malkusm
05-25-2009, 10:17 AM
As we will hear many times today, Memorial Day is a day of recognition to those who serve our country in the most important way. It is a day to remember those who have lost their lives fighting to keep America free and prosperous, making the ultimate sacrifice.
Unfortunately, that whole "free and prosperous" part doesn't apply to the War on Terror.
This is not to say that the men and women lost in Afghanistan or Iraq are not to be remembered and respected on this Memorial Day. On the contrary - perhaps their lives are those which we should place the focus on today:
Victims of a senseless war which has been used by America to wage a parallel war against American values. Victims of a war that has not made us safer here at home, but has instead incited hatred for our country in more hearts and minds than ever before. Victims of a war in which the enemy, even after 6 years of fighting, has not been defined and never will be defined.
For what did the American government send these men and women to risk and lose their lives? Certainly, no one can make the case that it was to keep America "free and prosperous." The War on Terror has been used as an excuse to spy on American citizens, detain prisoners without charges, create countless government agencies and programs which erode our freedoms, propose an intrusive and alarming national ID program, and plunge this nation into debt that will be the responsibility of future generations.
Memorial Day is a day to remember the men and women lost fighting for this country, and each life lost is just as precious as the next. I just wish that the justification of "freedom" were not so clearly perverse of the results.
Perhaps we should remember the 100,000 Iraqi civilians lost today, as well.
Unfortunately, that whole "free and prosperous" part doesn't apply to the War on Terror.
This is not to say that the men and women lost in Afghanistan or Iraq are not to be remembered and respected on this Memorial Day. On the contrary - perhaps their lives are those which we should place the focus on today:
Victims of a senseless war which has been used by America to wage a parallel war against American values. Victims of a war that has not made us safer here at home, but has instead incited hatred for our country in more hearts and minds than ever before. Victims of a war in which the enemy, even after 6 years of fighting, has not been defined and never will be defined.
For what did the American government send these men and women to risk and lose their lives? Certainly, no one can make the case that it was to keep America "free and prosperous." The War on Terror has been used as an excuse to spy on American citizens, detain prisoners without charges, create countless government agencies and programs which erode our freedoms, propose an intrusive and alarming national ID program, and plunge this nation into debt that will be the responsibility of future generations.
Memorial Day is a day to remember the men and women lost fighting for this country, and each life lost is just as precious as the next. I just wish that the justification of "freedom" were not so clearly perverse of the results.
Perhaps we should remember the 100,000 Iraqi civilians lost today, as well.