Two Stories to Every Side

Mike Todd at Waving or Drowning posted the following today. My coment on his blog follows his post.

Two Stories To Every Side

WARNING: Quasi-political post ahead.

I don't really want to get into the whole Bush is doing well / Bush isn't doing well thing, although I saw some numbers yesterday that seem to indicate more people are swinging over to the "not so much" side, at least when it comes to the war.

This paragraph from an op-ed piece from the New York Times this morning summed it up for me.

"Even many Americans who do not share her views about the president - she arrived in a bus bearing the slogan "Impeachment Tour" - share her concerns about his war leadership. President Bush has refused to ask the nation to sacrifice in any way, so the sacrifice gap has never been greater. A few families, like Ms. Sheehan's, have paid the ultimate price. Many more, including National Guard families, are bearing enormous burdens, struggling to get by while a parent, a child or a spouse serves in Iraq. But the rest of the nation is spending its tax cuts and guzzling gas as if there were no war."

It seems to me that this sense of "dualism" in America right now is unprecedented. Sitting up here north of the border I am horribly troubled by it, yet I'd have a hard time telling you exactly why. It seems that for many (most?) in the US, the war has been reduced to an answer to the question "What's on TV?"

Read that paragraph again. I'd love to hear some thoughts on this.

I responded with:

As a former participant in the war, i can't begin to describe my mixed emotions on this, so here are a few random thoughts.

Most soldiers do not feel supported by the "I support the troops but not the war" line.

taking or aiding in the taking of life is absolutely horrible.

Allowing the taking of life (i.e. by Saddam) is also horrible.

As to the lack of solidarity and rationing of goods, what could we do differently? Arguably the cutting of taxes puts more in the coffers of the government to pay for this thing. But that said, I'm with you, where is the sacrifice.

A part of me wants to see a draft on both men and women that can't be avoided by the rich. But the Military wants no part of this, and I can understand why. The quality you get from forced laber stinks.

By most standards this war "isn’t worth it". And that’s how I feel...now. But what if weapons had been found? And the fact that they weren't, dose that mean that when the sanctions lifted, and they would have, he would not have gotten them?

maybe the war is worth it based solely on grounds of justice, freedom and liberation...but I doubt it, and I'm not even a person, American or Iraqi, who has paid with the loss of a limb or loved one...then again, maybe it is, many who have lost loved ones or limbs seem to think so.

You can read more of my musings under An Airman’s Perspective on Just War, listed under Posts of Note.