There are two inescapable rules in war:
1. Young men and women die
2. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men can’t change rule #1
A few days ago “Chris” left a comment on this blog or, actually, a link which would make his statement for him. The link leads to a web site showing a college in Oregon which has a large display of small flags representing those killed in Iraq, red for Americans and white for Iraqis. There seems to be a strong empathy for the Iraqis, although it’s not clear whether they are relating to civilians, combatants or both. One particularly naive remark on the site even suggests there should be an equal number of red and white flags. P.C. aside, they’re clearly clueless as to what is going on and, more importantly, why.
As I think about the motivation behind this display and the misplaced allegiance, it occurs to me that there may be some merit to the lovely John Edwards’ two Americas theory. Not a country divided into rich and poor, as he believes, but one divided more by generations than economics. There are, quite simply, those that ‘get it’ and those that don’t; those who love our country and those who seem to feel guilty about being American. The guilty thing is beyond my grasp. It’s mental mule muffins.
There are protestors out and about this weekend as our war against terror reaches its fourth anniversary. They seem to forget, if they ever realized, that they are only permitted to carry those signs, chant their slogans or disagree with anyone, particularly the government, because of wars fought and won by the breed of brave, patriotic heros currently defending our freedom in the Middle East. If our forbearers had subscribed to their kind of “America last” philosophy, we’d all still be sipping tea at four o’clock. Of course, the lynch mob media mentions nothing about the even greater number of pro-war supporters that are also demonstrating.
Through the two world wars, America suffered hardships but remained united. Generations of young men went to war because they understood liberty and the price for not defending it. Those who stayed home did so because they couldn’t go to fight. Korea got mixed reviews but America remained a single nation with victory foremost in mind. With Vietnam the game changed. The war was mired in politics, protestors flourished but all of us, except for a few enemy collaborators like ‘Swiftboat’ Kerry and ‘Hanoi’ Jane [Fonda], were still Americans. In a strange way, we sort of agreed to disagree. People against the war knew something of history, understood the issues involved and could intelligently discuss their objections. Those who stayed home did so because they wouldn’t go to fight. Iraq is, also, mired in politics but the protestors have no idea what the real issues are. (Hint: They’ve nothing to do with hating Bush). They don’t know the leaders of their country, they understand nothing about history, the terrorist problem or the danger it poses to their very way of life.
The long period of relative peace which followed Vietnam cost this nation dearly. Nearly every previous generation had a war with which to contend. They understood the concept of victory and the cost of losing. Even with Vietnam, everyone knew someone who had fought somewhere before, understood the sacrifices that were made and respected those who made them. Most of those people are gone, now. During this period, we have raised several generations most of whom have it too easy, want for nothing, have too much time on their hands and grow softer and more complacent by the day. They expect things to fall into their laps, think it has always been like this and take for granted that it always will be. NOT. They have no problem supporting the enemy because they’ve rarely had to face consequences for their actions. They don’t understand consequences. Their short-sightedness includes the bloody aftermath that would occur, both at home and abroad, if we pull out of Iraq before the job is done. They don’t even see Iraq as part of the war against terror. Never have I seen people so ignorant of the facts yet so eager to throw away their liberty and surrender their freedom. Fortunately, perhaps ironically, within this same generation we have another group of people who understand these things all too well. I don’t know how they missed all the pitfalls or where they got their savvy but thank God for them. They’re called soldiers and they didn’t stay home.
In addition to certain rules of war there is an inescapable truth about human-kind. We are a violent race with a long history of madmen and warfare. That history shows, as long as one faction is at war, then both are at war and neither can just pick up its marbles and leave the school yard. We were viciously and mercilessly attacked on 9/11, for the first time on mainland American soil. People died whose only crime was going to work that morning. Many in the socially unconscious generations I have described conveniently forget that hideous fact or maybe it didn’t matter to them in the first place. As the young medic wrote in my Real Nitty-Gritty post, “The American people don’t want soldiers dying over here, but it’s better than American civilians dying over there. Do NOT forget 9/11. They will do it again. The moment we loosen our grip on the noose, they will do it again”.
R.S.F.
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