Dying for our country?

[typos]

I can't stand people who toss around phrases like "dying for our country"--especially in the context of Iraq. How the fuck are our soldiers protecting the United States of America, by occupying Iraq? How are we better off? What do we have to show for their sacrifice? Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction. Saddam didn't have any ties with Al

Comments

[eyelidlesseye]

I'd guess that the expression isn't just referring to protecting America, but carrying out America's will around the globe. Think of the government as some single gross organism. This organism could "use" a few of its cells (soldiers) defending itself or wreaking death and destruction on a global scale. Either way, soldiers are dying for their country.

[typos]

The "carrying out [of] America's will" bothers me. I don't think its fair to say it is "America's will" to go to war. People need to be convinced that war in their best interest. As citizens in a democracy, we need accurate information in order to make correct choices. Unfortunately, the Iraq war was preceded by hysteria, lies, and manipulation. In the end, those who supported the war, viewed it more as an inevitability than anything else.

Its like that Herman Goering quote:

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

[eyelidlesseye]

"whine whine whine..."

Politics couldn't exist without simplification and generalization, because people don't have time to really think through the issues.

I do agree that Bush has been a dirty bearer of false witness. I think that you have really let the media off the hook though. They have utterly failed to keep the American public informed. It isn't really the duty of the president to tell us what is going on in his official statements. It is the duty of the media to do that, and to vigorously fight for freedom of information.

We shouldn't have to depend on official statements to know what is going on. If we do now, then we aren't really a "democracy" anymore.

[typos]

Nowadays depending on your ideological alignment, you get specially catered news services. FOX for the conservatives. NPR for the liberals. The Wall Street Journal for conservatives. The New York Times for liberals. On and on and on it goes. I don't really think the media owes me or the public anything. They're there to sell a product.

[anonymous]

Regardless of how we got there, we're there. We can't just pick up and leave now. We started it. We need to finish it. No one ever said that decisions like these didn't have their consequences. We're one chip away from broke. We can't walk away. We need to ante up and take the hand dealt. Sorry pal. The truth hurts sometimes.

[typos]

I said nothing about leaving. God I wish we could, but you're right. We can't. My rant centered on the misleading rhetoric surrounding this war. While we may be stuck there, a bit of honesty would still be nice.