I just got back from an afternoon run through the historic cemeteries of Halifax which hold some of the dead from past wars. While on this lung benefiting run I was listening to a program for Remembrance Day on CBC that featured a story on how elementary students in P.E.I. remember the tragedy and significance of war. Apparently they can’t understand or shouldn’t be made to think about human deaths so they’re told stories about fallen animals of war. Dogs, birds, cats, horses and even elephants that pitched in for the old war effort and helped out during WWI and WWII. If a forth grader can see something like forty murders a day on TV and is allowed to play a video game where he/she is blowing the head off an imaginary space alien, pimp, gangsta’ or even an enemy combatant I don’t really see why one couldn’t be taught about the human tragedies of war. How else can we end violence, warmongering and war itself if our children are not educated about the ramifications of it? Our “enemies’” children see it, hear it, taste it and are killed by it every day. And our kids aren’t allowed to talk about it? Come on!
Apparently, while running under the watchful eye of big brother’s new
surveillance cameras downtown I ran right past the Spring Garden Library and missed the peace protest involving Alexa McDonough and a dozen or so other women protesting the war. They handed out their white poppies to promote peace while they wore red ones supporting the war. OK, OK, I know, maybe red poppies don’t support the war. Red poppies remember the fallen. I think that’s great and right on, but, that’s not what many people wear them for. Many young people drop some change into a cup and pick up a red poppy assuming this supports our troops and past and present war efforts. Or even worse, they throw one on not giving it a second thought. Should these little red flowers do that? I will remember fallen soldiers of just causes, but I can’t support the idea of war. And I can’t wear a symbol that exacerbates a society’s apparent confusion about war. “Poooooppies…….. that will make them sleep”.
Something has been rolling around the back of my head for a while now. And it has relocated itself to the pit of my stomach in the last few days. I’m having a hard time with the idea of “supporting the troops” of my home country, the US, in Afghanistan and Iraq. When I read statistics like an average of 300,000 civilians being killed as a result of the US led occupation in Iraq I have a hard time supporting the troops that have killed these civilians. When I hear and read about civilian prisoners being tortured and photographed and put on the Internet I have a hard time supporting those troops that made and promoted those videos. When I watch video on You-tube of US soldiers disrespecting the traditions of a different culture and lumping all people of one country into one ethnic group and using them as target practice I have a hard time “supporting the troops”.
Is a part of the public conditioned to support unjust wars by unconditionally ”supporting the troops”? Our soldiers were not part of a draft and are ultimately in these foreign countries under their own free will. If the war is unjust, are all soldiers unjust? That begs the question… if the war is just are all soldiers just? I can’t bring myself to believe the former. But I can’t bring myself to “support the troops” as an idea. These men and women are all in theatre for different reasons. Some want to defend their country’s freedom, some want some action, some believe they have no other option to make a living in today’s world than to join the military and others have no idea what they’re doing there.
I would have an easier time supporting the troops if they acted as a cohesive group of one mind and stopped committing war crimes. How can we as a public differentiate between all these different soldiers. Are the “troops” on entity, or are they individuals? I’m having a hard time deciding. Why can’t the decent soldiers among the ranks stop crazed lunatic soldiers from committing these acts of homicide, genocide and inhumanity? Or, why can’t the military weed these bad apples out, before they get the chance to wreck havoc and spoil what must be a majority of soldiers with good intentions? And finally why would any young American with a choice want to join on organization that is involved in this sort of behaviour?
All of this makes me wonder if a nation’s military should be a drafted one in times of need and not a voluntary one whenever. I think we, as a society, would have a more developed, educated, impassioned and relevant idea of whether or not we supported sending our troops across an ocean to protect our interests if all our young men and women had to go, not just the ones that wanted to, or needed to.
History has shown that supporting the war effort in Europe and the North American soldiers that were sent there in WWI and WWII was a just cause for the future of the “free world”. I think the benefit of supporting, celebrating and remembering troops of the first and second world war on Remembrance Day is clear. I’m developing a completely different theory about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the soldiers there waging it. I don’t think I should be ashamed of this resistance. However, I can’t help but feel a bit guilty and contradictory about it. Am I confused because I’ve had family members in Iraq and ones that want to go there and I could never see myself there? Is it because I’m a product of a state and country that can’t make up its own mind about war. Or is it because I’m now living in a country who’s majority historically thinks war is not the answer, or should at least be a far off, distant, last ditch effort, ultimate, you get the picture, choice. However, in this case. The government’s idea seems to be changing.
