When U.S. war veterans speak about Iraq, our nation needs to listen

[thedrifter]

When U.S. war veterans speak about Iraq, our nation needs to listen

FROM: Herald Tribune, S.W. Fla

When U.S. war veterans speak about Iraq, our nation needs to listen

Sarasota Herald Tribune - 12/24/2002
Tom Lyons ? Dec 24, 2002

When U.S. war veterans speak about Iraq, our nation needs to listen

Local veterans of various wars have urged me to come out against a U.S. attack
on Iraq.

Hearing from them always feels good. They are clearly decent and patriotic, and they have experienced war and have a strong basis for their views.

I wouldn't like it if my country had become so enthusiastic about war, so easily sold on the prospect of invading another country, that only the most knee-jerk peaceniks would now speak against the president's game plan.

Some who talked to me have a relative in the armed forces, but their worries haven't only been about the lives of Americans. Some talk just as much about the danger to ordinary families in Iraq.

Some have talked about the days before Dec. 7, 1941, when Americans had a healthy and strong reluctance to go to war until their hands were forced. They have talked about how easy it is for anyone who hasn't experienced war, no matter what movies they have seen, to think of it as a patriotic adventure.

Some have said that seems to apply to the president, and some insist his motives are selfish and political. Others just think that, no matter how good the intentions, a pre-emptive war is a mistake because war must be the last resort.

But I hear from other people, too, including veterans of the same wars, with at least as much maturity and historical perspective. They talk about the harm that can be done by failing to stand up to dangerous tyrants, and how waiting can make a war all the worse.

They agree that the United States has to act to keep us safe from weapons of mass destruction controlled by the worst possible people.

And some people on both sides think that, as a newspaper columnist, I should take a stand.

This is one of those times when it would feel better to be my usual opinionated self, and take a strong stand either for the president's apparent determination to go to war or with those who say the president needs to be reined in.


The problem is, so far, I think both sides are right.

As a high school and college kid during the Vietnam years, I was against the war for the usual, and I think correct, reasons. Those anti-war feelings stayed with me, and I have always been a skeptic whenever America seemed on the verge of war.

I'm not an easy sell and don't want to become one.
But I also think there have been times when, if a president had been as reluctant to take military action as I preferred, the result would have been worse.

If the slippery dictator who wields all power in Iraq does not make it possible for the world to be confident that he has no weapons of mass destruction, he may well make an invasion of Iraq a certainty. And I might well see such a war as a necessary evil.

As the nation decides, though, I hope we all set the bar high and demand that the president really make the case for such a war.

War ought not be based on our justified contempt for Saddam Hussein and our wish that he drop dead or, better yet, that his own people hang him from a lamppost. Nor should it be based on a desire to show that, in such matters, Americans can set aside our internal political differences and patriotically stand behind the president.

We can and will do that, when convinced that war is the right path. But it is the president's job to make sure it is, and then to convince the people he serves, without subterfuge.

Until then, there is nothing patriotic about pretending to be convinced, or keeping silent about qualms while the decision is being made. I'm glad so many local war veterans know that and speak up clearly as our nation makes this tough call.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pb...onCat=NEWS0102

Sempers,

Roger

[SuperScout]

It would appear that the writer, an alleged professional writer, would be able to support his original thesis. He doesn't cite how many, much less who these veterans are that have voiced their opposition to the pending war against Iraq. Sometimes I think that we give too much weight and credence to the amorphous "they said this..." brand of journalism. The very deliberate pace that GWB and his men have chosen bespeaks a very thoughtful process, a road not taken lightly; I find truly astounding how anybody with a brain only slightly more profound than a cauliflower could accuse the President of wanting this war for political and selfish reasons.

To call our pending war against Iraq as pre-emptive is to lose sight of the numerous attacks that have been committed against us; the indisputable linkage between Iraq and al-Qeada means that long before 11 Sep 01, forces of evil declared war on us. What we will be doing is simply a delayed counter-attack.

And let me add, that my family has two sons in the Army, making our investment in this phase of our history is enormous.

Basically, I think the writer opines on and on, never really making a point. Maybe he just gets paid by the word.

[catman]

Thanks superscout, don't think i could have said it as well or better myself.

[reconeil]

Still, I might add that I personally find debatting whether or not to attack Iraq in 2003,...to be nothing more than enemy helping political dribble or nonsense. The LOOSER Iraq breaking its surrender agreements, should have been dealt with SEVERELY back in 1991,...not 11 years later. Then too, doesn't the thousands and thousands of times that Americans and Iraqis have traded shots over a 12 year period already constitute warefare.

So, and if honest, logical and sensible, America isn't starting a new war. We're FINALLY finishing-off The Old One (re. Desert Storm).

Besides, and excluding politically-dictated and politically-correct America, when-the-hell in World History did ANY WINNER ever have to ask ANY LOOSER for permission to inspect anything suspect? NEVER, since most peoples just aren't political fools.

Neil