Hurrah! A political rant...
Sep. 9th, 2004 12:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trinityvixenUnless you've been living under a rock, you know that the death toll for our troops in Iraq has now reached that sacred barrier: we have suffered 1000+ deaths since invading that country, and seven times that many have been injured (the number of Iraqi deaths is, as you can imagine, quite higher and less well documented). The New York Times has a long article dedicated to this story, interviewing family members, the whole shebang. I came across one line this morning that makes me despair in ways the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and Cheney's "If you vote for Kerry, you're responsible if there's another terrorist attack in the next four years" never did.
A relative of a fallen soldier said that, while saddened, he was honored at the sacrifice of his brother's life. Honored. Really. Is that what it takes to sleep at night? Is it so easy to say "it's a great honor to die for your country" and forget that the life that was lost is lost forever? Does the blanket of 'honor' help you forget holding that baby brother, seeing your baby learn to walk, getting tips on riding a bike from your dad? Does saying "honor is all" mean that any loss is okay so long as it's honorable?
And I haven't even touched the fact that while the sacrifice is noble, the cause is not, and honor may be hard to come by outside of the victim's family and friends. Certainly, the honor that the government should be extending is severely lacking, with Bush doing nothing to make sure the troops are actually equipped to the best of our capability. He talks the talk, but when it comes to walking, Bush does it in the wrong direction, sending us in ill-equipped, nearly friendless, then slashing benefits and salaries of the men and women he expects to fight his war and, in so doing, make him President for a second term. That's right. War mentality is gripping America, and it's winning Bush's re-election because there is an unconscious desire in people to believe that we need to support the President or ::gasp:: we will lose.
In the name of 'honor,' one man can justify the fact that his little brother is gone, and in the name of 'honor,' he believes the loss is not the president's fault. For the sake of not losing, people will rally around Bush, and he will take these grieved-yet-'honored' families and use them as a democracy-proof vest. I pray that, in time, the life of a loved one will be more important than their honorable death. I pray for these families that have lost their brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, fathers, mothers, and for those that aren't dead but wounded for life, carrying a scar on their person or soul thanks to this war. While I cannot pray for justice for them in the way that I would like, instead I would hope, would so much as like their faces to haunt George W. Bush to the end of his days. I want Rummy, Ashcroft, Cheney, Rove, Condy, even Powell, to remember in the way the families remember, not just to say they do. Otherwise, in the name of honor, I despair for the human condition.
A relative of a fallen soldier said that, while saddened, he was honored at the sacrifice of his brother's life. Honored. Really. Is that what it takes to sleep at night? Is it so easy to say "it's a great honor to die for your country" and forget that the life that was lost is lost forever? Does the blanket of 'honor' help you forget holding that baby brother, seeing your baby learn to walk, getting tips on riding a bike from your dad? Does saying "honor is all" mean that any loss is okay so long as it's honorable?
And I haven't even touched the fact that while the sacrifice is noble, the cause is not, and honor may be hard to come by outside of the victim's family and friends. Certainly, the honor that the government should be extending is severely lacking, with Bush doing nothing to make sure the troops are actually equipped to the best of our capability. He talks the talk, but when it comes to walking, Bush does it in the wrong direction, sending us in ill-equipped, nearly friendless, then slashing benefits and salaries of the men and women he expects to fight his war and, in so doing, make him President for a second term. That's right. War mentality is gripping America, and it's winning Bush's re-election because there is an unconscious desire in people to believe that we need to support the President or ::gasp:: we will lose.
In the name of 'honor,' one man can justify the fact that his little brother is gone, and in the name of 'honor,' he believes the loss is not the president's fault. For the sake of not losing, people will rally around Bush, and he will take these grieved-yet-'honored' families and use them as a democracy-proof vest. I pray that, in time, the life of a loved one will be more important than their honorable death. I pray for these families that have lost their brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, fathers, mothers, and for those that aren't dead but wounded for life, carrying a scar on their person or soul thanks to this war. While I cannot pray for justice for them in the way that I would like, instead I would hope, would so much as like their faces to haunt George W. Bush to the end of his days. I want Rummy, Ashcroft, Cheney, Rove, Condy, even Powell, to remember in the way the families remember, not just to say they do. Otherwise, in the name of honor, I despair for the human condition.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-09-09 10:57 am (UTC)I'm a bit weak-kneed when it comes to the Saudis, since I'm worried the place would blow up if it isn't handled carefully. (I don't know if Saudis should be shutting down radical madrases and so forth.) My problem is more with Bush's attempts to shield the Saudis from scrutiny; whisking the Bin Laden family out of the US before the FBI could interview them, for example. What Saudi nationals do in the United States is every bit our business, and his efforts in this case were inexcusable.