there has been much discussion about the war in iraq on many blogs i post on as well as my own blog. i can only speak for myself when i say that i want to apologize for any hurt or discomfort that i may have caused anyone. i know all about the right to speak and the freedom of speech and the passion and frustration that goes into some of my own posts. sometimes things can get downright hairy. having said that- i know that i could be more tactful at times and get my point across in less acidic and ascerbic ways- and sometimes i choose not to.
regarding the war in iraq- i will continue to be outspoken about not being there- but i will try to be mindful of the families who have loved ones serving or have lost loved ones serving. i think that many would be in agreement with me when i say that the troops are doing what they do because they signed on- and they believe in what they are doing.
truth-pain and i have been talking about finding common ground here in america and truly i believe that this must happen. as anonymous said on rage against the right- "we will have to agree to disagree but we both want peace." we need to do our part to take back our government from the lunatic fringe and the corporations so that america can heal and truly be a great nation "...indivisible with liberty and justice for all."
7 comments:
Hey Betmo, you know what I was thinking,... (not that I would assume be included in such a venture) but it would be interesting to form a blog of contributors that cover most of the spectrum as we know it. Dual posting, He-said/She-said's,... just a different type of thing where the debate would be cool and level headed but the facts be presented in a digestible manner without the verbal grenades...
I've been searching for a working "model" everywhere. I haven't yet found one to my liking which gives me all the more reason to think its an idea worth considering.
I have a second blog under "construction" but its for Art and Music and its taking every walking minute of my free time just to lauch the sucker :)
I think your profile, style, ability to look at things opposite your nature, and exposure gives you great credibility in my eyes.
You ever put something like that together with someone then count me in as a daily subscriber :)
why not let's talk? i never thought of such a thing- but i would definitely be open to it. perhaps email would be better to do a working model- www.betmo@stny.rr.com and thank you for the kind words and vote of confidence :)
Sounds like we may be trying to bake some original cookies somehow :) I'll send you a note to your EM. I already have some skeleton ideas, but they definitely needs some flesh on them bones :) Thanks!
Since when are soldiers asked to believe in what they are doing? A soldier is trained to forget individualism and to be over analytical about the whats and the whys is usually just a heavy baggage to carry around. To do a soldier's job as intended, one must learn different kinds of ways to kill and not to be killed. To suggest that people seeking this sort of a career are noble humanists in a pursuit of brotherhood and democracy is almost silly. The more militaristic and patriarchal the society, the more confused is the discussion about the issues pretaining to military. It's a rare American soldier in Iraq that has this often suggested and mythical higher calling. Most of them, just like in any other army and any other job, are there because they choose the profession as the best option available to them. The typical soldier is very seldom the one who spends restless nights pondering the ins and outs of geo-political questions, etc. When I hear that some soldier sacraficed his/her life for this or that cause, I have to smirk. A soldier who is in his tough business to sacrafice his life is next to useless. Political circles, whom always exploit this kind of sacred myth for all it's worth, should be seen in a more realistic and less trusting way.
To loose a human life is a sad thing and there is no question that the loved ones that are left behind are given a sort of narcotic to dull the pain. However, it is used by the cynical group of men in the White House to confuse issues. Those men talk about sacrafices, never needing to do so by themselves.
i don't think that they are asked to believe in what they are doing- i think that they all believe in serving their country- which is what they are doing for better or worse. i don't look at them as sacrificing themselves for a noble cause i see it as they are being sacrificed for a nonsensical war. my bigger point was that i wanted myself to be a bit more tactful in the way i phrase my protest of the war in iraq and the governement- to spare people who have loved ones that they are worried for or who they have lost. you can say how you feel clearly and more tactfully and still deliver the same message. deb made a good point on her blog about morale- and i respect her enough to be tactful.
a humble note from an ex-military guy,...
You are correct in that most military persons pick the military for a)economic reasons b)family tradition c) (and this was me) adventure and "get the hell out of Dodge" and d)wanting to serve the country in whatever way their credo tells them to. (excuse the dangling preposition)
While its true that we were taught to be monolithic in thought and never question the philosophy behind the marching orders, it is different nowadays. With the new media, internet, 24-hr news-cycle you have to be a self-impossed hermit to not fully know the ramifications of what you are doing and why you are doing it.
And for the pittance of pay they get, it is the toughest job in the planet.
truth-pain, I stand to be corrected. I am an old ex-warrior myself (rank-sargeant) and my experiences go back to the pre pc era. However, my personal experiences let me to believe, more or less, in what I stated earlier.
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