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The Drums of War

Up until recently, I was reluctant to believe that we were going to be conducting any military action within the next several months. That belief changed on the day after Christmas. It was on that day that I learned that the U.S.S. Comfort, a Navy ship with a 1,000 bed trauma unit on board, was given orders to go to the Persian Gulf. Now I realized that something was going to happen soon.

Popular belief is that Iraq is our primary target. Two main questions have come to be asked time and again about the Iraqi situation. First is why we didn’t finish him 12 years ago? The answer is simple. Our tanks and troops were pointed north towards Baghdad, ready to go. The United Nations, under the influence of France and Russia, stopped us. The second question is why should we oust Hussein? Think of it this way, if two years ago the President had said the same things about Afghanistan, what would you have thought? Most people would have thought that the idea of an attack coming from a third world country was preposterous. If we could have made that move two years ago the Twin Towers might still be standing today, and some Americans would still think we were warmongers.

Don’t get me wrong; I hate the thought of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines going off to put themselves in harm’s way. War is never good, but is many times necessary. We, as Americans, have some of the greatest rights and freedoms the world will never see. But all of the ideals and politicians in the word would mean nothing if we could not have fought for what we believe in. Our freedoms have come at the hands and feet of the common serviceman, not the politician.

As the drums beat louder, we must all be aware of our responsibilities as Americans. One of the greatest things we must do is to support the men and women of the armed services. Those who are active duty and those reservists called to duty as we are seeing in our region right now. You don’t have to agree with the reasons for war or support the actions of the government. But what you must understand is that many of the troops deploying to the Gulf region do not want to fight either, but they will do so because it is their duty to their country.

We need only to look back 30 years to see the travesty that was the treatment of veterans of the Vietnam War. The very people that they thought they were protecting mistreated them. They were mistreated for trying to serve honorably and following the orders that they were given. We need to make sure that this does not happen again.

If you do not agree with the policies of our government then tell your congressman. Let us realize that our military members believe in what they are doing for us, and they are probably much better informed as to the actual threat that others pose to our freedoms. We could be in more danger than we know. The servicemen and women will sort that out for us. They will do their job and make us all proud.

So how do we support them? There are many families in our area that have active duty military members in their ranks. Reservists will be called up and families will be left behind. Help those people left behind. Spouses suddenly left alone could use financial help or help with the kids. Other family members could just use support of a neighbor to feel better or ease the anxiety of having a child, parent or siblings at war. If nothing else, say a prayer for those protecting your freedoms, they may need it. Godspeed to all of you, and thank you for protecting our freedom.