Originally posted by easymo
The one constant we have always been able to depend on, from the Europeans. Is jalousie. Well, pal we are rich and powerful. And we will grow even more so as time gos by.
I was sent to my war on a commercial airliner. Think about that. a nation so wealthy they can afford to ship PFC,s around on commercial flights.
The message here is a simple one. DONT diddly WITH US.
Easymo, I also was shipped off to "our" war on a commercial jet liner, spent a years' tour and was shipped back home... What were your feelings on the plane ride over there as opposed to the plane ride home? On the way over I was scared and aprehensive. On the ride home I was bitter, sad and angry. At no time did I feel proud that my nation was able to transport us on a commercial jet complete with Stewardesses and then bring us home the same way.
On the contrary, it made me question our reasons for being there in the first place, and it made me believe my "rich and powerful" Nation was not above lying to the public back home or covering up atrocies. Basically I felt like I had been sent to a weird and twisted nightmare for a year and had woken up, shaking from a bad dream. Had we had to answer to the same standards the Nazis had to answer to after WW2 many of us would have been hung as war criminals, I'm ashamed to say, but at the time it seemed like the only thing to do.
As an American I don't aspire to have the "richest, most powerful Nation on the Planet, striving to become even richer and more powerful." I'd prefer to be part of a Nation that works for peace and justice for ALL peoples of the world, the same as we strive for those goals with our own citizens. And if we truly are the "richest, most powerful nation on the Planet" we have a responsibility to be the world's PEACE keepers. Only as a last resort should we EVER commit our children to die halfway around the world.
It's amazing we have the pro-Israeli crowd justifying what the Israelis are doing, the pro-Palestinian crowd justifying what the Palestinians are doing, and the pro-peace crowd being railed against by both sides as being unrealistic. "Realistic" is having a friend die in your arms. "Realistic" is shooting someone in cold blood to exact revenge. That's real, now how many of you think you could live that and then be OK with your children flying off to the next war 30 years later?
Agree, disagree or be indifferent, but what do any of you see as a satisfactory conclusion to this whole terrible mess? The destruction of Israel? The murder and expulsion of all Palestinians from the region? Because every time someone points out the option of peaceful coexistance so many of you dismiss it outright as being impossible. I don't think ANYTHING is impossible...even peace.
