Puzzled

Posted on March 27, 2003 in Blogging Thinking War

It’s almost becoming paralyzing to speak my mind here. I like the praise I get, but then some old friend gets offended and goes nuclear or does a swing to the right.

I see things, but pointing them out is hazardous.

Some folks just don’t get it: the warfare that we’re waging against the people of Iraq is downright evil. If you believed that we shouldn’t have been there before, then you shouldn’t be lining up to “support our boys” as they march through Iraq, shooting at civilians.

It saddens me that some people are talking now as if the only thing that matters is that our boys might die. Iraqi civilian casualties mount : Our boys are the ones pulling the trigger, not Saddam Hussein.

How can we, who felt the pain of the attacks on the World Trade Center and cheered the resistance of one planeload of passengers against their hijackers, turn around and say that acts taken in defense of the homeland on their own soil by the Iraqis are wrong?

What happened to critical thinking? I’ve seen many repeat unverified accounts of war atrocities as if they were proven. Didn’t anyone learn the story of the war atrocities alleged to have been committed by the Germans against the Belgians in World War 1 or the falsehood of the Kuwaiti incubator story that propelled us into the First Gulf War?

A few people seem surprised that I’ve been so adamant on these points. How did this “nice guy” become “this monster” who won’t wave the flag?

I’ve always been like this, always felt deeply that we shouldn’t kill and that our military isn’t terribly reliable when it comes to the truth. I’ve always questioned blind support for the military. I’ve always stood for the civilians over their government. I’ve encouraged people to read up on the complexity of Islam and the Middle East political situation before they spouted off about how all Muslims support terrorism. How could they not have noticed?

It’s heart-rending. I feel as if some who thought they liked me never knew me.

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Another tack: is it evil to have strong principles and a code of honor? Is it evil to say that sometimes our government does things which are wrong and that our citizen soldiers go along unquestioningly? Is it evil to suggest that we’re letting the go-alongs off the hook too easily? Alas, I think some in the center think so.