W stands for War
This post is brought to you by the letter W. As in George W. Bush. As in "The War on Terror" (or, as he likes to say it, "terra.")
Today, my little brother--not little, really, a grown man of 27 with a wife and three kids--flies out to begin the mission his unit's been assigned to in Iraq. They will have a refueling stop in Europe, acclimate in Kuwait for a few weeks, then move into Iraq for a 12- to 13-month mission. He is a door gunner on a helicopter that is probably an Apache but may be a Blackhawk, I can never remember.
I don't like this.
He's nervous, I think, and I hope he's confident in his training and skills but I hope he's also just scared enough to take the least amount of risk required to do his job while still protecting himself and his fellow soldiers. He's excited, too, to finally be putting 8 years of Army training to the test....he signed up for this, and he's pointed that out repeatedly in telling me not to worry about him or feel sorry that he's headed into a war.
But I am sorry, primarily because I don't agree with this war, and he knows that. I do agree with my brother, and with Colin Powell, that whether or not we should have invaded Iraq when and why we did, we broke it and now we have to fix it. But I don't like the way we as a country pick and choose our enemies...North Korea is Iraq, but without oil (and without a dictator who happened to attempt to kill our president's father). Why are we not in the Sudan, instead, where we could do a world of good? Why are we not still focused on Afghanistan, or Pakistan, searching for Bin Laden? Next up will be Iran or Syria, I fear.
I love my brother and I'm proud of him for taking an oath to protect his country, and for honoring that vow. I don't like to think of how he might be changed when he comes home. I'm angry beyond words with our president for asking him to lay his life on the line for a cause that, for me, leaves a lot to be desired. I understand the need to be proactive in the effort to minimize terrorism (it will never be eliminated as long as there are Timothy McVeighs living in our own country), but I think that was an excuse to start this war when we did. I will not be putting a "Support Our Troops" sticker on my car, because that is an empty slogan to me. I will be having a bumper sticker made that says, "My brother is fighting in Iraq so you can drive a Hummer. Enjoy!" There are lots of giant, gas-guzzling SUVs here in Texas, and most of them have "W" stickers on the back. Whatever happened to the idea of sacrifice in times of war?
I'm a downer today, aren't I?
Today, my little brother--not little, really, a grown man of 27 with a wife and three kids--flies out to begin the mission his unit's been assigned to in Iraq. They will have a refueling stop in Europe, acclimate in Kuwait for a few weeks, then move into Iraq for a 12- to 13-month mission. He is a door gunner on a helicopter that is probably an Apache but may be a Blackhawk, I can never remember.
I don't like this.
He's nervous, I think, and I hope he's confident in his training and skills but I hope he's also just scared enough to take the least amount of risk required to do his job while still protecting himself and his fellow soldiers. He's excited, too, to finally be putting 8 years of Army training to the test....he signed up for this, and he's pointed that out repeatedly in telling me not to worry about him or feel sorry that he's headed into a war.
But I am sorry, primarily because I don't agree with this war, and he knows that. I do agree with my brother, and with Colin Powell, that whether or not we should have invaded Iraq when and why we did, we broke it and now we have to fix it. But I don't like the way we as a country pick and choose our enemies...North Korea is Iraq, but without oil (and without a dictator who happened to attempt to kill our president's father). Why are we not in the Sudan, instead, where we could do a world of good? Why are we not still focused on Afghanistan, or Pakistan, searching for Bin Laden? Next up will be Iran or Syria, I fear.
I love my brother and I'm proud of him for taking an oath to protect his country, and for honoring that vow. I don't like to think of how he might be changed when he comes home. I'm angry beyond words with our president for asking him to lay his life on the line for a cause that, for me, leaves a lot to be desired. I understand the need to be proactive in the effort to minimize terrorism (it will never be eliminated as long as there are Timothy McVeighs living in our own country), but I think that was an excuse to start this war when we did. I will not be putting a "Support Our Troops" sticker on my car, because that is an empty slogan to me. I will be having a bumper sticker made that says, "My brother is fighting in Iraq so you can drive a Hummer. Enjoy!" There are lots of giant, gas-guzzling SUVs here in Texas, and most of them have "W" stickers on the back. Whatever happened to the idea of sacrifice in times of war?
I'm a downer today, aren't I?
posted by tp at 7:45 AM
1 Comments:
we don't have a car, but if you make me a sticker that says "my friend's brother....." tehn I'll stick it on my backpack, as I ride around Manhattan's subway system! (LOTS of Hummers here - it's F-U-N weatchign them try to Parallel Park...)
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