Not One More
Well, it could've been worse. Dave could've used the two fallen Oregon soldiers of the past week as cover to explain his pro-war stance, having a column of such tired rhetoric as "We need to keep fighting so as these two deaths aren't in vain." Of course, by using the victims in this situation, the soldiers' families, as a rhetorical crutch would've brought a nasty attack from Anne Coulter. (Yeah, right.)
Instead, the soldiers' deaths gives Reinard an opportunity to wax poetic in his latest column. "Death on a battlefield is horribly arbitray," Dave writes. "Some [deaths] are worth noting not because their deaths are more important in any grand sense -- but because their deaths are, at once, exceptional and representative." In this case, the exceptional and representative deaths are of Army Spc. Robert Jones and Army Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker, from Milwaukee and Madras respectively.
My intent is not to politicize these soldiers' deaths. Instead I take issue with Reinhard doing some navel-gazing as two more of Oregon's best and brightest are lost in a needless war that Reinhard has been an enthusiastic supporter for from the get-go. War is a big deal, and creates divisive wounds within families when young men and women don' return from battle? Funny, that was my exact sentiment when I was protesting this war in the streets of Portland. I knew nothing but pain, death, and heartache were in store for the hundreds, now thousands, of families who have lost loved ones to Dubya's Iraqi Adventure. Not to worry, I was told, our troops will perform "shock and awe" and return home within weeks, if not months, with minimal fatalities. That line of bullshit smelled so obvious, and I thought if we could stop the momentum of war, families could be spared posible heartache. But it was not to be, as Bush and his apologists had no second thoughts of using the lives of our soldiers for political gain. What's a few thousand soldiers' lives when the privatization of Social Security or a gay marriage Constitutional amendment is at stake?
Dave waxes poetic but doesn't say the few, simple words: Not one more. Not one more Oregonian killed in this failed right-wing attempt at nation-building. Not one more Oregonian killed to support putting people like Ahmed Chalabi and Nuri al-Maliki in power. Not one more Oregonian killed in an intra-state civil war, with escalating violence being carried out by the ethnic rivalries that Paul Wolfowitz failed to recognize in his pre-war testimony before Congress. Not one more Oregonian killed in an occupation of a sovereign country, whose presence merely serves as sitting ducks for attacks and to inspire the insurgency so desperately needed by Republicans to prolong a war will never end, and will continue to be politicized. Not one more Oregonian killed- bring them home now.
Sadly, that will not be the case, as future Oregon soldiers will likely be killed as our "leaders" in Washington continue with the stalemate that they find themselves in regarding Iraq and are reduced to passing ridiculous resolutions such as that "America will triumph in the war on terror." Gosh- who voted against that? That recently passed resolution is entirely symbolic and does absolutely nothing to protect any soldier's lives. Not one. Zilch. Zero. Nada. Thank god for "strong leadership."
Dave reiterates a point made by Thomas Tucker's family as they remember their son:
Saddam is no longer in power in Iraq, and citizens are able to participate in elections. Obviously, those are signs that Iraq is free. Granted, it took three different prime ministers before one was decided upon by the Bush administration to be Iraq's leader- one who wasn't elected by the people- but since when do votes count in George W. Bush's idea of freedom or democracy? And Iraq never threatened the United States. How could a third-rate country on the other side of the globe decimated by years of sanctions possibly pose a threat? Iraq posed just as much of a threat to the United States as Ghana does, in a non-soccer related manner of course. And before you bring up 9/11 to me, I want to point out that Iraq has just as much to do with 9/11 as Ghana did. Dubya said so himself. So why didn't we invade Ghana, and put decals on our SUVs to "support our troops" there?
I do thank Tucker and Jones for their sacrifrice. It's heartrending that their love of country and wish for service was manipulated by such obvious lunatics and their quest for power. With the clearly deranged Cheney and Rumsfeld overseeing the military, it seems quite clear that other paths to serve our country need to be considered by those looking to serve: civil service, the State Department, the Peace Corps, etc. Until rational people control the military, it needs to be asked: why would people choose to put their lives in the hands of maniacs?
Especially the 40 soldiers from Oregon who have lost their lives in Iraq. That number needs to stay where it is. The headline for Dave's column reads: "What we can say to the families of oregon's fallen." I can tell you what we can say: Not one more Oregonian death in Iraq. The pain stops here, and it stops now.
