I spent some of Wednesday with a worried mom from Idaho Falls, Idaho, whose only son is in the National Guard. Once a month he drives 200 miles to train, then he drives 200 miles back home again. (All for $200 most of which is spent on gas.) He served in Bosnia. Will he be deployed to Iraq?
“I was counting on the Democrats to stop this war,” said Marianne, blue eyes blazing. So were thousands of other mothers.
It’s time to turn this story around. Rove’s wrong. This so-called “supplemental” isn’t about supporting troops; this blank-check bill is about sacrificing them.
At the current rate of fatalities, another 200-300 US troops will have been killed by the time the Congress votes on funding again. Ten times that many Iraqis will have perished. Squandering human lives and health for Exxon and Chevron’s wealth is not supporting the troops. It’s sacrificing them.
By voting more money for Bush’s war, the Congress will be sacrificing more lives to a President who has no plan, for a cause he can’t explain, at a cost that none of us can count.
The bill your Senator and Representative are likely to vote on today is about sacrificing lives in a country whose people want us gone, where our presence is only inflaming extremists and speeding on theocracy.
Once upon a time, the President said something about bringing “democracy” to the middle east. It’s sends quite a message to the world that the people’s majority in the most powerful democracy in the world doesn’t give a damn about the people who voted them into office. Vote and still you die.
The only way to support the troops is to fully fund their withdrawal now.
Call your representative today: 202 224 3121.
Vote against the Sacrifice the Troops bill. Stand up for Marianne and the millions of moms — US and Iraqi — who were counting on the American peace and justice movement to stop this madness.
Laura Flanders is the author of Blue Grit: True Democrats Take Back Politics from the Politicians, out now from The Penguin Press.
To hell with the mothers of the dead, the soon to be dead, the paralyzed, the blinded, the limbless, the insane and the permanently maimed…think like a Republocrat! Invest in Halliburton!. Charlie Rangel joins Dick Cheney in the endorsement.
And he’s quietly started a second “surge” that’s even larger than the first.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/22/MNG7QPV65N1.DTL
“The little-noticed second surge, designed to reinforce U.S. troops in Iraq, is being executed by sending more combat brigades and extending tours of duty for troops already there.
“The actions could boost the number of combat soldiers from 52,500 in early January to as many as 98,000 by the end of this year if the Pentagon overlaps arriving and departing combat brigades.”
Call your members of Congress (Senators, Reps, Pelosi, AND Reid) now TOLL FREE at 800-828-0498, 800-459-1887 or 800-614-2803 Tell ALL of them NO MORE BLANK CHECKS! End this war NOW!
You can also e-mail Pelosi at: AmericanVoices@mail.house.gov
We have brought Dumbocracy.
Lord knows we have plenty to spare!
The main problem here has not been addressed. Rove and Cheney and Bush can get away with this guilt trip because of America’s “Cult of the Soldier.”
We’ve so deified military people in this country that they can do almost nothing wrong.
The truth is that NOT every soldier is a hero.
The American soldier is largely made up of marginalized elements of American society–people too poor, or not intelligent enough, to go to college or the university. That’s the kind of men and women the military want–ignorant, hopeless people that they can brainwash into throwing their lives away for a colored rag.
While most soldiers are just ordinary people. Some soldiers are cowards, some are criminals, some are gang bangers and some white supremicists. Some soldiers commit war crimes and dishonor the uniform. Some soldiers are drug addicts and spouse and child abusers.
Many people put on the uniform, especially in America, to gain a measure of self-respect that they couldn’t get in civilian life. Others are looking for money for college, or just to have a job.
The point is, military service is a profession, like any other. It’s not any more noble than any other job. If anything, people who join the military knowing full well that that it is being used, not to DEFEND America, but to enforce an American imperialist agenda are not noble Americans in my view–they’re simply selfish opportunists.
The bottom line, stop deifying soldiers–stop contributing to the idea that EVERY SOLDIER IS A HERO, and you take away the power politicians have to use them as pawns in their maniacal plans for American hegemony.
We get the government that we deserve.
It’s useless to call anyone. No one listens. As Bush and Cheney knew long ago, there is no opposition to them. They are free to do as they please, no matter who gets hurt . . . or dies.
