what the troops are sayin
posted by chic[k]pilot @ 5:27 AM
1 comments
chic[k]pilot
This is not a time when women should be patient. We are in a war and we need to fight it with all our ability and every weapon possible. Women pilots, in this particular case, are a weapon waiting to be used. — Eleanor Roosevelt, 1942.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
About Me
- Name: chic[k]pilot
- Location: Mississippi, United States
This blog in no way represents the views of the U.S. Air Force or any other government entity. That being said, I am thankful for Jesus, coffee, dogs, daisies, unexpectedly good things happening, jet engines (ok props too), live music, and beer.
1 Comments:
Good story
But I want to comment. I don't want to start a knock-down, drag-out political fight here. What I'm looking to do is more explain what us liberal, whiny, America-hating, capitulators think. I know I'm not going to change anyone's mind, but maybe you'll understand why we think like we do.
First, we almost universally think this war was a mistake. If, 20 years from now, Iraq is a stable, democratic country that never goes through a horrid period of ethnic violence, then I will retract that statement. As much power as the US has, we can't change the ethnic and sectarian realities of the region. As such, it's impossible for me to support this war. It's like asking you to support me as I fly into a thunderstorm or an area of known icing. Kinda hard to support bad decisions.
Second, we in no way want to denigrate the sacrifice our troops are making, but just because people are sacrificing and dying for something does not make it right. It makes it that much more tragic that thousands of good people have died because of this mistake. We don't want you to die, and we don't want to be a part of this mistake anymore. Those goals shouldn't be mutually exclusive.
Can we fix the mistake? I really don't think so. This is not an issue that is going to be solved with guns and bombs. Only with politics and economics, and those forces take years to develop. Iraq has to develop its own politics. We can't tell them to be a democracy any more than we can tell China to be a democracy. We fought two wars for our democracy as have many other democracies. Iraq has to fight it's own war and find its own way. The sectarian makeup of Iraq might just not support a healthy democracy.
Third and last, we liberals believe there is nothing more American and patriotic than questioning authority and participating in civil disobedience. NEVER, EVER trust anyone in a postion of political power. Our whole government is predicated on the old axiom "power corrupts" which is why it's spread so thin. I will never just trust a president in a time of war. I don't care if it's George Bush or Abraham Lincoln. It may sound extreme but trusting leaders, without oversight, in a time of war contributed to things like the Holocaust.
Hope that gets you thinking a little and maybe brings you closer to understanding the way liberals think.
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