Reader Sammy on Sacrifice for the War
This post is by reader Sammy….
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There is a lot of antiwar sentiment here on this blog and in the country. We get our information mainly as it is presented by the media and filtered through the pundits. This post is not to cast aspersions on the anti war but to celebrate the honest heartfelt motivations of this 23 year old, UCLA grad, married young man who voluteered to go to Iraq and he encapsulates the best of why we fight over there (if only GWB was this eloquent) on his myspace page. Please read it carefully. Some of the highlights:
Why I Joined: This question has been asked of me so many times in so many different contexts that I thought it would be best if I wrote my reasons for joining the Army on my page for all to see.
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What was once a paralyzed state of fear is now the staging ground for one of the largest transformations of power and ideology the Middle East has experienced since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Thanks to Iran, Syria, and other enlightened local actors, this transformation will be plagued by interregional hatred and genocide. And I am now in the center of this. Is this why I joined? Yes.
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I joined the fight because it occurred to me that many modern day “humanists” who claim to possess a genuine concern for human beings throughout the world are in fact quite content to allow their fellow “global citizens” to suffer under the most hideous state apparatuses and conditions. Their excuses used to be my excuses. When asked why we shouldn’t confront the Ba’ath party, the Taliban or the various other tyrannies throughout this world, my answers would allude to vague notions of cultural tolerance (forcing women to wear a veil and stay indoors is such a quaint cultural tradition), the sanctity of national sovereignty (how eager we internationalists are to throw up borders to defend dictatorships!) or even a creeping suspicion of America’s intentions. When all else failed, I would retreat to my fragile moral ecosystem that years of living in peace and liberty had provided me.
One final note: he was killed January 2007.
Was his life wasted?
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Again, this post was by reader Sammy