If congress does not realize that the American people don’t want this war after the last election, calling will not change anyone’s mind. I had at least a minimal hope that the Democrats would prove themselves worthy of winning their seats. I was more wrong than I could have imagined. Our salvation lies not with our elected “leaders” but with average Americans. And then only if we are very lucky and very persistent and very, very informed.
I recently had a discussion with a friend, who, although he is one of the kindest, gentlest, and most generous people I know, is also a kind of wingnut when it comes to politics and religion. He said, “The only people to have died for the sake of humanity in the history of the world are Christ and the American soldier.” He gets his views from talk radio and Fox. He’s all for “America first.” (The interesting thing about this guy is that he doesn’t vote because he doesn’t like politicians, and he criticizes the government’s handling of almost everything. He also doesn’t like big business. He does think we belong in Iraq. I wonder which America he thinks is so great that we need to fight to save it.)
So I agree with FleetoCanadaNow. Americans idolize their military far beyond reason. Soldiers are not gods or inherent heros; they are people like everyone else. This, of course, is not unique to America. Warriors have been elevated to super human status since ancient times. It’s unfortunate that the evolution of the human mind has not been able to overcome this mentality.
FleeToCanadaNow says: “The bottom line, stop deifying soldiers–stop contributing to the idea that EVERY SOLDIER IS A HERO, and you take away the power politicians have to use them as pawns in their maniacal plans for American hegemony.”
How true. It’s just a job. Unfortunately since the draft was ended, it has become a growth industry like the private prison industry, publicly traded. The military can’t grow and the Industrial Complex that depends on selling to the military can’t prosper unless they spread fear and foment war. And I’m retired military…
Thanks to FleetoCanadanow for stating an obvious truth too rarely stated in public discourse — especially since 9-1-1.
If an army has a legitimate purpose, it is to serve the public interest of the society as a whole. The “support our troops” mantra — intoned in knee jerk fashion by every politician, pundit, and even by most progressives, has gradually swallowed up that basic truth. The people and public policy now exist to “support” whatever foolishness the troops have been committed to, rather than the other way around. The tail is wagging the dog.
yes to what fleetocanada said. and this (partly) why i did not, do not, and will not “support the troops”.
It is hard to believe that Bu$h the inferior developed such a hate for the military during his time in the ‘Champagne Brigade’ of the Texas Air National Guard.
The way he treats the troops you would think that they saw through his false bravado and swagger. Maybe they did! - and that’s why he drank, doped, went AWOL and ran back to MAMA.
Still, that doesn’t explain why congress hates the troops so much that will go along with spending record money to kill and maim so many good patriotic Americans in a stupid cause with immoral goals.
Centuries of patriarchal religious programming have manufactured their own species of consent in the form of an aberration most believe to represent “God.” This angry father is quite similar to the strict authoritarian of George Lakoff’s model conservative family. Jesus tried to add a note of compassion but we see how far that went given the BEHAVIOR of those that identify with modern Christianity. (There are notable exceptions, as Martin Luther King was deeply religious but understood the MEANING of Christ’s life, as does John Dear and other inspired teachers. Sadly, these are NOT the majority, nor is their understanding reflected in the policies of many religious institutions.) My point is that the Greeks understood that heaven, or that which exists beyond the transitory mortal existence, as an assembly of voices. This is brilliant because it does not ascribe to any singular viewpoint (even if designated “divine”) full power, as in “unitary executive” on THIS plane. Astrology is in part derived from the understanding of these various voices. Astrology has been given such a bad rap, generalized by many charlatans and given the dubious designation of first heresy (a stigma that’s lasted centuries) that it’s probably easier for commondreams readers to think in terms of Jung’s articulation of the dominant archetypes. We all have an “inner Mars.” It represents self-interest, primal urges and our ego. In very unevolved types ego is all, and their entire worldview is based on selfish urges. The more the individual evolves spiritually, the more s/he realizes that life can only be rewarding when self interest is balanced against the interest and needs of others, as in, the greater good. It’s very clear to me that what most religions worship is MARS. There is no other way to explain why war has been so pervasive over the centuries, and that so-called civilized peoples have allowed such vast segments of their collective treasure to be squandered on the