> Hiding Our War Dead. Italy Publicly Honors Its War Dead, America Hides Its Dead
23 March 2005, 20:39
I wouldn’t disagree with what you are saying and I think this goes beyond self righteous chest beatings about who is right and who is wrong. I lost my brother in Iraq. He went with the hope of doing something positive in a terrible situation. But his experience was much different than your husbands. Not everyone was happy to he was there, and they weren’t just ’insurgents.’ All of the soldiers I talked to can see that there is a lot of good work to be done there. With that said, there is nobility in what your husband is trying to do over there. My biggest question is: Is this worth American and Iraqi lives? For as much as we have suffereed, they have suffered perhaps 10 fold. And, can the Iraqis rebuild themselves? They have been at this much longer (civilization) than we have. The stories of the good we do are not enough, in my eyes, to justify the death and destruction our occupation brings to our homeland and theirs. Must we help them rebuild? Absolutely. Do we have to give Halliburton and Bechtel 40% mark ups on the contracts when they sub out to Iraqis anyway? No. And do our soldiers have to ride around all day as targets and cannon fodder for an insurgency the Iraqis are better suited to deal with than we? Well, you know my answer to that already. But, again, your husband’s sacrifice is not in vain, he is representing himself, his family and his country with honor. I only wish our leaders had hearts of gold like your husband.
I wouldn’t disagree with what you are saying and I think this goes beyond self righteous chest beatings about who is right and who is wrong. I lost my brother in Iraq. He went with the hope of doing something positive in a terrible situation. But his experience was much different than your husbands. Not everyone was happy to he was there, and they weren’t just ’insurgents.’ All of the soldiers I talked to can see that there is a lot of good work to be done there. With that said, there is nobility in what your husband is trying to do over there. My biggest question is: Is this worth American and Iraqi lives? For as much as we have suffereed, they have suffered perhaps 10 fold. And, can the Iraqis rebuild themselves? They have been at this much longer (civilization) than we have. The stories of the good we do are not enough, in my eyes, to justify the death and destruction our occupation brings to our homeland and theirs. Must we help them rebuild? Absolutely. Do we have to give Halliburton and Bechtel 40% mark ups on the contracts when they sub out to Iraqis anyway? No. And do our soldiers have to ride around all day as targets and cannon fodder for an insurgency the Iraqis are better suited to deal with than we? Well, you know my answer to that already. But, again, your husband’s sacrifice is not in vain, he is representing himself, his family and his country with honor. I only wish our leaders had hearts of gold like your husband.