Our “Boys” are Men Who Made Choices

Posted on March 20, 2003 in Morals & Ethics War

Yellow ribbons are going up all over the place and I am very conscious of the fact that I stand out for saying that I will not grant unconditional support for our troops. This isn’t Vietnam, for one thing: every man and woman who is over there chose to be there. They are not children as the talk of “our boys” suggests: they are adults who made the decision to make killing and warfare their profession.

Over at Raye’s blog, I made a proposal: if anyone can devise a program whereby an Iraqi soldier gets one care package for each one I send to an Allied soldier, I will take part.

What’s behind this drive among those who, until the war commenced last night, were opposed to it? Maybe guilt because we didn’t succeed in stopping the war: they’re over there because we feel that we failed them. Maybe fear that if they oppose the war as fully and completely as my conscience dictates that I must, they will lose friends or be subjected to criminal prosecution in the future.

As I noted earlier, any sane person is jumping at shadows in these times, what with terrorism, both informal and state-inspired, holding us as thralls. I understand the motives, I think, but I also feel a deeper need to hold to a single standard of justice here. We’re bombing the hell out of Iraq because their people didn’t throw Saddam Hussein, an unelected dictator, out of power. We hold their troops responsible: this is why we are warring with them. By that standard, I cannot let our all volunteer army off the hook. They are the executors of U.S. policy.

While they are over there, I will not support them by sending them care packages or putting up yellow ribbons. I want them home. I will wait for them to come home and stop anyone I see calling them names or attacking them as I would for any person.