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Words of Wisdom (C&P)
11BravoCrunchie
Member Posts: 33,423 ✭✭
A friend of mine, and one of the Sergeants in my platoon, wrote this. I think it has quite a bit of truth to it. BTW, he is also 23 and on his 2nd deployment.
quote:Dear friends,
Over six years ago our nation set out to champion its latest of causes on the pretext of national security. Of course, this was the war in Iraq, which would claim the lives of thousands of U.S. soldiers called to federal service and maim several times that number. An even greater number of Iraqis and foreign militants would see their final days played out in the sands of a less-than-majestic Mesopotamian successor. What was it for and what is it worth? These are questions that may be discussed over the ages without ever producing a firm or acceptable answer. For my part, I can offer a small scope of my involvement and own perceptions as a young soldier, enlisted to the state and requisitioned by the federal.
1. Is it over?
I must restate the point of scope. This is coming from the perspective of myself and is limited to my own perceptions and experiences. Having said this; yes, the war is over. When I was deployed from August 2005 to August 2006, roadside attacks and ambushes were commonplace throughout most of the country. When a soldier left the relative safety of the wire, somewhere in the back of his mind, he had to accept the very real possibility of imminent death or injury. Today, an entirely different atmosphere is present. Where once attacks were regular and daily, weeks now pass without incident. Activities that were once grounds for the application of deadly force are now deemed harmless and normal. The insurgency is at its end and all that remains in force is extremist violence that cannot see past its own self-righteousness and vindication.
2. Right or wrong?
This point is really quite moot, isn't it? We issue adjectives like "right" or "wrong" without fully understanding the implications. By saying "we" are "right," we are suggesting there is another side, "they," which is in the "wrong." Such vast generalizations are dangerous and certainly disturb the reality pertaining to each individual involved. There are many groups in this war. There are many tribes from many nations and many companies from many brigades. There are a vast number of individuals involved and each will be judged according to their own actions. To clump us together into the "we" and the "they" is a primitive attempt at self justification and has no place in rational thought. While we can attempt to judge independent actions as righteous, God alone can judge the individual. What is important, indeed all that matters, is that this war did take place and the repercussions will reverberate throughout the ages to come.
3. A Federal War
At last, a topic where I feel free to fully and firmly express my perspective with a great deal of bias. We live in a country that professes to be free, and yet we are ruled by tyrants who have disgraced their positions as representatives by ignoring the laws and bylaws that were meant to hold them to truthfully and selflessly serve their constituency. When confronted with the necessity to declare war as is rigidly and plainly spelled out in the Constitution, the Congress laughed to scorn the notion. The Congress and the Administration believed themselves to be beyond the document that establishes them and were too lazy to apply the proper forces of legislation necessary to create a declaration of war, which would coincidentally establish terms of victory, which will be discussed later. The federal government acted without the consent of the people and beyond the power granted to them by the Constitution. In essence, the federal government, as it always does, used a legitimate crisis to usurp power from the governed and pass it quietly to the governing bureaucracy. If we the soldiers had only known the full extent of the events at hand we would have been compelled, as our oath indicates, to refuse to serve in an unlawful war and demand Congress to fully and openly create a declaration of war. This is, ideologically, the greatest tragedy of the war. I have thought to include in this section the requisitioning of state soldiers to federal service, though I would quickly end up writing a novel (perhaps at a later date).
4. Victory or Defeat?
Who can say? Imagine playing a pickup game of basketball without ever establishing what score the teams would be playing to or establishing any time limitation. The game would not end until the participants became tired and bored or had other matters more pressing to attend to. This war was exactly that with much further reaching implications and intricacies. Every objective, which was considered to be the marker for victory has been replaced by another upon completion. We have set an unending pattern of goal-setting and changing, which hinders any attempt to accurately analyze the current condition of affairs on the ground, relative to victory. I will say, we the soldiers have met each objective time after time. We have bested our enemies on the field of battle, and lately in the rational thinking of the people. We have done so continuously and under an ever-decaying institution that is fast becoming unrecognizable as a professional and proud military built on tradition and discipline. We, the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines have provided the United States with grounds for victory year after year if she will only take it.
