Today is Memorial Day. Today many people will head out to the beach or the picnic ground. Others will surge into the local Everything-Mart to stock up on things they don't really need. That is the American Way isn't it? If it's a holiday there must be a way to make a buck out of it. But for too many this day is a bitter reminder of their loss. In 1868 General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, instituted Memorial Day. It was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. Since then a great many have fallen in the service of this nation. What makes the recent losses so bitter is that they were completely unnecessary. Those men and women in Iraq are not fighting in the service of the country, they are fighting in the service of greed, ignorance, and stupidity. This administration has betrayed their trust, and ours, and sent them to die needlessly. Rather than solving a problem we have destablized the entire region and now the insurgency is being exported to Iraq's neighbors. To paraphrase Shakespeare: But if the cause be not so good, the President himself has a heavy reckoning to make: when all those legs and arms and heads blown off in battle shall join together in the latter day and cry all-"We died at such a place". I hope they follow him and all his advisors in their dreams.
But none of this can diminish the sacrifice the fallen have made. Let us take some time today to remember them. And not just the 3400 service people but all those who have fallen in war. Iraq has an unprecented number of contractors working in it. They provide all sorts of services often with much less protection than the average military unit. More than 900 have died. And as usual there are the civilians. Ordinary people struggling to survive while living in Hell. An estimated 65,000 have lost the struggle. Let us have a moment of silence for them all and let us send out into the universe a fervent wish for peace.
2 comments:
I don't think there's ever an easy answer, is there? To battle, that is, and peace. Everyone has their own solution to a problem, from battle cry to sticking one's head in the ground and pretending there is no problem. No doubt the solution lies somewhere in between, like a needle in the haystack...or at least that's how I see it.
Anyway...clicked on your link because it said sheep, so now I'll go take a peek at it! Have a terrific day =)
I wanted to feel pride in all the Americans who've laid down their lives in the name of a Good Fight yesterday, but it was difficult to think of them when all I could think of was this pointless war. I bet our President, who vowed not to rest until Osama bin Laden was found and brought to justice, is pretty exhausted by now...oh wait, he's taken more vacation time than any other sitting president in the history of our country...
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