In ancient times the northernmost region of the habitable world - hence, any distant, unknown or mysterious land.
By Aussiegirl
posted by Aussiegirl @ 11:34 PM
I am a naturalized Ukrainian-American, fortunate enough to have been admitted to this great land as an immigrant. My personal history is the spur for this blog. My parents lived through the Ukrainian Genocidal Famine of 1933, survived years of Communist persecution, fled to the West, endured forced labor in Nazi Germany, and following liberation, ended up in Allied internment camps fighting forced repatriation to the Soviet Union under the Yalta Agreement. Their courageous struggle to bring our family to freedom, first to Australia, then to America, and their example of unflinching faithfulness to truth and honor, have left an indelible impression on me. My parents did not save me from Communism and Nazism for me to go gently into dhimmitude or slavery. Hence my passion and my mission to expose threats to freedom and democracy wherever they are found. This blog is a testament to their courage and my small gift to their heroism. ***ADDENDUM*** Aussiegirl, my wife, Helen, passed away on January 13, 2007. I shall continue her blog to allow access to her archives.***David
8 Comments:
An act of aggression is hardly "fighting for freedom."
I think you are making a major philosophical and psychological mistake in trying to fathom Cindy Sheehan's or anyone else's emotional state or her motivations for what she does.
Try, instead, to put yourself in her shoes: Your child has been killed in a war, the given reasons for which are different every time some bureaucrat or politician makes a statement as to why troops are in Iraq, as to why the invasion was launched in the first place, as to why American sons and daughters are there dying.
True, the slimeballs in the "news" media are making her a cause celebre and ignoring every other cause and every other soldier.
In this case, however, it does not make her wrong.
By the way, don't forget: The "neo-cons" who are the primary architects of the imperialist aggressions -- internal and external -- of the Bush administration are all "former" liberals.
There are HUGE differences between attacking Iraq, an act of aggression, and the defense of South Vietnam, which had been attacked by North Vietnam.
(Bonnie, I'm sure you will agree that, generally, throughout history, the South something has usually been the victim of the aggressor North something.)
That the nearly 2,000 Americans who have been killed were -- mostly, but by no means entirely -- "volunteers" in no way justifies the act of aggression and in no way justifies their deaths.
Some of those "volunteers" were scheduled to end their military employment but were forced to remain, because not enough new cannon fodder was volunteering for this war of aggression.
Do you realize you are saying, even though NOT intending to, that it is OK those people were killed because they had volunteered to go into harm's way?
By the way, for what seems to be real on-the-spot reporting, see http://michaelyon.blogspot.com/2005/08/gates-of-fire.html
Aussiegirl thank you for the post.
It does give one hope that regardless of your political stance on WHY we are sending soldiers into harms way, at least some people in this country know how to do the right thing. The Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines fighting at the behest of our government are doing so with honor and dedication and deserve those sentiments reflected when they return home. They did not choose where they were being sent but followed their orders and some have paid a heavy price for volunteering to serve their country in the ARMED FORCES.
Marine Lance Corporal Timothy Maguire understood this and apparently the people of his hometown do as well. This “welcome home”is an example of “Patriotism” in its proper perspective. Honor those who have served BECAUSE they are willing to serve so that you and your loved ones are not forced to.
As a Viernam Veteran (& a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War), I choose to honor the warriors but not the war(s). The fact that they died for a lie, as did my brothers, make them no less heros. There will be a civil war in Iraq if we leave now - or next year - or in 10 years. But there is no reason for more Americans to die for the lie, or in Iraq's civil war.
Aussiegirl said:
I thank everyone for such thoughtful and sensitive comments. It's obvious this war touches all of us deeply. I think the one thing everyone can share is our concern and appreciation for the difficult and dangerous work that is being done by our men and women in the Armed Forces, regardless of our view of the rightness or wrongness of the war itself. At this point, I think the most critical element is for the administration to finish the job over there as efficiently as possible, and not allow political or PC motivations to overshadow what needs to be done n the ground to complete the mission. Let's have less politics and more generals making decisions there, and not make the mistakes of Vietnam, where the politicians were looking over the shoulders of the military and second-guessing every decision to the ultimate detriment of the men in uniform and ultimately, the larger military and political goal. If I had my way, not one more soldier would die over there, but the grim reality is, the right or wrong, we are there and we can't just abandon the country and leave it to become a completely uncontrolled breeding ground for terrorists. Like it or not, we have to finish the job. And what I want is for them not to be afraid to get in there and knock some heads and finish it up pronto, without weighing our troops down with PC second guessing every time a soldier defends himself.
Bonnie, you said, "As for implying that I think a volunteer's life is any less valuable than that of a draftee's, or a draft dodger's for that mater, I cannot believe that you would say that to me."
Once again, please read WHAT I SAID, which is not, again, what you are inferring I said.
I implied nothing.
I very explicitly said, "Do you realize you are saying, even though NOT intending to, that it is OK those people were killed because they had volunteered to go into harm's way?"
Words should mean something. When I use them, I mean what the words say and what they mean, not what someone else says I mean.
Several times here, others have twisted what I said, however unintendedly they did so. I sure wish they wouldn't.
Also, there is a super site I recommend to everyone here: http://www.daybydaycartoon.com
and again I recommend http://michaelyon.blogspot.com which, by coincidence, the Chris Muir cartoon also does Saturday.
Aussie, you said, "Like it or not, we have to finish the job."
Who is "we"?
It is not you nor I.
Even if, to some degree, the military people there being shot at and exposed to death are there more-or-less voluntarily, the money being spent -- apparently in the scores of billion$$$ -- sure isn't being given voluntarily.
I urge everyone to see the words of Joe Knight, right above Bonnie's right above yours. However long Americans remain in harm's way, Iraq will not be peaceful and free.
In fact, it is the presence of Americans that has exacerbated the "insurgency," that has increased the activities of ... heck, let's call them "terrorists," even if they consider themselves some form of "freedom fighters," though whatever it is they want, it isn't freedom.
The first Bush administration left Saddam Hussein in power because, speakers for the first Bush said, it provided stability for the region, it maintained "the balance of power," which is apparently all the politicians in every country understand or care about.
Whatever spin the politicians try to put on the situation, they do NOT care about freedom.
Many countries in the world suffered and suffer worse than Iraq did, and in our own United States the degree of freedom is lessening daily.
A United States citizen cannot even take employment without governmental permission.
One cannot even open a business without governmental permission.
One cannot even send one's children to school without making those children's personal information available to the military establishment, thanks to the current Bush administration.
Heck, one cannot even HAVE children without those children being branded with a government-issued number.
Whatever the real reason the Bush administration wants to keep Americans in Iraq, facing death and dismemberment, it's not freedom.
Shucks, the Busheviks could bring freedom to this country and not have even one person, volunteer or draftee, killed.
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