietnam debacle (I have the holes in my body to prove it), I will always remember the personal agony that my mother went through.I fully agree that Saddam was/is an evil person and given the opportunity and means he would seek to do harm to our country. I also believe that he is only one out of many, because petty, evil dictators are a dime a dozen in the world marketplace. They can be found in our hemisphere, in Africa, throughout the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and in North Korea. They proliferate like rats.And, because of our national addiction to the drug called oil, our government is in bed with some of these quasi dictators. I can’t understand why we don’t tighten our belts, get our oil or energy from other sources, and let these petty kings and dictators keep their filthy crude.The question though was, do I personally approve of the invasion of Iraq and am I willing to offer up one of my children for it?My answer is no! A profound no! An absolute no!I believe that Iraq was no more of an imminent threat than Iran, North Korea, Syria, Saudi Arabia, or even Afghanistan.The fact that the Taliban was harboring the terrorists who attacked our country did, in my opinion, justify their immediate removal from power. We simply could not let these terrorists go free with the knowledge that they had the power, support, and determination to attack us again.As for attacking Iraq, people in that neck of the woods have been fighting each other for thousands of years and it doesn’t appear that they plan on stopping anytime soon. Not only that, their religious ideology is such that equality and democracy cannot truly exist in their society, especially when it comes to equality for women and equality for religious beliefs.We may be partially successful in establishing some form of democratic rule in Iraq, but I sincerely doubt that it will have a very long shelf life. I believe that within time, a short time at best, the area will most likely revert to tribal, religious, or cultural warfare. I hope I am incorrect on this prediction!Don’t get me wrong! It would be absolutely wonderful if true democracy could take hold and spread throughout the region offering freedom, respect, and security for the inhabitants therein. After all, because of the Bush doctrine, isn’t this what our young men and women are sacrificing their lives for today? Unfortunately, the present administration is confusing our minds with grandiose thoughts of liberation, brotherhood, equality and justice. Like Vietnam, this is truly the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and our kids are paying the price. Who are we going to "liberate" next: the Iranians, the Syrians, the North Koreans, how about the French?I feel sorry for the people of Iraq. I also feel sorry for the people under the other brutal tyrants but I’m neither ready nor willing to sacrifice my son or daughter for them. They’ve had 30 years to get rid of their tyrant, why should we do it now?This entire scenario sounds hauntingly familiar to me.As a young warrior I was told: "You are here to stop the spread of godless communism and give the Vietnamese people a chance at freedom, democracy, and security. Yours is a just cause and a bold undertaking!" Being the fanatically patriotic person that I am, I fell for this ideology hook, line, and sinker.Fifty-eight thousand young American lives later; Vietnam is united under godless communism. The faces of those young kids lost in that undertaking have been branded into my mind forever.I stand behind our brave men and women in the Armed Forces and am extremely proud of their service to our country. I salute them with ardent fervor. They are true patriots who do the job they are ordered to do.I only wish that I could replace one of them. Let this old warrior take the burden, give the ultimate sacrifice in their stead. I have lived a long and honorable life, where as, they have not had that opportunity yet.No! I would not want to stand trembling and weeping over the flag draped coffin of one of my sons or daughters or nephews with the question in my mind…Was his/her life worth the price?In my not so humble opinion, all the oil in the entire Middle East and all the petty dictators, all the terrorist, and all the religious fruitcakes, are not worth the life of one of my precious children, not worth the life of any of our children.Get us out of Iraq now before one more kid dies for a political blunder.Morituri te Salutamus!
By Gene Ladnier [ 18/05/2006 ][ viewed 306 times ]
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