methods, planning and weapons of war. The US is a prime example. It calls itself Christian, the military is 99% Christian and the US is meanwhile ARMING the world, while watching its own treasury spew new weapons. The status of soldier, a pawn necessary to the big show of war, is inflated to serve this paradigm which has NOTHING to do with GOD. The very notion of God is the basis for so much distortion! Warm and fuzzy types like to talk about their “personal relationship with God,” but they are often first to champion war against those of other cultures, nationalities, races and religions! What God would applaud the destruction of Creation? Only Mars… how DARE our leaders practice insidious torture on others and hide behind “God.” I mean it’s really time to ask WHAT God are you referring to, as the whole thing has become delusional. The military coined the concept of MAD (mutually assured destruction) as its rationale for the arms race. Now religion has its own version operating in the form of courting Armageddon. Maybe we could convince Australia to give up its entire continent to all those who want world war, who think this represents God’s will and leave the rest of us alone to use our hard work, natural resources, and ingenuity to design systems that SUPPORT life, that reward the CREATIVE in each of us. It’s really gotten too insane, and when religion leads the charge to jihad or holy war, then damn it, religion needs to be questioned. Now it’s the heretic’s turn to ask what and who gave you (church elite) the authority to murder so many under your deluded notion that you represent some singular God’s will. That IS the quintessential blasphemy, and from this deception spill the lies that build militaries and loan them the lifespans of those who serve. A great many are there because they truly think “God” has called them…
Ronald Reagan initiated the ’support the troops’ nonsense to assuage the guilt of middle class people who supported militaristic policies but didn’t want their sons (or daughters) to serve, and to guilt trip what remained of the anti-war movement. Although there is a certain class contempt in fleetoCanada’s comments:
The American soldier is largely made up of marginalized elements of American society–people too poor, or not intelligent enough, to go to college or the university. That’s the kind of men and women the military want–ignorant, hopeless people that they can brainwash into throwing their lives away for a colored rag.
The comments probably accurately sum up most middle-class Americans actual beliefs about those who serve in the military, regardless of whether they have a yellow ribbon on their SUV or not. What does it mean to ’support the troops’? Or not ’support the troops’? The US is occupying Iraq. Should that occupation continue, or end? There are additional questions the peace movement should be raising–should the US/NATO continue to occupy Afghanistan? Should the US have bases around the world? Does the US need a large military (and isn’t it out of keeping with our revolutionary heritage?)? Maybe its time to just cut out the ’support the troops’ business and cut to the substance. After all, troops are supposed to follow orders. If we tell them to come home from Iraq, they will.
Support Our Brainwashed Baby Slayers!
“This angry father is quite similar to the strict authoritarian of George Lakoff’s model conservative family. Jesus tried to add a note of compassion but we see how far that went given the BEHAVIOR of those that identify with modern Christianity. ”
Oh, sacred ignorance.
-This angry father was much more compassionate, than Greeks and their Gods were. Jesus was a Jew and was as compassionate as his religion commanded (sabbatical, jubilees, widows and orphans).
-it’s not only modern Christianity. Look at some depiction of Jesus Pantocrator, and read about the Crusades, for example, and about … hell (generally Christian).
Siouxrose,
A brilliant post! Thanks to you and fleetoCanada for your insightful writings here.
Peace, begins, with me.
Brilliant indeed.
Well, our perception depends on the level of our intelligence
and education. It is a known fact that not well educated people
are usually impressed by pompous words and unclear text.
Yes, take this “insightful writing” to Canada.
There are too many ignorant people in this country.
Don’t be dissin’ the troops people.
The majority joined because they had fewer choices in life than most, but some really did join in response to the 9/11 attacks. Perhaps their idealism was misplaced, but it was sincere.
When they take their oath of enlistment, they are giving up something most of us take for granted: personal autonomy. When they raise their hand and swear to defend the constitution and to obey orders, it is a personal sacrifice worthy of respect.
They don’t choose to be heroes. That honor is awarded strictly by winds of fate, and the courage or compassion they bring to the battle.
They may start out to serve their country, but they leave boot camp with a devotion to their comrades far stronger than any love for the flag or the ideals of their nation.
Some crack up under stress, some commit heinous crimes, some learn to like the military life and reenlist.
Most just do their duty and come home.