5. Coercion for Freedom
What will resound through the following decades is the general, and often silent, loss of principal throughout the war. We ask politely as any free state should, however; what we do not receive willingly we take. Soldiers who are asked to return to service for further tours and decline quickly find out they have no choice at all. Under threat of imprisonment and even death, soldiers who have completed their initial enlistment and serving under the Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR) report for duty and another tour, leaving behind families, friends and careers to serve in the company of strangers. It is interesting to note, even against the threats, only 48% of soldiers called back from IRR actually report. When veterans no longer volunteer and have the shackles of subordination thrown back on their shoulders against their will, we have failed as a free society. The will of the people has been spent on this war. We have endured through the frustration as our liberties are stripped away in hopes of security. "We the People" have left our posts. We are the watchdogs against corruption within the government and we are not working through the system, our system, because we see it as their system, the politicians' system. It is ours, and it is far past the hour to reclaim it.
6. Conclusion
I am not an Iraqi. I did not live in Iraq before the war and I won't live there afterward. I cannot say with any legitimate authority if Iraq is better off or not. I suspect the government of the people is far more preferable to any free man. I suspect the prospect of positive change is dwelling in the back of many minds where it would have been snuffed out in years prior to the war. If the people of Iraq take the opportunity that rests at their collective feet and mold it and make it their own, they can create a free, peaceful society to rival the days of their former glory in the ancient times. I hope they will. As for me; I'm going home. I will live out the rest of my days in peace, God willing and I will settle for a quiet life. I have played my part in this story, but there is a far greater tale to be told. That's where I want to be. War is the H-word.
6.1 Disclaimer
This does not even approach anything amounting to a definitive piece and should not be taken as anything more than talking points at the core. As with every war, we owe it to the future of this country and our children to learn and analyze, passionately and dispassionately, to avoid as much loss of life and injustice as we can. We owe it to ourselves to leave this world better than how we found it.
Brennan Kuhrt
quote:Dear friends,
Over six years ago our nation set out to champion its latest of causes on the pretext of national security. Of course, this was the war in Iraq, which would claim the lives of thousands of U.S. soldiers called to federal service and maim several times that number. An even greater number of Iraqis and foreign militants would see their final days played out in the sands of a less-than-majestic Mesopotamian successor. What was it for and what is it worth? These are questions that may be discussed over the ages without ever producing a firm or acceptable answer. For my part, I can offer a small scope of my involvement and own perceptions as a young soldier, enlisted to the state and requisitioned by the federal.
1. Is it over?
I must restate the point of scope. This is coming from the perspective of myself and is limited to my own perceptions and experiences. Having said this; yes, the war is over. When I was deployed from August 2005 to August 2006, roadside attacks and ambushes were commonplace throughout most of the country. When a soldier left the relative safety of the wire, somewhere in the back of his mind, he had to accept the very real possibility of imminent death or injury. Today, an entirely different atmosphere is present. Where once attacks were regular and daily, weeks now pass without incident. Activities that were once grounds for the application of deadly force are now deemed harmless and normal. The insurgency is at its end and all that remains in force is extremist violence that cannot see past its own self-righteousness and vindication.
2. Right or wrong?
This point is really quite moot, isn't it? We issue adjectives like "right" or "wrong" without fully understanding the implications. By saying "we" are "right," we are suggesting there is another side, "they," which is in the "wrong." Such vast generalizations are dangerous and certainly disturb the reality pertaining to each individual involved. There are many groups in this war. There are many tribes from many nations and many companies from many brigades. There are a vast number of individuals involved and each will be judged according to their own actions. To clump us together into the "we" and the "they" is a primitive attempt at self justification and has no place in rational thought. While we can attempt to judge independent actions as righteous, God alone can judge the individual. What is important, indeed all that matters, is that this war did take place and the repercussions will reverberate throughout the ages to come.