Instead, the soldiers' deaths gives Reinard an opportunity to wax poetic in his latest column. "Death on a battlefield is horribly arbitray," Dave writes. "Some [deaths] are worth noting not because their deaths are more important in any grand sense -- but because their deaths are, at once, exceptional and representative." In this case, the exceptional and representative deaths are of Army Spc. Robert Jones and Army Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker, from Milwaukee and Madras respectively.
My intent is not to politicize these soldiers' deaths. Instead I take issue with Reinhard doing some navel-gazing as two more of Oregon's best and brightest are lost in a needless war that Reinhard has been an enthusiastic supporter for from the get-go. War is a big deal, and creates divisive wounds within families when young men and women don' return from battle? Funny, that was my exact sentiment when I was protesting this war in the streets of Portland. I knew nothing but pain, death, and heartache were in store for the hundreds, now thousands, of families who have lost loved ones to Dubya's Iraqi Adventure. Not to worry, I was told, our troops will perform "shock and awe" and return home within weeks, if not months, with minimal fatalities. That line of bullshit smelled so obvious, and I thought if we could stop the momentum of war, families could be spared posible heartache. But it was not to be, as Bush and his apologists had no second thoughts of using the lives of our soldiers for political gain. What's a few thousand soldiers' lives when the privatization of Social Security or a gay marriage Constitutional amendment is at stake?
Dave waxes poetic but doesn't say the few, simple words: Not one more. Not one more Oregonian killed in this failed right-wing attempt at nation-building. Not one more Oregonian killed to support putting people like Ahmed Chalabi and Nuri al-Maliki in power. Not one more Oregonian killed in an intra-state civil war, with escalating violence being carried out by the ethnic rivalries that Paul Wolfowitz failed to recognize in his pre-war testimony before Congress. Not one more Oregonian killed in an occupation of a sovereign country, whose presence merely serves as sitting ducks for attacks and to inspire the insurgency so desperately needed by Republicans to prolong a war will never end, and will continue to be politicized. Not one more Oregonian killed- bring them home now.
Sadly, that will not be the case, as future Oregon soldiers will likely be killed as our "leaders" in Washington continue with the stalemate that they find themselves in regarding Iraq and are reduced to passing ridiculous resolutions such as that "America will triumph in the war on terror." Gosh- who voted against that? That recently passed resolution is entirely symbolic and does absolutely nothing to protect any soldier's lives. Not one. Zilch. Zero. Nada. Thank god for "strong leadership."
Dave reiterates a point made by Thomas Tucker's family as they remember their son:
To free the Iraqi people and protect his country from the threat of terrorism.
Saddam is no longer in power in Iraq, and citizens are able to participate in elections. Obviously, those are signs that Iraq is free. Granted, it took three different prime ministers before one was decided upon by the Bush administration to be Iraq's leader- one who wasn't elected by the people- but since when do votes count in George W. Bush's idea of freedom or democracy? And Iraq never threatened the United States. How could a third-rate country on the other side of the globe decimated by years of sanctions possibly pose a threat? Iraq posed just as much of a threat to the United States as Ghana does, in a non-soccer related manner of course. And before you bring up 9/11 to me, I want to point out that Iraq has just as much to do with 9/11 as Ghana did. Dubya said so himself. So why didn't we invade Ghana, and put decals on our SUVs to "support our troops" there?
I do thank Tucker and Jones for their sacrifrice. It's heartrending that their love of country and wish for service was manipulated by such obvious lunatics and their quest for power. With the clearly deranged Cheney and Rumsfeld overseeing the military, it seems quite clear that other paths to serve our country need to be considered by those looking to serve: civil service, the State Department, the Peace Corps, etc. Until rational people control the military, it needs to be asked: why would people choose to put their lives in the hands of maniacs?
Especially the 40 soldiers from Oregon who have lost their lives in Iraq. That number needs to stay where it is. The headline for Dave's column reads: "What we can say to the families of oregon's fallen." I can tell you what we can say: Not one more Oregonian death in Iraq. The pain stops here, and it stops now.
posted by true_slicky at 5:28 PM
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