If I could make myself believe that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan weren’t merely foreign occupations to shore up oil resources for the west and strengthen the Empirical efforts of the U.S. I might be able to bring myself to support the course of action and ultimately the soldiers there. Hasn’t it become clear that we should never have been in these countries in the first place and have no right to be there now? There were no terrorists in Iraq before the US invaded. Why should we assume that if we leave they will stay? Insurgents or terrorists or freedom fighters or whatever you want to call them are there because our government’s military is occupying a middle eastern country. Lets leave some peace keepers, get the hell out, change our foreign policy and develop alternative and more efficient energy sources as well as lessen our need for energy now before it’s too late.
Canadian soldiers are no longer peace keepers. According to a CBC statistic there are only 50 Canadian soldiers in traditional peace keeping missions around the world today. Of the 2000 Canadian troops in Afghanistan all are engaged in full on offensive missions.
On Remembrance Day I will remember all soldiers who gave their lives and efforts willingly or unwillingly in the line of duty in all wars, occupations, exercises, etc. regardless of their reasons. The jury is still out whether their cause was or is a just one.
5 responses so far ↓
Erin // November 11, 2006 at 6:24 am |
Hey dude,
I struggle with the concept of glorifying war by wearing a poppie.
On the other hand, I think it can also symbolizes a culture’s grieving process. This strikes me as important and beautiful.
This is what I would have said to you across a table over beer (and hopefully sum nachos).
Miss you tons,
eRin
sween // December 1, 2006 at 2:30 pm |
I’ve had the same problems with the poppies myself. I want to honour the memories of those that have sacrificed themselves, but at the same time, I worry that it sends a message that I support war. I gets me every year, and every year, I come at it with different eyes. Sometimes, I get the poppy, telling myself “It’s for remembrance”. Other years, I don’t, depending on how I feel about the military’s actions. And every year, I worry that I’ve made the wrong choice.
1loneranger // February 17, 2007 at 4:37 am |
Dudes, I never officialy thanked you for being some of my first commentators. Thank you kindly.
Aphra Behn // March 7, 2007 at 7:03 am |
Blimey, so much to comment on!
Briefly – (I should be getting ready for work) – - -
If WWI was the pointless war, and WWII was the post-justified war, and Vietnam was the war nobody believed in, then this is the illegal war.
The military sign up to serve their country – they trade some very real freedoms to protect ours. Ok, they trade some very real freedoms to get to play with Great Bit Toys, travel abroad, look good in a uniform and pull birds, but ultimately they trade their freedoms to protect ours.
When the War in Iraq began, huge numbers of the military (in the UK at least) were conflicted and to a far greater extent that nomal citizens were because however much they disagreed with the war, and considered it to be political aggrandizement and illeegal members of the military did not have the right to join the march of a million protesters past Downing Street saying “not in our name”.
Governments have lots of duties to protect their citizens, and one of their duties is to not ask, tell or coerce them into breaking the law. The US and the UK governments have turned their militaries into war criminals by doing just that. And when members of their militaries object or challenge this, they are in turned court martialled for insubordination or mutiny.
I’ll leave the subject of how you deal with people who have been brutalised by war to other commentators.
Interesting post, 1loneranger. An interesting debate altogether.
Aphra.
1loneranger // March 8, 2007 at 3:14 am |
Hi Aphra-
This is indeed an illegal war. That can not be reconfirmed and repeated enough. This is an illegal and unjustifiable war.
Thanks for stopping by here. It is a pleasure to have your comments grace the space.
I couldn’t agree with your sentiment more “ultimately they trade their freedoms to protect ours”. However, trading freedoms unwittingly makes me question the motives. Perhaps I have no right to question the soldier’s motive. But, we have to question the commanders’ motives and justifications. Funny thing is, most of the generals in Iraq are telling BushCo that they don’t know what the hell they’re doing.
Any one person that has offered up their life and dreams to protect their countrymen deserves the best possible care in the event that they are wounded and the utmost gratitude regardless, without question. To do anything less is a crime. That being said, I don’t think the soldiers in the Middle East should be forced to do such a thing for such an unjustifiable cause. It is disrespectful to the soldier and the citizenry that pays their way. Plenty of soldiers are saying this exact thing. We of course are just not privy to the information in the main stream media.