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Pisses me off about the antiwar movement that is. Even the most pretend
hardboiled eventually get around to bemoaning the deaths of women, children,
the elderly, the crippled, various and assorted innocents. And that is
supposed to sway opinion about some particular war in progress such as the
one in Iraq.
If you like fake macho, "I've got news for you, boys and girls, innocents
are killed and maimed in every war." Do you think the Iraqi boy with his arms shot off is
different from boys in Afghanistan, Vietnam, Japan, Germany, France, Italy,
Britain or any other country where they has been war? When a country signs
off for war it agrees to slaughtering innocents, period.
The one lie certain to be told about any war and the statement that is
certain to be a lie is that innocents are not harmed. The reality of war is
the innocents in the way of combat are lucky to survive and even luckier to
survive in one piece and no one really gives a damn about them. That is the
reality of war. That is collateral damage.
The reality of war is not victorious troops marching at home to the cheers
of the people. The reality is those are the ones who survived who can still
march. The limbless, the blind and the mutilated are reserved for veterans'
parades. The dead today are hidden from public view solely because caskets
weaken support for the war; any other reason you may have heard is bushit.
All of the above and more is a given in war before any war is approved.
Anyone suggesting anything is a liar. Anyone in a position to lead a war
knows it. They do not get the benefit of the doubt. They know.
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