remembrance...

Being that I'm a conscientious objector to war, I don't want people to get the wrong idea that

I am not ungrateful to all the men and women before me that have graciously given their lives to uphold our freedoms. Their sacrifice has been a contribution not many are willing to undertake, and for that they deserve a day of acknowledgment. It's not really much in the scope of matters, but we Americans have this lofty concept to bear witness to our past, while continuing on with our future.

I am a child of the Vietnam era... a war that never made sense to me as it dragged on with almost no end in sight. To me it became a political football in the hands of our politicians. What started as "observers" being sent in to carefully monitor the communist takeover of third world countries, turned into years of young men being drafted to fight a war that essentially wasn't our place to fight. We were told that if we did not take care of this problem the domino theory would go into effect, thereby all countries would eventually fall into the "evil hands" of the communists.

Seeing that we had just gotten past the McCarthy era, this could be a plausible problem to deal with, and most people had reason to be scared enough to believe it. After all, Premier Kruschev had banged his shoe on the negotiation table with President Kennedy and said that communism would find a way into the United States through our own school systems. That was enough to frighten our parents, as they still had the memories of World War II, Korea and McCarthyism fresh in their minds. Imagining a world leader being able to "sneak" in through our education systems was a very real threat and frightening to imagine... furthermore, we knew they had the bomb. Since they were deemed evil, we weren't sure how far they would go to use it. All of this was scary stuff back then.

Unfortunately, we were so far dug in that we had a hard time finding our way back out again. You don't just shut off a war like you would a lamp, and it doesn't just end because you want it to end. So the Americans started to taper if off by stopping the draft in 1972, with the final pull-out in 1975. If you've seen the pictures or films of the last days of Saigon, your heart would be in your throat as you witness the mad scramble of people fleeing a lost cause. We never really won that war.... and we never really called it a war in the first place. It was referred to as a "conflict", because everyone was too careful of the label of "war". Our brave boys came home to be spat at, called baby-killers and worse yet, maimed from mind to soul. At their tender ages, they saw enough of life that was hard to shake off.

Then there was the Gulf War... and this time we named it war. In a few short months we were able to go over, kick butt and restore the palace of Kuwait to it's king. Since it lasted only a short while, America was relieved in thinking that we had restored order to the region, while not sacrificing too many of our own to do it. Patriotism was renewed in our country ... and the oil reflowed to gas our cars and homes.

Then came 9/11... and the shocking thought maybe we weren't liked to well by this community of Arab nations. After all, it was only a matter of a few days or so that we knew the people involved in using our own planes to reek terror on us. (I still question that they didn't know sooner, but that's another story.) We were to band together, united in our resolve to find these evil-doers and rid them of all resources of this ever happening again. Afghanistan became the target because that's where these cowards were hiding and training to strike another day.

All this made sense to me. One should never willingly throw the first punch, but one should never stick around for the second... this was a necessary situation that needed to be handled so that repeat attacks were not the order of our lives. What I never really understood was the attack on Iraq. Yes, Saddam is a bad man... no question there, but there are many of these tyrannical leaders in the world. We somehow lose our credibility in this fight, as it has become no secret we are fighting for the oil out of that region. If we felt so strongly about all the "bad" leaders out there and the atrocities they commit to there own, we would have stepped in

to Africa, North Korea, and a host of other nations to stop them years ago. We say we don't because we are a peace-loving nation, and we can't fight every battle. I say that it comes down to where it hurts us the most... and in this case, it is our way of live that uses the highest amount of oil reserves in the world.

I will never understand the reasoning behind the suicide bombers or their leaders. To me, how can you effectively run a nation of people that you are so willingly able to sacrifice in the name of your God. Where does it say in your Koran or bible or whatever, that the obligation of the day is to demolish the very people you need to make up your country? How can you possibly have a country with no people to partake in? And why do you make it so necessary for us to have to gather arms in order to protect ourselves from you?

I've always believed that we are the most intelligent species on earth to date. Why is it so impossible for us to be able to sit down with one another to negotiate differences and solve global problems. Are the agendas of the times so overwhelming that our only conclusion is to be rid of the very things we need to survive? Our time on this planet will be short and fleeting as was the time of the dinosaurs, and everything else that roamed here before us. Why is it our quest to shorten it with our petty squabbles and wars in the name of God? I'm sure if you asked God, he'd be wondering the same thing.