I read the news today... Oh boy...
I figured, having read so many opinions, stories, and seen so many newscasts, that it was perhaps time that I finally speek up a bit on this war. I know maybe four people will see this, and maybe two will care, but I just felt the urge to get it down in writing.
I'm in a class now, at my school, 'American War Stories.' It is a choice among other classes under the heading of 'Humanities 4'. I find this somewhat ironic, since war is one of the least humane things known to man. In this class, we've read a number of books that contain an anti-war message. because let's face facts, nobody would write a pro-war book. Nobody in their right mind wants war.
But a strange thing happened as I was reading these books. I didn't feel the revulsion for these that I feel towards those dubbed 'anti-war' in the world today. And then it struck me. These are people who have experienced war. One author was a POW in World War II. The term 'anti-war' here is referring to the idea of being against war, the machine that claimed millions of lives in the World Wars.
And I think this is an amazing fact. These people and the media call themselves 'anti-war protestors'. Bullshit! These people are anti-policy, anti-government. Let's face it, most of these people are flat out fucking IGNORANT of what war is. These people get on their soapboxes and proclaim to the masses that George Bush is an idiot. If even one of these pricks ever said for a moment that one of our soldiers under fire in the sands of a foreign country were idiots for being there, we'd have riots in the streets.
So, I ask myself. Is the modern day anti-war movement a media-created falsity? Do these people call themselves that because they're against our soldiers abroad? Or are they simply whining about the path that the federal government has taken? I think they shouldn't be allowed to use such a term that undermines our military forces and depletes morale of soldiers who are risking their lives, in order to bitch about what Bush has done.
I mean, I read the news today. It commented on how a large number of our soldiers are over there fighting in green camo... in SAND! It went on to say how desert color camoflage is only now being shipped over and distributed amongst the soldiers. It mentioned how one of the Generals who's been appearing on TV in desert camo folded up his uniform and returned it so it could be given to the servicemen out on the front. Does this make me mad? Of course, this is lunacy! But do I go say that the war is stupid, that we didn't even plan it properly before we barreled in? No! I say that some bean counter go caught with his pants around his ankles.
Today a long-standing news reporter was fired for criticizing the American war plan. Good! Take a few more down with him that have been voicing their opinions. Dan Rather, you're there to report the fucking news, that's all, nobody wants to hear what you think of the President. If I wanted opinions, I'd watch Larry King. Dan Rather has to be one of the most utterly useless people alive, and he thinks he has the right to question our country on national TV when the only thing he's done in the last 30 years is sit on his ass and read from a teleprompter?
So, where do I stand? I stand with my father, who served in Vietnam. He waded through rice farms, with water above his head, weighted down with an M-60. He had to jump up to the surface, fire his gun, breathe, and sink back down. He had a fever of 104, and the doctors didn't know how he was still alive. He was going into a VC camp one night and a VC soldier came around a corner in front of him, gun leveled on my father, pulled the trigger and misfired. He was heading back to camp on a raft, the engine pushing as hard as it could, but the monsoon going on had winds so strong that they weren't making any forward progress. Then, he does his tour, comes home and goes to an amusement park near home one day and witness a peace-protest against the war in Vietnam. He stands at the back of the crowd and shouts 'Bomb Hanoi!' at the top of his lungs. And what do these 'peace-lovers' do to a soldier who's been in the war and exercised the same first ammendment rights as they have and voiced his opinion? They jump him! This man just came back from fighting in a jungle where people wanted to kill him, and here he is, speaking his own mind and he gets attacked by fellow Americans. They came at him one by one. Being a recently discharged GI with a martial arts background, my father thoroughly trounced the ones that came at him and received a round of cheers from those that were watching this protest.
I'm not a brilliant man, but even I think that there's some symbolism in that.
I'm in a class now, at my school, 'American War Stories.' It is a choice among other classes under the heading of 'Humanities 4'. I find this somewhat ironic, since war is one of the least humane things known to man. In this class, we've read a number of books that contain an anti-war message. because let's face facts, nobody would write a pro-war book. Nobody in their right mind wants war.
But a strange thing happened as I was reading these books. I didn't feel the revulsion for these that I feel towards those dubbed 'anti-war' in the world today. And then it struck me. These are people who have experienced war. One author was a POW in World War II. The term 'anti-war' here is referring to the idea of being against war, the machine that claimed millions of lives in the World Wars.
And I think this is an amazing fact. These people and the media call themselves 'anti-war protestors'. Bullshit! These people are anti-policy, anti-government. Let's face it, most of these people are flat out fucking IGNORANT of what war is. These people get on their soapboxes and proclaim to the masses that George Bush is an idiot. If even one of these pricks ever said for a moment that one of our soldiers under fire in the sands of a foreign country were idiots for being there, we'd have riots in the streets.
So, I ask myself. Is the modern day anti-war movement a media-created falsity? Do these people call themselves that because they're against our soldiers abroad? Or are they simply whining about the path that the federal government has taken? I think they shouldn't be allowed to use such a term that undermines our military forces and depletes morale of soldiers who are risking their lives, in order to bitch about what Bush has done.
I mean, I read the news today. It commented on how a large number of our soldiers are over there fighting in green camo... in SAND! It went on to say how desert color camoflage is only now being shipped over and distributed amongst the soldiers. It mentioned how one of the Generals who's been appearing on TV in desert camo folded up his uniform and returned it so it could be given to the servicemen out on the front. Does this make me mad? Of course, this is lunacy! But do I go say that the war is stupid, that we didn't even plan it properly before we barreled in? No! I say that some bean counter go caught with his pants around his ankles.
Today a long-standing news reporter was fired for criticizing the American war plan. Good! Take a few more down with him that have been voicing their opinions. Dan Rather, you're there to report the fucking news, that's all, nobody wants to hear what you think of the President. If I wanted opinions, I'd watch Larry King. Dan Rather has to be one of the most utterly useless people alive, and he thinks he has the right to question our country on national TV when the only thing he's done in the last 30 years is sit on his ass and read from a teleprompter?
So, where do I stand? I stand with my father, who served in Vietnam. He waded through rice farms, with water above his head, weighted down with an M-60. He had to jump up to the surface, fire his gun, breathe, and sink back down. He had a fever of 104, and the doctors didn't know how he was still alive. He was going into a VC camp one night and a VC soldier came around a corner in front of him, gun leveled on my father, pulled the trigger and misfired. He was heading back to camp on a raft, the engine pushing as hard as it could, but the monsoon going on had winds so strong that they weren't making any forward progress. Then, he does his tour, comes home and goes to an amusement park near home one day and witness a peace-protest against the war in Vietnam. He stands at the back of the crowd and shouts 'Bomb Hanoi!' at the top of his lungs. And what do these 'peace-lovers' do to a soldier who's been in the war and exercised the same first ammendment rights as they have and voiced his opinion? They jump him! This man just came back from fighting in a jungle where people wanted to kill him, and here he is, speaking his own mind and he gets attacked by fellow Americans. They came at him one by one. Being a recently discharged GI with a martial arts background, my father thoroughly trounced the ones that came at him and received a round of cheers from those that were watching this protest.
I'm not a brilliant man, but even I think that there's some symbolism in that.