Last night, as Forrest worked on his brother's wedding invitation, I flipped through the channels, bored, finding nothing to watch. I landed on our local PBS station, and immediately, was sucked into Frontline's story, Private Warriors. I sat and watched with amazement and horror, as Martin Smith uncovered layer after layer of information on the private contractors in Iraq.
If you have the time, I encourage you to watch the show (available online here).
I walked away feeling utterly disgusted with KBR and Halliburton, as well as walking away with a renewed passion against the war in Iraq. We have become an occupying force there, and it's still unclear why we are there. It seems as though we are there because there are millions to be made in contracting. Now, I know there are plenty of people out there who are going to disagree with me, and you have every right to disagree, but for one moment, pause and just think of what's going on here. We are stuck in a war, that was originally started because we thought there were WMD's. We invaded, only to find no WMD's, and so now, our reasons have changed. We're there because Saddam was a bad, bad man. I feel like it changes every day. We're in a war that we're told is supposed to make us safer, but I don't feel safer. I feel like everyone in the world hates our country. I'm annoyed at the assumption that if you don't support the war, you don't support our troops, and if you don't support the war, you're unpatriotic. I know this is a soapbox that I'm on, but I'm sick of it. I'm sick of sitting idly by and doing nothing... and yet, I don't know what to do. I fear for my nation. I fear that my son will grow up in a country that blindly follows what we're told. I fear that my son may one day be sent to fight in this war (if we're in it that long, and it seems we are). I fear that the beauty of America is quickly fading, and we are rapidly becoming an imperialistic nation, engaging in nation-building (which Bush said he would not do in his 2000 debates) that ostracizes us from the rest of the world.
I'll step down now from my soap box, but I challenge you to at least watch a few of the chapters on that story... if only because we owe it to the men who have died fighting in this war.
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2 comments:
I'd love to watch them, and will later when I get more time.. I know, that sounds so slack. :/
I wish Australia would get out of Iraq, we dont have the same troop commitment as you in the US do, but I just dont think we should be there. Most Aussies feel the same way, I think. We dont know why we are there, to be honest, and most of us think its because of political reasons regarding our relationship with the US.
Im scared for my children.
It seems that there is always a 'cause' to fight against.. N.Korea, Vietnam, Afganistan, Iraq.. what will be next? N.Korea again? Iran? Its been going on for a long time, and the destruction left behind effects generations, millions and millions of people.
Sometimes I watch a US news show, and at the end there is a silent time as the faces of young men and women killed in Iraq that week are shown. I cant believe how many are dying, its terrible. I just feel so sad to see all those lives cut so short, and as a Mother its very hard not to imagine 'what if...' Its a devestating loss, to parents, to communities and to your nation.
Ill get off my soap box now too!
I speak purely from an emotional point of view.. Ill watch that documentary so that I get to see things from a more knowledgable view-point.
Felicity. :)
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