It's been awhile since I posted. I don't really have the energy or creativity to put thoughts into words these days. I writing in an effort to reply to Kyle's reply on my most recent statement. I agree with you one hundred percent on the fact that their are heinous things that go on all over the world and that democracy isn't built in a day. Though I don't believe that freedom is earned by a third party. That is something I see everyday here in Iraq and I'm sure it's the same way in Afghanistan. The people continue to work against the American occupation. If not through actual insurgent activity, then it's through their silence. The people in this part of the world are completely aware of what goes on in their neighborhoods and towns. They do know who the ones are who are causing the problems and the destablizing their country. What is the reason for their silence? Fear? So what. Any soldier who set on that border in 2003 had an under current of fear running throughout his body. Any soldier who gets into a humvee or goes out on a foot patrol has fear. It's natural. For whatever reason the soldiers continue to do their jobs eventhough the fear is there. Some might say "well this is what you signed up for." I call bullshit on these people. I did not sign up to defend other countries or to take part in "nation building." I signed up to defend my homeland, not someone elses.
There was a time when I would have been more supportive of intervention in a country who was commiting basic human rights violations. After spending time talking to the Iraqi people who work here on post and having interrogated many the last time I was here, I have lost heart. Why? Because these people do not want to bleed for their freedom. They are to afraid to step up to the ones who would hold them down.
The Afghan situation is a perfect example of why I feel this way. It may have even enforced the feeling in my heart even more. The man on trial, the last I heard, has taken refuge in Italy. His very life is in danger because of his choice in religion. The saddest thing is that from what I've read in the papers is that the government won't even have to execute him. Most of the people seem to feel so strongly about what he has done, I'm sure a religious zealot will most likely gun him down in the street.
Well, I'm off to do whatever it is I do for whatever cause. It seems this "war" means alot of things to alot of people. To me it means one thing. I am away from my family for a cause I do not believe in.
There was a time when I would have been more supportive of intervention in a country who was commiting basic human rights violations. After spending time talking to the Iraqi people who work here on post and having interrogated many the last time I was here, I have lost heart. Why? Because these people do not want to bleed for their freedom. They are to afraid to step up to the ones who would hold them down.
The Afghan situation is a perfect example of why I feel this way. It may have even enforced the feeling in my heart even more. The man on trial, the last I heard, has taken refuge in Italy. His very life is in danger because of his choice in religion. The saddest thing is that from what I've read in the papers is that the government won't even have to execute him. Most of the people seem to feel so strongly about what he has done, I'm sure a religious zealot will most likely gun him down in the street.
Well, I'm off to do whatever it is I do for whatever cause. It seems this "war" means alot of things to alot of people. To me it means one thing. I am away from my family for a cause I do not believe in.
posted by L.J. Abershawe at 19:41
4 Comments:
Hey brother,
Sorry we haven't had a chance to chat lately. I'm sure the time has come & gone where you began to feel the monotany of an already too long absense from the homefront. It's got to be hard to even produce false motivation for a people who don't want to take the lead in the pursuit of establishing their own freedoms. And to hear President Bush say the decision to withdraw troops will be for another President to decide only echoes the idea that NOBODY wants to take the lead here. People are still being held down to the unrelenting pressure of terrorism in the region. The whole administration is full of shit as is anyone who follows them simply because they are "in charge." The only comforting thing in all of this is the fact that you & my wife will done with this rotation soon. It will be nice to have you all back here. Be safe, keep the chin up & don't ever stop questioning what some people mistake for authority!
The underlying problem in all of this is the fact that terrorism is a problem which cannot seem to be exterminated. Doe that mean that it isn't something that should be actively fought? Of course not! Keep in mind that, among many other reasons, the attacks of September 11 occurred because of indifference and passivity in the face of challenge. The UN has become an irrelevant organization which can be continually depended upon to promote anti-Americanism and do-nothing attitudes the world over; why do we continue to support it?
Your point is a valid one, that we are effectively standing up for Iraqis and Afgahnis because they are, quite simply, too afraid to stand up for themselves. It has long been my hope that the Army would not have to bear the brunt of the 'political maintanience' required to keep a country so destabalized from collapsing completely, but at the same time. . . .I understand why the military needs to be there. The issue is really a matter of trust in authority. We trust the government to protect US interests, domestically and abroad. Iraq . . . .hasn't yet established an entity that can gain the trust of the public. Does this mean that we have 'lost the war?' Doe is imply that the mission has been a failure? Of course not, it simply means that there do in fact exist enemies to free society which will act in whatever method necessary to effect a social change.
Isolationism may seem like a better diplomacy option than the one we employ currently, but I promise you that it will earn us no greater respect in the international community and it will not guarantee us safety. Islamic fundamentalists have, as one of their primary goals, the usurping of power on an essentially global level and a transferrance of all governmental organizations to theocratic, Islamist states. Call me a bigot, or paranoid, or whatever you want, but I've seen no indication otherwise that they are out for anything less. There is increasing evidence of this in the Middle East, in Europe, and even to an extent here in the US.
Tolerance requires reciprocation, but Islamofacists reciprocate nothing. They expect to be respected simply on account of their own percieved superiority, and that is an ideology which is totally at odds with the ideology of the free world. We can opt to sit idly by and watch the rest of the world crumble, but the more valient and, I think, necessary option is to stand up to this overwhelming intolerance and extreme bigotry and do our best to stop it where it occurs. If we don't, we may find ourselves in a similar situation not too far into the future.
No war is desirable. But some wars are justified, and I find the war being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan to provide some semblance of footing for a more tolerant governmental system to rise to be a justifiable war. You are certainly entitled to your disagreement.
Nonetheless, I have tremendous respect for what you and the rest of the military have accomplished, and I wish you the best as you continue to fight onward, even if it is for a cause in which you don't believe.
Saw you posting over at Operation Yellow Elephant. I commend your service and will pray that you and your squad stay safe during your tour. I hope that you'll continue to write and break through the talking points trying to justify your presence over there.
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