I think that in the beginning of all wars our patriotic instincts as Americans overwhelm any doubts we might have about the quality of the judgement and the motives of those that send us to war. Over time we reflect on their reasoning and ask the hard questions. It's then that we compare what they projected would happen to what actually happened. When the projections, the rationales and the rhetoric of our leaders are compared to the actual realities and they differ, then this country will strongly question the justifications for war. I think that's happening now.
It's a lot faster process than it was in the mid to late 60's. We have the internet and we have instantaneous access to reporting from our country, as well as that of other countries, so it takes months now instead of years.
I saw an interesting interview with Morely Schaffer yesterday. He said that he went to Vietnam in 1965 for 4 months as a Ft.Worth newspaper reporter with the whacky job of looking up local servicemen and saying hello from their families, then reporting back. He stated that TWO WEEKS after he arrived he came to the conclusion that the war was a waste of time, money and lives. He said he figured that out when he was with a joint S. Vietnamese and American occupation and the Americans had to cross an open area alone; the S. Vietnamese wouldn't cross it. That told him that the Vietnamese were less interested in fighting for our goals than we were in fighting for those same goals. That was in 1965!!!, and he was right on target.
He was right and all the policymakers had to do was get on the ground, stop their lying and figure it out. It took hundreds of thousands or millions of lost souls and tanker loads of blood before they finally faced that truth.
60 Minutes had a report yesterday on Iraq. They were investigating the official report of an incident where the military claimed to have killed 6 and wounded 4 insurgents in an attack on American forces. After a complicated process that was impeded by the initial denials of military spokesmen, it turned out that there were 5 killed and one wounded. All 6 were members of an Iraqi family delivering chickens with their truck. One of the wounded was a 9 year old boy and the reporter was able to notifiy his family that he was alive and to reunite him with his surviving mother. The army admitted that there was no rifle found and no shell casings but still claimed that the truck had fired on its troops. Truth really is the first casualty of war.
I think we all share the same hopes and expectations for this country. I think this country is the greatest nation on earth. I would fight again for this country if it were threatened and if that were necessary. We simply disagree on the best ways to handle the threats we all face and we especially disagree on the justifications for the war (ever changing thought they may be,) the doability of our goals, and the necessity of this war at this time for accomplishing those goals.
One more thing we may disagree on: I think that most people who hold an opinion contrary to mine are good people that see it differently; it seems that many of them think that those that hold my views are anti-American, traitors and should "love it or leave it." Whether it's me, Kerry, Dean, Clinton or their next door neighbor, they seem compelled to find things to hate about the person, rather than the view. If there is such a thing as anti-American in expressing your views, I think that's about as anti-American as it gets. |