Save your disdain for the liars in the White House who hired them out to fight as oil company mercenaries.
Save your criticism for the cowards who shout, “support the troops!” because they haven’t got the nerve to say, “support my war!”
Save your scorn for your republican neighbors, who would rather send our young people into very real danger over there, rather than cope with imagined dangers over here.
Anna: the whole point is that the history of organized father-based/patriarchal religion IS violent. You missed my point, evidently. (Pain is real in life; so even indigenous spiritualists turn the dark parts of human existence and their nether counterparts into god-like figures. We can’t get away FROM the dark entirely, but when that which purports to counter evil is itself guilty of incredible brutality, and when it IDENTIFIES itself AS a modern crusade (arguably AFTER history taught us some lessons, in addition to widespread education and literacy), then we ought NOT have to countenance his-story repeating, the “sins” of the angry fathers visited upon the sons, daughters and everyone else for whom war’s rein of terror touches (or should befall). As human nature is refined, and part of that process falls to the responsibility of leaders–secular and spiritual, the need for such destruction must fall away, lest mankind be eased from the face of this verdant potential paradise of a planet. God shed grace on thee, America, but the riches given have largely been used to destroy and derail the lives of viable OTHERS. THAT serves only one archetype of ‘god,’ and it IS Mars, NOT Jesus.
PS thank you mucho, jjpeters…
No, I didn’t miss your point. I just despise arrogant ignorance.
It wouldn’t hurt if you actually knew any history at all, matriarchal, patriarchal or any other. What history isn’t violent? I think it’s indecent to flood this forum with so much garbage.
Greeks and their countless gods, of course, didn’t sacrifice their soldiers or infants.
Sure.
“Don’t be dissin’ the troops people.”
Why not? What if the German people had turned their backs on the Wermacht and the SS and the Luftwaffe? I do not “support the troops.” I only support those who have had the courage to go AWOL or resist deployment like Lt. Watada.
I am a veteran. As a young man, I participated in the first illegal Gulf War. All I wanted was money for college, but I had to kill some Arabs to get it. On a few occassions, I got rocks thrown at my car when I entered the base–by American protesters shouting NO BLOOD FOR OIL.
You know what? Those people forced me to think about what I was participating in and I thought about it enough I did not re-enlist.
Do a soldier a favor…stop worshipping him. Stop telling him he’s a hero. What he is is a killer of innocent people. Spit on him, or her. Tell them they are shameful and dispicable. It might make him wake up to what he’s doing to their country.
As a metaphor — We who continue to have faith in our elected officials are very much like the abandoned dog that keeps pawing at the locked, back door of what was once the home of our family. Sadly, our former “family” moved — forgeting us — leaving us behind with only a stale “wish” bone for company. While they eat steak and “party” in their new, fancy home financed by their “friends” — we must now face the truth and the anwer and the hope lives with us holding and embracing ourselves through this dark, cold night in America. We just may see the dawn — but it will be because of how we stood for ourselves and protected the old family home — not because they grew homesick and decided drive by their former home and saw the dog sitting by the light that still burns on the porch!
I’m going to lose it here! We’re all sick to death of hearing we need to “support the troops” when the dictum is thrown at us for utterly transparent political expediency. Good grief - the lessons of Vietnam are being EXPLOITED by the neocons so that in a disgustingly puppet-like response, we end up once again spitting on the wrong guys! Bush (read Rove)is using “the troops” just like he’s using all the rest of his mind-numbing rhetoric to kick up a dust storm that so consumes us we lose track of what the hell he’s doing behind the dust! The troops are indeed citizens like the rest of us and as such are a diverse group - and not the appropriate target here. Frankly I don’t care how any one of them feels about this war, how they voted in the last election, or what kind of education they have. But I DON’T want a single one of them to die for some reason other than what they pretty much agreed to die for when they signed up - protecting us from a legitimate enemy. And when they do…I’m sorry, but as Progressive as I may be, I’m also sad and grateful for their (intended) service. The problem here is they’re being turned into hoes by this f’ing Amdinistration and then getting beat up by the people who oppose that same Administration. Can we please get clear on who “the enemy” is? And then can we then get over our self-indulgent, “defeatist” lazy cynicism long enough to grab a damned placard and stand on whatever street corner is nearby regardless of who stands with us and say STOP THE IRAQ OCCUPATION!!!!!
