A few years ago Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks made the comment that she was “ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas”.
Cindy Sheehan has made it her life work to protest the Iraq war and voiced that opinion to anyone willing (or not willing, as the case may be) to listen. Well, we do have free speech and all, and no, I am not talking about the freedom of speech as-long-as-you-agree-with-me type. I have to wonder now if her statement wasn’t a sign of things to come, for the President-not the Chicks. Should we be ashamed that Bush is from Texas?
He did, after all, entangle us in an extremely unpopular war. Some of Bush’s critics have even blamed him for 9/11. In a recent article in U.S. News, it was pondered it perhaps Bush will go down in history as one of America’s worst presidents. You can be sure that the history books won’t miss that little morsel.
So without debating the why’s and why not’s of the war, there are a few things that do not change: 1) we have troops currently serving in Iraq (a war zone!) and 2) we, as the people, can do nothing to change that fact. You can write your Congressman, Senator, and even the President. We can hope and pray, but the fact is, we CANNOT change it.
Despite the fact that I study politics, I will say again this is not about the morals or politics of the war. Our troops are stationed in war zones. I can tell you that most of them did not “request” to be sent to a 130 degree, dry, windy, sandbox for the better of a year. Most of them are there because, you guessed it, good ole Uncle Sam sent them there.
I may be somewhat biased here. My dad is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel, my cousin a Sergeant in Military Intelligence who served in Kosovo, another relative a retired Sergeant Major who fought in Desert Storm and Vietnam and right now I have an “adopted” soldier, Sgt. Gary, who is serving in Iraq. The folks that are deployed in the war zones are not some foreign beings that are expendable. They are husbands, brothers, sons, wives, daughters, and sisters.
They joined a branch of the military because they believe in our country and want to ensure our freedom, regardless of their thoughts on whether Bush is making the right decision. The reason they serve: they believe in us, they believe in our freedom, they believe in our country. They are our heroes and should be treated as such.
Without a doubt, the Dixie Chicks, Cindy Sheehan and everybody else has the freedom to express their opinion and their opinion is valid. It is protected in the First Amendment. To them I will say this: together we stand and divided we fall. Sam Rayburn, Congressman 1913-1961, held deep convictions about war.
He felt that “in time of crisis, follow the President, whether he be Democrat or Republican. When the nation is in danger, you have to follow your leader. The man in the White House is the only leader this nation has.”
The reasons for the war don’t mean anything to me now, here’s what does: our troops need our support. Regardless of your feelings on the war, support our troops. You can even adopt a soldier while they are deployed through a great non-profit organization: www.soldiersangels.org