Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2003 8:32 am
Jay, I hope this means something coming from one of the few non-party line flag wavers...
As you know, I didn't support this war, and not for the reasons that most people might think. (Here's where the reactionaries rev up their screaming fits).
I think we went there for the wrong reasons, TOO LATE. Regardless of how I feel about Dubya, or our real reasons for being over there, I know that every woman and child and a hell of a lot of the men in Iraq feel safer now that Saddam is captured. The people's lives will be better even if they are only freed into the US Government's dubious care. I'm an idealist but a pragmatic idealist; we're better for the people than Hussein, period.
I also think that I like have you representing us there. Maybe the Iraqi people can unlearn some of the shit that's been beaten into them and begin seeing Americans as humans, too. That alone makes what you're doing there important.
And, as those of you who plan on ripping me a new one without really thinking about what I said start typing, consider this:
I have been a military wife.
My father was a paratrooper.
My step-father worked for NASA during the moon missions via the military.
My father-in-law served.
My brother was in the NSA via serving in the Navy.
My husband, an archaeologist, was one of thousands of archaeologists who VOLUNTEERED to search through the World Trade Center rubble to identify bodies (he's a cremation specialist) knowing that volunteering meant that WE would have to provide ALL of his equipment out of our pockets, that ALL of his protective gear out of our pockets, and that he would be finding children's corpses among the rubble, for a COMPLETELY UNPAID NO BENEFITS VOLUNTEER EFFORT that would have removed our single source of income and forced us into bankruptcy - and he had my FULL support. The government chose to use people with security clearances rather than experts.
My step-brother is still in the Navy.
So, Logic, shut up. Both my kids are younger than you and they still have better manners and better things to do with their "intelligence" than harass strangers. Go watch TV or something.
The flag waving is awfully tiresome, too, people. It is possible to support Jay, which I do, and what Jay is doing to HELP people, which I heartily do, and not support the war or Dubya or even the US government, and this is coming from someone whose family has been putting it on the line and who was willing to lose her house and possibly her husband to help after 911.
As you know, I didn't support this war, and not for the reasons that most people might think. (Here's where the reactionaries rev up their screaming fits).
I think we went there for the wrong reasons, TOO LATE. Regardless of how I feel about Dubya, or our real reasons for being over there, I know that every woman and child and a hell of a lot of the men in Iraq feel safer now that Saddam is captured. The people's lives will be better even if they are only freed into the US Government's dubious care. I'm an idealist but a pragmatic idealist; we're better for the people than Hussein, period.
I also think that I like have you representing us there. Maybe the Iraqi people can unlearn some of the shit that's been beaten into them and begin seeing Americans as humans, too. That alone makes what you're doing there important.
And, as those of you who plan on ripping me a new one without really thinking about what I said start typing, consider this:
I have been a military wife.
My father was a paratrooper.
My step-father worked for NASA during the moon missions via the military.
My father-in-law served.
My brother was in the NSA via serving in the Navy.
My husband, an archaeologist, was one of thousands of archaeologists who VOLUNTEERED to search through the World Trade Center rubble to identify bodies (he's a cremation specialist) knowing that volunteering meant that WE would have to provide ALL of his equipment out of our pockets, that ALL of his protective gear out of our pockets, and that he would be finding children's corpses among the rubble, for a COMPLETELY UNPAID NO BENEFITS VOLUNTEER EFFORT that would have removed our single source of income and forced us into bankruptcy - and he had my FULL support. The government chose to use people with security clearances rather than experts.
My step-brother is still in the Navy.
So, Logic, shut up. Both my kids are younger than you and they still have better manners and better things to do with their "intelligence" than harass strangers. Go watch TV or something.
The flag waving is awfully tiresome, too, people. It is possible to support Jay, which I do, and what Jay is doing to HELP people, which I heartily do, and not support the war or Dubya or even the US government, and this is coming from someone whose family has been putting it on the line and who was willing to lose her house and possibly her husband to help after 911.