Who's Sacrifice?

Who here in America, the overly privileged and placated country that it is, would be willing to make a sacrifice for something as disgusting and immoral as a criminal war?

What American is willing to put his or her life on the line by fighting in this War on Terror in Afghanistan or Iraq?

As an American, would you be willing to watch your son or daughter go fight in this illegal occupation of Iraq and return home in a straight jacket, or worse, a flag-draped coffin?

As a citizen of this imperial nation, are you ready, if need be, to have your draft number called and report for service as a hit man for Uncle Scam's corporate Empire?

What sacrifice are you prepared to make for this?!

Are you ready to answer these questions?

What if a soldier were to ask you?

As a veteran of the war in Iraq, I grow tired of watching the pain in a soldier's eyes after fighting in this war over and over only to see an ever-deteriorating situation in a country that never wanted an American forced democracy in the first place.

My heart aches when I meet the wife of a soldier in Iraq only to hear that the young couple hates the war, and wants out of the army, but could never otherwise afford the health care needed to provide for the birth of their expecting child.

It pains me to see that soldiers, only weeks away from returning home from Iraq, read on the internet about an involuntary 90 day extension pointlessly tying them to a losing war even longer.

And my patience grows thin to see Bush, the real enemy of freedom and democracy the world over, chuckle and grin when explaining the urgency of a winning strategy, the "troop surge", that is desperately needed to hold this sinking ship together for just a little longer. Just long enough to line his buddies pockets with another couple of trillion or so.

And as my patience is practically gone, I am tired of trying to explain to Americans why this war is lost, why it was lost from the start, and why we will be losers in the end.

If you refuse to see it by now then you're lost, too.

For years now there have been a sizable number of antiwar Iraq and Afghanistan veterans trying to express the reasons why the war on terror is a sham, and why its wrong that corrupt politicians are the only ones benefiting from the oppression, pain and misery that their wars inflict on the lower classes of the world.

And every time a veteran had something to say about it, that veteran was called a pinko, or unAmerican, or a traitor.

But every time that veteran proved to be right. That veteran has always been right. The great majority of Americans opposed to the war have only caught on in the last few months.

But that is all behind us now. My only question for anyone is, Are you willing to sacrifice for this war?

What is it worth to you? All your stupid fucking yellow ribbons mean nothing. A symbol of war and nationalist fervor. May as well be a swastika. What is your level of involvement in this war? Where is your support?

Again, who's blood are you willing to spill for the safety and security that these Republicans and these Democrats are promising you if you just shut up and let them do the talking?

And are your freedoms safe in the hands of warmongering and greedy idiots who not only want to keep young men and women dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, but now want to extend their empty promises and generous offers through a war with Iran?

Every time I hear a politician lie about this war, I don't scream or get mad, I just wish they would cut the bullshit out of it and just be honest with us… "Listen, America, we know that you know that you need that oil, and we're going to get it for you come hell or high water."

God Bless America.

But is it all worth it? Is it worth all the death and pain and misery our wars inflict on other human beings in the world? Is it worth a never ending war sucking our economy dry and leaving us with less resources to help our own poor and needy in America? Is it worth the infringement on civil rights both here and abroad?

Is it worth 3,300 dead sons and daughters of liberty? How many names will be carved on our wall?

Was it worth having a Louisiana National Guard in Iraq during Katrina?

Is it worth the USA Patriot Act?

Was it worth letting Bush nix posse comitatus?

How far will we let the madness continue?

What are the sacrifices we as a country are willing to make? Do not tell me this is necessary. Do not try to convince me this is about terrorism. I did not see any terrorists killed in Iraq. I saw women and children blown to pieces by car bombs. I saw dead farmers and dead shop-keepers killed by American munitions.

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

Keep allowing these crooks, thieves and criminals to convince you that your life is in danger. Keep letting them coo you to sleep as you walk mindlessly consuming in this decadent and decaying shopping mall of America. Keep believing their lies, like every good American has since 1776.

We have a history of terrorism in this country. We support brutal dictators all over the world. We destroy any social movement or truly democratic awakening that dares to surface in Latin America. We arm war lords in Africa. We fund tyrants in the Middle East. We give the go-ahead to genocide in East Asia. We are solely responsible for the bloody occupation of Palestine. We are the big bully on the block, and when a sovereign nation of working class people stand up to us and take it to the streets, we call them terrorists.

The best way to end terrorism is to stop participating in it.

You will never convince me that we are right when we treat other human beings so utterly inhumane. I will never believe it, because I am a veteran of an illegal and immoral war, and I saw the immorality of it firsthand in Iraq.

And other soldiers are seeing it, too.

I heard a veteran once say that if everyone in America could see what we are doing to the Iraqi people, they would end the war tomorrow. Perhaps that veteran is right. After all. the only power that will stop this war is the power of the people.

Its up to you, America, to determine the costs and ask yourself a simple question,

"Is it worth it?"

And then go out and do something about it.

Because the soldiers who are fighting this never-ending war, and the veterans who cannot get the help they need coming home, and the military families who's tears are shed when a loved one will never return are the only ones making the sacrifices...

...And their patience is running thin.


posted by heckle