Blog of Bermanism

As everyone is well aware, this last weekend was Memorial weekend, a Federal holiday (which means that even I can take the time off). The holiday is meant to be a memorial of the men and women who have given their souls and lives in the service of our country. What better way is there to celebrate their sacrifices than by living the American dream; inviting family and friends over, having a BBQ in the back yard, drinking asstons of beer, getting trashed, getting in fights, debating the finer points of social security, and driving drunk. That’s right, Memorial day is all about enjoying the freedoms that our fallen brethren have fought so hard to provide to us. And yes, those freedoms can be enjoyed in both good and bad ways. Do whatever you want to do, that is the motto of a free country (disclaimer – you can do what ever you want to do as long as the government approves of what you want to do, and as long as your actions don’t cost any money to the Federal goverment).

I personally like Memorial day, though I have a hard time justifying the current direction of our troops in Iraq. I normally keep my political views out of this blog, but this seems an appropriate time to air my concerns. To be fair, I understand why the government wants to escalate the troop deployment in Iraq. On paper, it would appear that the current numbers of our troops over there don’t have enough brute force to overcome the insurgency. Adding greater numbers to the patrols would balance out that inequality. It would also give more money to the corporations and departments that supply and run the war effort (which, I think is the real reason behind the escalation). So, it sort of makes sense. But, the other thing that we could do is to get out now. Sure, as Americans, this option just doesn’t sit well us; start a fight and back out just because we’re losing (and, we are losing). But, sometimes, the correct action, the noble and honorable action, isn’t to fight to the death, but back away from a situation where we obviously aren’t wanted anymore. Staying there, in my opinion only serves to sacrifice more men and women to the insurgency and to make our country look weaker and weaker. We eventually had to leave Vietnam too, because, after staying the course for 19 years (across three presidencies) and after losing 58,000 troops, we (and the South Vietnamese) lost the war with the Fall of Saigon. It sucks to lose, but we’re up against a group of people who do not value human life, and only care that their cause prevails. This kind of attitude removes all boundaries to the rules of engagement. Unless our troops also disregard their value for both their lives and the lives of the people they are trying to free, there will be no way to win this war. To win, we have to become them, something I’m quite sure that our troops are morally unwilling to do. I don’t know the answer, but I think that we would gain more respect as a country in the eyes of the world community to back out now, admit that we screwed up, and figure out how to fix what we messed up once the dust settles. Sometimes, there is more honor is retreat and regrouping than staying the course. At least fewer people on both sides will be killed in the process.

So, now that I’ve gone on that tirade, I want to explain something very clearly. I am 100% supportive of our troops. I personally know a lot of them and I’m glad that they are willing to lay down their lives for our country, no matter how misguided the directives or efforts themselves may be. The troops have to assume that there is a good reason that they are being asked to do what they’re doing, so that, in the event that the general public doesn’t see the whole picture due to secret intelligence or plots that are not publicly known, the correct course of action is taken. Perhaps that is the case here. If so, the government has done a pretty poor job of selling their cover stories since the (now majority) of Americans are opposed to the war efforts. But, just in case any troops happen to read this blog, I want them to know that almost everyone I know is supportive of them, just not the reasoning behind their efforts. I think most of us are starting to feel that the tremendous loss of life on both sides is not proportional to the positive gains of the effort itself. I’m sure that that statement in itself is demoralizing to someone on the front lines, but I think that is the truth.

Anyway, this Memorial day, while it was great fun to me (more about that in the next post), carries a note of sadness with me. I want the bloodshed to end, I want a resolution to the conflict. Things are not getting better, it might be time to stop trying to fix the wound and see if it heals naturally. I see the validity of both sides of this argument, but I think I’m leaning much more toward the left on this one. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few months with elections on the way, campaigns in full gear, and a government who’s stability and support is entirely dependent upon a successful resolution in Iraq and a non-deployment stance on Iran.

Ok, I’ve ranted enough. I could go on for a long time on this stuff. So, I’m going to stop while I’m ahead. Thanks for getting this far. Post your comments, I’m curious whether you agree or disagree.

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