Support our Troops? — The Question is HOW?

Posted on March 24, 2003 in Crosstalk Morals & Ethics War

Andrea the Shameless Agitator writes:

Yes, they volunteered to protect our country. No, they did not sign up for a mission like this, of such questionable nature and ill-defined goals. In the military, though, I am sure that soldiers can’t pick and choose what they do. There is no room for dissent in the military. The military is not a democracy.

Irish Girl is hawking “Operation Civilian Support” about which she says “Whether you agree or disagree with the current situation in Iraq, you can’t deny that this is a good cause.”

I am against the war and, given that the food, entertainment, and medical needs of our soldiers have already been covered by my tax dollars, I think it is a bad cause, especially given that my tax dollars have also been used to create the longstanding and currently harrowing situation in Iraq whereby the infrastructure of the country has been fractured so that the children are starving and in need of proper medical care. Photos of “our boys” show them to be fat and happy compared to these children. They will be in the crucible for a matter of weeks. The children of Iraq were born to this horror and they’ve been in it for years.

Saddam Hussein curbed his people’s human rights and gassed Kurds who were in armed rebellion. His people still had decent medical care and food before the attack on Kuwait. After that, the blame for the greater horror belongs to the United States.

I paid for that. My free money is going to Oxfam.

As for Andrea’s significantly more thoughtful comment: I still hold that our men in the armed forces knew the kind of profession that they were getting into. Furthermore, not all of them are unhappy about being there. The military’s own studies show that only 1 in 20 Americans can kill at close hand without feeling remorse. It furthers demonstrates that the members of this 5% either end up in prison or in the military. The theory behind the recruitment of such individuals is that it is better that they channel the energy “for the national good” than on “American citizens”.

The blind care packages we send go to these individuals as well as to the more unwilling ones. (I actually have no problem if you want to send a personal care package to someone you know over there. I trust your judgement as to whether or not they deserve it.) As I noted, there is no hunger among American troops. There is among the Iraqis. My free money is going to the cause of feeding the children. Our boys are provided for. When they come home, I shall actively block attempts to harass them. (Save it for Bush.) But I shall not treat them as needy nor make any statement that might be reconstrued as an affirmation of what they are doing over there.

I believe in the Nuremberg Principles which state that a soldier has the right — nay, the duty — to disobey illegal orders. A better way to support our boys would be to create a civilian review board. If a soldier chooses to disobey orders for reasons of conscience or because they violate the Geneva Conventions, this board could prevent him from being punished. It could also investigate the alleged crimes and mete out the justice their leaders require.

The high command will balk, but it is clear that they are out of control. The military serves the civilians and they are ultimately accountable to us. I’d like to see we support our boys by empowering them to say “no” to operations that violate national and international law, to protect them from harm and harassment by the officers involved — including the President of the United States. Yes, I am for supporting our boys in this fashion.

A military does not have to be a place where a soldier cannot refuse illegal orders. That’s just propaganda that we’ve been taught “can’t be changed”.

Another thing to realize: what about the injured? Once this war is over and the maimed come home, they face reduced Veterans benefits thanks to the very people who pushed this war so strongly. Imagine going around in a wheelchair for the rest of your life, living on a pittance. That’s the future for some when they come home.

I support a better life for them than what Bush plans to give them.

I invite others to think about just what they mean when they say “support our boys”. Do you really want to leave them powerless and buy them off with fancy food and comic books or do you want to protect their rights as citizens of this country? I’m for the latter. What about you?