On Veterans Day, Who Should Thank Whom? --- we should thank those who served America ... not those who created a career to serve other nations.
On Wednesday, November 11, 2015 at 6:12:11 PM UTC-6, MJ wrote: > > > November 11, 2015 > > *On Veterans Day, Who Should Thank Whom? *Dan Sanchez > > *(ANTIMEDIA <http://theantimedia.org/>)* “*You weep for Santiago, and you > curse the Marines. You have that luxury. (…) You don’t want the truth > because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on > that wall, you need me on that wall. (…) I have neither the time nor the > inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the > blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner > in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on > your way…*” > > - Jack Nicholson as Col. Nathan R. Jessup in > > *A Few Good Men *Anti-war activists are sometimes scolded that they owe > their freedom to speak out against war to the very soldiers they are > implicitly or explicitly criticizing. This is meant to silence opposition > to war by making it appear self-contradictory. > > However, for a very long time, American wars have only been foreign wars. > None of these wars (especially not the most recent ones) have been in > defense against foreign conquest of our homeland. Rather, the wars were > themselves invasions and conquests of the homelands of others. > > Moreover, the wars have not diminished, but multiplied > <http://www.dansanchez.me/feed/flytrap-to-breeding-ground> our foreign > enemies. They have toppled non-threats > <http://www.dansanchez.me/feed/seize-the-chaos>, like Iraq’s Saddam > Hussein and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, and created new actual threats, like > Al Qaeda in Iraq, which evolved into ISIS and Syrian Al Qaeda. Amid the > chaos that U.S. wars have created, such groups have thrived and grown > explosively <http://www.dansanchez.me/feed/flytrap-to-breeding-ground>. > > Yet even so, the chief threat to our freedoms is our own government, not > any foreign foe. And if anything, the activity of soldiers has contributed > to, not defended against, that threat. > > Randolph Bourne famously wrote, “War is the health of the State.” By that > he meant that foreign wars nourish domestic tyranny because they place > people into a siege mentality > <http://www.dansanchez.me/feed/the-herd-mind> that makes them more apt to > give up their freedoms for the sake of the war effort. And indeed, the > American national security state, from militarized cops to domestic spying, > has metastasized under the cover of the War on Terror. > > So, no, the activity of U.S. soldiers has not secured our freedoms, but > eroded them. More specifically, contrary to the common argument discussed > above, the troops are not busy protecting freedom of speech for all > Americans, including those who are anti-war. Rather, by contributing to > foreign wars, they make it more likely that someday the country’s siege > mentality will get so bad that speech (especially anti-war speech) will be > restricted. > > Since foreign wars are inimical to domestic freedom, it is those who > strenuously oppose war who are actually fighting for freedom. If not for > opponents and skeptics of war, we would have even more war than we do. And > in that case, individual freedoms would have been even more infringed upon. > > This is especially true for soldiers. If we were even more mired in war, > soldiers would have longer and more frequent tours of duty and be more > likely to be conscripted in a backdoor draft. They would also be more > likely to face combat, and thus more likely to be traumatized, maimed, or > killed. > > It is anti-war, not pro-war civilians who truly support the troops. And it > is anti-war activists who strive to secure the freedoms (and lives) of > imperial troopers, not the other way around. > > On Veterans Day, thank veterans of the anti-war movement for their > service, especially if you made the mistake (perhaps with the best > intentions) of enlisting in the war machine. But don’t bother thanking them > with words. The best way to thank them is by joining them in the struggle > for peace. Then a year from today, from the bottom of our hearts, we can > all thank you. > > http://theantimedia.org/on-veterans-day-who-should-thank-who/ > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