3. A Federal War
At last, a topic where I feel free to fully and firmly express my perspective with a great deal of bias. We live in a country that professes to be free, and yet we are ruled by tyrants who have disgraced their positions as representatives by ignoring the laws and bylaws that were meant to hold them to truthfully and selflessly serve their constituency. When confronted with the necessity to declare war as is rigidly and plainly spelled out in the Constitution, the Congress laughed to scorn the notion. The Congress and the Administration believed themselves to be beyond the document that establishes them and were too lazy to apply the proper forces of legislation necessary to create a declaration of war, which would coincidentally establish terms of victory, which will be discussed later. The federal government acted without the consent of the people and beyond the power granted to them by the Constitution. In essence, the federal government, as it always does, used a legitimate crisis to usurp power from the governed and pass it quietly to the governing bureaucracy. If we the soldiers had only known the full extent of the events at hand we would have been compelled, as our oath indicates, to refuse to serve in an unlawful war and demand Congress to fully and openly create a declaration of war. This is, ideologically, the greatest tragedy of the war. I have thought to include in this section the requisitioning of state soldiers to federal service, though I would quickly end up writing a novel (perhaps at a later date).
4. Victory or Defeat?
Who can say? Imagine playing a pickup game of basketball without ever establishing what score the teams would be playing to or establishing any time limitation. The game would not end until the participants became tired and bored or had other matters more pressing to attend to. This war was exactly that with much further reaching implications and intricacies. Every objective, which was considered to be the marker for victory has been replaced by another upon completion. We have set an unending pattern of goal-setting and changing, which hinders any attempt to accurately analyze the current condition of affairs on the ground, relative to victory. I will say, we the soldiers have met each objective time after time. We have bested our enemies on the field of battle, and lately in the rational thinking of the people. We have done so continuously and under an ever-decaying institution that is fast becoming unrecognizable as a professional and proud military built on tradition and discipline. We, the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines have provided the United States with grounds for victory year after year if she will only take it.
5. Coercion for Freedom
What will resound through the following decades is the general, and often silent, loss of principal throughout the war. We ask politely as any free state should, however; what we do not receive willingly we take. Soldiers who are asked to return to service for further tours and decline quickly find out they have no choice at all. Under threat of imprisonment and even death, soldiers who have completed their initial enlistment and serving under the Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR) report for duty and another tour, leaving behind families, friends and careers to serve in the company of strangers. It is interesting to note, even against the threats, only 48% of soldiers called back from IRR actually report. When veterans no longer volunteer and have the shackles of subordination thrown back on their shoulders against their will, we have failed as a free society. The will of the people has been spent on this war. We have endured through the frustration as our liberties are stripped away in hopes of security. "We the People" have left our posts. We are the watchdogs against corruption within the government and we are not working through the system, our system, because we see it as their system, the politicians' system. It is ours, and it is far past the hour to reclaim it.
6. Conclusion
I am not an Iraqi. I did not live in Iraq before the war and I won't live there afterward. I cannot say with any legitimate authority if Iraq is better off or not. I suspect the government of the people is far more preferable to any free man. I suspect the prospect of positive change is dwelling in the back of many minds where it would have been snuffed out in years prior to the war. If the people of Iraq take the opportunity that rests at their collective feet and mold it and make it their own, they can create a free, peaceful society to rival the days of their former glory in the ancient times. I hope they will. As for me; I'm going home. I will live out the rest of my days in peace, God willing and I will settle for a quiet life. I have played my part in this story, but there is a far greater tale to be told. That's where I want to be. War is the H-word.
6.1 Disclaimer
This does not even approach anything amounting to a definitive piece and should not be taken as anything more than talking points at the core. As with every war, we owe it to the future of this country and our children to learn and analyze, passionately and dispassionately, to avoid as much loss of life and injustice as we can. We owe it to ourselves to leave this world better than how we found it.
Brennan Kuhrt
Comments
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDUzMzY2MmU1NDUxNTVkMzNlN2NhMGY3MzI0MmE0NGQ=
I'm grateful there are still brave young men and women who are willing to go in harms way. There is no peace possible with radical muslims. They want you (and me) to either a) become a muslim, or; b) die. No negotiation.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDUzMzY2MmU1NDUxNTVkMzNlN2NhMGY3MzI0MmE0NGQ=
I'll take "b", but I won't be alone[}:)]