One must appease the Gods of war. Human sacrifice is what is needed. There is no other way.
Sebringd12 gets it right:
“The troops are indeed citizens like the rest of us and as such are a DIVERSE (my emphasis) group - and not the appropriate target here…”
And, therefore, explains the different positions of, say, fleetocanadanow, and jjjohnjj; the former focusing on the many unsavory characters in the military, and the latter selectively referring to average “joes” and “janes” sporting, perhaps, a commendable intention or two.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy”
(Sermon on the Mount of Jesus)
Weep to day O good folk, hear the cry of the little, angelic girl in Iraqland, bloodied and dying in her weeping mother’s arms. Hear them, these slaughtered millions from a land which gave you civilization, taught you to read and write, for neither your church bells nor your evil king and his coutiers weep for her today.
May you receive mercy
The only way to support the troops is to fully fund their withdrawal now.
Call your representative today: 202 224 3121.
As many responders have said on this article , “calling your rep” is a waste of effort ; if those reps haven’t figured it out now , then they probably never will.Calling is easy , cheap , non-self-threatening and it makes one feel good.
The probable reality is that , based on the present collusion between the majority of all branches of government except some state legislatures and city councils , there is no intention to end the occupation.
Some responders blame the troops as well as White House and Congress ; some responders maintain that they are sacrificial pawns just doing their duty and the best they can for their country.
Never mind whose fault it is for the occupation or whose responcibility it is for withdrawl,the should-be-undisputed power of withdrawl lies in the hands of the troops themselves if they are willing to sacrifice venerable reputation and potential career as did Ehren Watada , Mike Ergo and the hundreds or thousands of unknown,unsung deserters and COs.
The war on the eastern front was over for thousands of Russian soldiers who didn’t wait for armistice in 1918 but “walked home” in 1917.
The American occupation in Vietnam was over when thousands of enlisted and to-be-enlisted Americans “walked north” to Canada.
For those thousands of troops who serve or are thinking of serving where they will find a “home and a feeder”in the military, private,compassionate Americans can be those “homes and feeders”
The many chapters of the War Registers’ Support Campaign across both USA and Canada are doing quite nicely,thank you, in providing homes and feeders and giving encouragement to both servers and deserters to follow their consciences.
Supporting the troops should mean providing them with all the necessary condiments of life whether they stay the course or walk home.
Russian troops were greeted as patriots not deserters and welcome at peasant dinner tables on the walk home .
Ron,
I agree with you 100%. Hitler made his soldiers take an oath to him personally. US Military officers take an oath to the CONSTITUTION–not the President of the United States.
If all of them did their duty, like Lt. Watada, and refused to participate in an ILLEGAL war, it would be over tomorrow.
STOP SUPPORTING THE TROOPS WHO ARE MAKING THIS FOOLISH WAR POSSIBLE. They are not brainless robots. They ARE NOT forced to obey illegal orders.
Support Osama Ben-Laden or support the troops?
Look man, don’t be emotional; think logically and with a cool head. Ben-Laden caused the death of about 3000 innocent people. His beef was that the U.S should stop meddling in the internal affairs of Muslim countries, pull out its troops, and stop killing them. You call him a terrorist; I have no problem with that.
On the other hand, the U.S has attacked a weak country on a bunch of lies; its troops have caused the death of around 600,000 people, have destroyed the country, and have made millions homeless.
Now, consider each case on its own merits and cast your vote. If you were to support the lesser evil, would you support Ben Laden or the U.S troops? Be fair!
Saila–that’s a ridiculous comment.
9-11 was wrong, Bin Ladin is a murdering extremist that needs to be brought to justice. No one in any way could support the activities of Bin Ladin.
The invasion of Iraq was wrong. Bush is a murdering extremist tht needs to be brought to justice. Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11.
It’s not a question of choosing one over the other.
FleettoCanadaNow,
I agree. I’s nice to read something sensible for a change.
I am still fuming at “the angry God” or similar garbage.
Fleetto:
You missed the point; you read it literally. It’s obvious that one cannot support either. I was merely trying to illustrate what “supporting the troops” meant.