My Heart on the Line

[Guest guest]

Hey Butch,

Hope all is well for you over in Turkey.

 

I normally don't comment too much, but I have to put my 2 cents in here.

 

As an American who also lived through the time of Viet Nam, and actively,

noisily, civil-disobedience(ly) protested against that war, I can say this:

To all who served in that war, or any other to defend or protect our

nation - Thank You. Even though I hated the war, I didn't hate the

soldier. Even though our reasons for being in VN were confused and muddled,

the soldiers who served there were always the bastions of freedom. The

served their country without question, and it brings me to tears of

gratitude.

 

However, the honor and dignity of those soldiers, however brightly it shown,

does not diminish the indignity and shame of the choices their government

made, and, employed them to fulfill. The soldier is *not* the government.

He only serves that government in the best and only way he can.

 

It is the government that was the target of the protest then, and again, is

now. As Americans, we have to ask ourselves hard questions, stripped of the

patriotic fervor of hearth and home. We have to force ourselves to see the

world with a clear eye, unclouded by familial pasts.

 

It is said that " reality is relative " , and what I see may not be a shared

reality with you. What I see, again, as in the late 60's, our finest minds

embodied in our young people, being shipped off to a foreign war that no one

can understand. Yesterday, our enemy was Osama bin Laden. That sob killed

3000 people in NYC, but suddenly, he is not the target anymore; it is

Hussein. We let bin Laden slip away by following a cell phone transmission

that the CIA had to have known was not in bin Laden's hand. Why?

 

Saddam Hussein has shamefully murdered his own people, the Kurds. But so

have many other countries that the United States has not gone after. Korea

and Pakistan (where bin Laden is being harbored) have nuclear war

capabilities, as probably does Libya, but we haven't gone to war with them.

It would seem to me, and many others, that Pakistan would be a much more

likely target for our anger than Iraq. Pakistan is giving shelter to the

man who nearly toppled the world, but we concentrate on a nation that has

done nothing in the last 12 years to incur even our attention?

 

Something is wrong with that picture.

 

Our President openly admitted that this was a family affair. It is my

opinion that he is using the military of the United States to exact revenge

for a past familial defeat. It is my opinion that he is using this conflict

to also divert our national attention away from our dire domestic problems.

Our national pride, our youth, is being used as nothing more than " hit-men "

to avenge the past.

 

I cannot now, as I could not then, quietly abide this government sending our

sons and daughters to fight and die so that I and my neighbors won't think

of all the problems we have here at home. I cannot sit quietly while a

trumped-up war is waged to defend the honor of someone's daddy.

 

Our sons and daughters deserve better than that. And so do we.

 

Leela

 

 

-

" Butch Owen " <butchbsi

 

Wednesday, January 22, 2003 10:49 PM

My Heart on the Line

 

 

> Hey Deb,

>

> > > As the storm clouds of war gather, at least I know that I can look

> > > the men and women in uniform in the eye.

> >

> > When I think of the war we may face, it brings up many emotions I've

> > kept buried for so long. I lost my first husband in Viet Nam, May

> > 14, 1971. I was 18... he was 19......just a kid, now that I look at

> > my own 19 yr old son.

>

> Its not an easy thing .. I well understand that. War is cruelty and

> there is no way to refine it. I was there in May 1971 .. and though I

> probably didn't know your husband, I mourn him as I do all the other

> young people who gave their all. I've been to the Wall in Washington,

> D.C., many times .. and I've never been able to avoid breaking down and

> crying like a baby.

>

> Old men declare war and young men die for those decisions. But there is

> no real solution to this problem right now. We can posture for peace

> and hope for peace .. but as long as there is a thing called evil in the

> world its doubtful that we'll go too long without some form of warfare.

>

> We are creatures of conflict .. have been since before recorded history.

> Though there are no good wars .. there are necessary wars. We can say

> that the jostling for control that went on for centuries in Europe was

> all unnecessary. But we can't say that American involvement in World

> Wars I and II .. and even Korea .. was unnecessary involvement. We can

> say that the Vietnam War was unnecessary .. but at the time, those of us

> who went were not in a position to vote unless we did so with our feet.

>

> We can say that involvement in the Balkans saved many people from being

> sacrificed to evil .. same with Afghanistan .. and I think we can say

> the same thing for involvement in Iraq. It is possible that a war in

> Iraq might be avoided .. if Saddam's staff takes him out. If that does

> not happen, there is no chance that those volunteer members of the Bush

> lead coalition will not force Saddam out of power and put an end to the

> threats his regime holds over the countries surrounding Iraq, and to the

> people of Iraq .. and to the people of the west because Saddam continues

> to support international terrorism .. as does the Saudi government.

>

> I was fortunate to have made it through multiple tours of duty in the

> 'Nam .. and at the time, the thought of dieing was not something foreign

> to me .. or to all the other troops I knew there. And regardless of how

> the historians write their accounts of that war, I believe .. with all

> my heart and soul .. that those who gave their all did so with honor and

> we who knew them will never forget their sacrifices.

>

> > Debbie King

> > http://www.cottagehillsoaps.com

> > 'So Naturally Good for Your Skin'

>

> Y'all keep smiling, Butch

>

> How To Make Rose Petal Jam - Step By Step Instructions

> http://www.av-at.com/stuff/rosejam.html

>

> To Un send a blank e-mail to:

-

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hey Deb,

 

> > As the storm clouds of war gather, at least I know that I can look

> > the men and women in uniform in the eye.

>

> When I think of the war we may face, it brings up many emotions I've

> kept buried for so long. I lost my first husband in Viet Nam, May

> 14, 1971. I was 18... he was 19......just a kid, now that I look at

> my own 19 yr old son.

 

Its not an easy thing .. I well understand that. War is cruelty and

there is no way to refine it. I was there in May 1971 .. and though I

probably didn't know your husband, I mourn him as I do all the other

young people who gave their all. I've been to the Wall in Washington,

D.C., many times .. and I've never been able to avoid breaking down and

crying like a baby.

 

Old men declare war and young men die for those decisions. But there is

no real solution to this problem right now. We can posture for peace

and hope for peace .. but as long as there is a thing called evil in the

world its doubtful that we'll go too long without some form of warfare.

 

We are creatures of conflict .. have been since before recorded history.

Though there are no good wars .. there are necessary wars. We can say

that the jostling for control that went on for centuries in Europe was

all unnecessary. But we can't say that American involvement in World

Wars I and II .. and even Korea .. was unnecessary involvement. We can

say that the Vietnam War was unnecessary .. but at the time, those of us

who went were not in a position to vote unless we did so with our feet.

 

We can say that involvement in the Balkans saved many people from being

sacrificed to evil .. same with Afghanistan .. and I think we can say

the same thing for involvement in Iraq. It is possible that a war in

Iraq might be avoided .. if Saddam's staff takes him out. If that does

not happen, there is no chance that those volunteer members of the Bush

lead coalition will not force Saddam out of power and put an end to the

threats his regime holds over the countries surrounding Iraq, and to the

people of Iraq .. and to the people of the west because Saddam continues

to support international terrorism .. as does the Saudi government.

 

I was fortunate to have made it through multiple tours of duty in the

'Nam .. and at the time, the thought of dieing was not something foreign

to me .. or to all the other troops I knew there. And regardless of how

the historians write their accounts of that war, I believe .. with all

my heart and soul .. that those who gave their all did so with honor and

we who knew them will never forget their sacrifices.

 

> Debbie King

> http://www.cottagehillsoaps.com

> 'So Naturally Good for Your Skin'

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch