War and Peace, Politics and History

A couple of days ago I was flipping through HBO channels and I was inclined to watch a special show produced by James Gandolfini. You might know him better as the protagonist of The Sopranos, the award-winning mafia drama. The show was about various American soldiers who have returned home from battlefields in Iraq. They were privates and colonels and lieutenants. They looked ordinary enough, and the cameras would roll on a particular soldier and he or she would answer questions about the war and how it had affected their lives. What captivated me to watch the show was that the soldiers being interviewed were missing limbs, usually legs and showed other ghastly war wounds. I am talking about soldiers around our age up to their mid to late twenties. Ordinary people like you and me.

I see the war in Iraq as another Vietnam. A useless and inept war wastefully pouring out the blood of not only young Americans, but innocent Iraqis in these last years. After the 9/11 attacks, the United States was desperate to counter-attack. Afghanistan was the first to feel the Tomahawk missiles in the so-far-not successful attempt to catch Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda. So, what happened? Bin Laden cannot be found and America still wants to pound on a country. What better country to war with than Saddam Hussein’s Iraq? They “had” weapons of mass destruction, so it was justifiable to go in there, kill the dictator, and instill democracy on people not ready for democracy. The war was won fairly quickly, but occupations never work. Guerilla warfare and suicidal Muslim extremists began picking American and coalition troops with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Iraq should have been left alone, in my opinion. It was better off with Saddam in place. There was less death and destruction than now. He ruled with an iron fist because he had to keep control, otherwise it would have been eternal civil war among the tribes. It is also despicable to capture a country’s leader and have him killed. What was wrong with life in prison? How would we feel if Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Ali Khamenei captured Bush and the American population see his decapitation on Youtube? If you really wanted to stop a country that abhors the USA, it should have been Iran, as it was and IS more dangerous. Islamic terrorist will never stop their so-called Jihad against the west. This has been going on for centuries and Christianity, Judaism and Islam are religions that have always been at odds. Perhaps the world would be a better place with only agnostics. The resentment of strict Muslims towards America reached new pinnacles, when, in 1947, America and the United Nations decided on the partition of Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state. I can see both sides of the coin. Imagine your country divided by the whims of stronger nations, and half of it to be given to your enemy. Palestine has the right to be angry, but they do not have the right to kill Jews. Likewise, according to scripture, the Kingdom of Judah belongs to God’s chosen: Israel. It is a very sensitive topic, because it is religious prophecy mixed with politics. I think that the Jewish people deserve to have their home, as they suffered much atrocity during the Holocaust, the compensation is somewhat fair. At any rate, that is my opinion. I am a Jew sympathizer, but I have more Muslim friends. They are freaking smart…

Seeing the HBO special, I could see the physical and psychological damage the soldiers that survived explosive attacks had. It was depressing, if you want to know the truth. One was a father missing his legs and still trying to ice skate with his children, via prosthetics. Another was afraid that his wife might leave him, due to his horrendous scars on his body, I didn’t see the whole show, but I could see the faces on these victims of war. I felt pity for those soldiers, and enraged at their being in a war initiated by George W. Bush and his goddamn cabinet. Was it worth it? As of September 2007, over 27,000 Americans had been injured, and over 3,700 killed. I have not been able to find the new stats, but I am sure they have gone up. That is the worst part of being a soldier. A soldier must obey high command. It is sad to be at the hands of an imbecile. People are dying and losing arms and legs and getting disfigured but Bush still has his martinis, dressed in Armani, eating gourmet food at the White House or playing golf. I wish he would be in the front lines with an M-16, to see if he would like it. I bet you anything that most of the people serving in the armed forces voted for Obama, so they could return home. I would have. My friends in the military did. And I am glad that the underdog won. I am GLAD Obama won, and I am willing to give the man a chance. Instead of just hating, crying, and yelling about the unfair redistribution of wealth, there is more to these next four years than just that. People’s irrational hate for Obama is something I find amusing. I never heard conservatives whine about the butcheries and incompetent character of Bush. I guess as long as some conservatives are making money, the lives of soldiers getting killed in war becomes trivial or something. Eyes that do not see, are hearts that do not feel. I remember conservative Republicans calling for the resignation of Bill Clinton. It turns out Clinton wasn’t so bad, huh? How about Hoover? “Prosperity is just around the corner”. Yeah, right. FDR, a Democrat, had to come out and fix the economy. Also, for those of you who don’t know, the Great Depression wasn’t caused by the stock market crash, it was a series of unfortunate events (no pun on the books); the crash was just the “last straw”. I, for one, await our troops to return as soon as possible.

Black September back then, and Al-Qaeda today, and several other violent factions have emerged and will continue to emerge; the newer more violent than its predecessor. Terrorism is not a country, and it is difficult to fight. Islam does not have warrior-leaders like the great Saladin or Salahuddin, one of the most honorable men that have ever walked the earth, who respected his enemy and their religion. After his capture of Jerusalem during the Crusades, he kindly invited Jews to resettle in the city. It takes a lot for a man to command my respect and admiration, and Saladin is in my “group” of legendary men. Today, I am sure even he would be disgusted by Islamic terrorists.

Out of high-school, I contemplated joining the US Marine Corps. Several of my friends decided to join the armed forces, as the recruiters constantly called them at home, almost harassing them and they were able to convince most of them. Most told me that they had joined because they wanted the Montgomery GI Bill and help for college, plus they were going to travel the world and “grow” with the military. Nonetheless, I was of a divided mind. I wanted the experience, but I also wanted to be close to home and I had a brand-new Camaro to pay. So, I decided to stay at home and learn about life as it may, not knowing what to expect. There was a particular friend, who joined the Army. As months went by, he would call me, I guess he missed Houston a bit and was desperate for someone to share his woes with. He hated the Army. He hated the system. He was truly sorry that he had joined them in the first place. At first I thought it was just his personal experience but he also kept in touch with the other students who had graduated and joined the military. They were also disappointed and regretful that they had joined. Part of me was grateful that I had not joined, the other made me have pity on my former schoolmates. I see now how close I was to signing away my life to be at the hands of retarded drill sergeants and captains. Having a person of inferior intellect screaming at me for no good reason wasn’t very appealing. I do not like being yelled at. In fact, I would probably be inclined to elbow the drill sergeant in the face. Currently, people in the military aren’t exactly known for being geniuses, at least the privates, anyway. Like Senator Kerry said, the armed forces tend be for people who weren’t that great in school. The late Dr. DeBakey was an exception, as was Erwin Rommel, Robert E. Lee, Douglas McArthur, Nimitz, Patton, Napoleon, Hannibal, Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, etc.. As Brad pointed out, many smart people have shined in the military and made history, but I see nobody of that caliber in these times. Of course, there are brilliant men serving in there, but that is a handful. I doubt the majority has what it takes. Do I respect them any less? No. God bless the job they do, we will always need them and their patriotism; their sacrifice commands the respect from all.