Mayo 25, 2009
Remember...
On this day, Memorial Day, please take the time, just a minute if that's all you have, to not only think of those who fought in our wars, but also think about how few of those wars were really necessary, and how many of them were begun based on lies to the american people.
I don't have time to write much more. Antiwar.com has a wonderful Memorial Day message that pretty much covers everything else I would like to point out.
Posted by steev at Mayo 25, 2009 02:16 PM
Today, we are told that we must fight the "terrorists" – defined as anyone who opposes the U.S. government and its plans to manage the world – and that this must be a war without end, without a definable enemy, and without the moral and legal constraints that have governed warfare and international relations in the modern era.
Comments
Which wars would you say were "necessary" and which were not?
Posted by: Kim Scarborough at Mayo 25, 2009 07:55 PM
Kim, that's a good question.
I think there are hypothetical necessary wars. but i can't think of an actual one that was, for sure. Maybe WWII was, or would have been, for instance if the Axis completely took over the rest of the world and then went after the U.S. but, i don't know for sure.
Posted by: steev at Mayo 25, 2009 08:01 PM
My family's conflicted feelings about the Vietnam War could fill a book. What I think your post misses is that Memorial Day isn't about "those who fought in our wars" (or those who led the troops into battle or those who decided to go to war in the first place, or the wars themselves)--it's about those who died. I think it's possible--and important--to separate the honoring of the dead from the analysis of war (both general--Is war necessary?--and specific--Are or were individual wars necessary/justified?) Those seem to me like questions for other days. Memorial Day honors those who died in the service of their country. On a day when I'm focused on the death of my Uncle Jon--what he gave, what he lost, what his family gave and lost--questions about the politics of war just feel beside the point. I say this as someone who has written and marched against this current war. I'm not saying that questioning war or questioning the current war is not important. It's just not what I think Memorial Day is about or should be about.
Posted by: Carolyn at Mayo 25, 2009 10:16 PM