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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mannie who wrote (8015)	10/10/2002 1:24:35 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Tim O'Brien speaks out... [Tim O'Brien is the author of several critically acclaimed novels about the Vietnam War, including Going After Cacciato and The Things They Carried.] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally published October 10, 2002 The Baltimore Sun One thing that strikes me, as a veteran of Vietnam, is how our country so often satanizes its latest "enemy," whether it be Tojo or Ho Chi Minh or Geronimo or Sitting Bull or bin Laden or Saddam Hussein. Those with whom we have quarrels are always "evil," and America is always unsullied and righteous. It strikes me, too, that so few of those Americans who scream for war are actually showing up at the recruiting stations. Odd thing. Why aren't they aboard troop ships? Why aren't they dispatching their sons and daughters and wives and husbands to lead the assault on Baghdad? Why aren't these bellicose, let's-go-kill-'em folks putting their own bodies where their rhetoric is? It's an old, disgusting story. War, war, war -- but let somebody else do the dying. There are always such wonderful reasons for war. But when someone actually points a weapon at you, or when you point a weapon at someone else, a very desperate, last-instant thought appears: Hey, for God's sake, let's try something else. Copyright © 2002, The Baltimore Sun sunspot.net

To: Mannie who wrote (8015)	10/10/2002 1:31:01 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

World War II Veteran William Manchester Speaks Out... [William Manchester is a twice-injured World War II veteran and author of 18 books, including Goodbye Darkness, a war memoir.] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally published October 10, 2002 The Baltimore Sun I just had a reunion with the survivors of my Marine Corps outfit in World War II, six of them. They came from Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, Maryland. We were together 58 years ago in combat. This was the third reunion we've had. It will probably be our last because we're all getting on. A reporter was there, and he raised the question of what we thought of war with Iraq. We took a vote. All six of us were vehemently against the war. Even the two Republicans. There were different reasons -- one said this war's all about oil -- but the general feeling was that there's no connection between Iraq and al-Qaida that we know of. Also, the timing of this is very suspicious. It comes up just before a congressional election. It's like a diversion. We all felt that we should work with the UN, and not go it alone. There was strong feeling in the group that the Bush administration is made up of men who had an opportunity to serve their country in combat and they declined, and now they want to send other men's sons into battle. We don't approve of that. We call them "chicken hawks." My father was in World War I. He lost his arm. My father was my hero. He was against war. He died when I was 18. He never really recovered from his war wounds. I can remember watching him in the parade on Memorial Day in his uniform. He was in the Marine Corps in World War I, which is why I went into the Marine Corps in World War II. After Pearl Harbor was attacked, I hitchhiked to Springfield, Mass., to join the Marines. I didn't weigh enough so I had to eat a lot of bananas and milk and go back. ... World War II was different than this. It was a declared war. There has been no war declared since then. Most people don't have first hand experience of war They don't understand war. They don't know what it's like. They've never seen a corpse, never seen a friend killed beside them. If you've been in combat you take war very personally. Copyright © 2002, The Baltimore Sun sunspot.net