Letters to the Editor
-
Erk
That should be "real reason for..." ;).
-
Which War?
Again, and again, and yet again, the whole deal is about America. Dang it girls, but the world does move, and 95% of the world really doesn't care. Move on, you can turn everywhere into a parking lot, but we still don't care. Bleat on, give us your best. Guess what!! 95% of the world could give a rough rodeo yee-haw. Nice place to visit, but, heck, sure don't wanna have to live there . . .
I do love the Grand Canyon, though . . .
-
Nothing worse than a coward
These guys are cowards who abandoned their colleagues to fight short-handed.
Funny how Salonistas constantly rag on GWB for "dodging" the Vietnam War (though he served in uniform and flew fighter jets) even though the same things were said about Vietnam as are being said about Iraq, but somehow think these cowards who have skipped out and left their friends to hold the bag are heroes.
I have nothing but contempt for them.
-
re: I doubt you have any cities as modern and cosmopolitan as either of those two towns
The two towns referred to by the author being New York and LA.
What jingoistic crap, Anonymous! And you called the Canadian author of the post you replied to "racist"? Clearly that NY to LA trip you take is the sum total of your travels. As an American, I'm embarrassed for you.
Of course there couldn't be any cities in Canada as cosmopolitan as your examples. Vancouver only has the third largest Chinese enclave in NA behind the Chinatowns in NY and SF. And Vancouver has beautiful coastlines and mountains nearby. And don't you think French-speaking Montreal with its European influences might be just a little bit...um, cosmopolitan? Unless of course by "cosmopolitan" you mean "places with the attitude that the sun rises and sets on them".
I'd take Vancouver or Montreal as a place to live over NY or LA (especially LA) in...what's the term...h yeah, a New York minute.
-
ummm....
Deposing a tyrant such as Hussein would be legal if carried out under the auspices of an UN resolution be no such resolution was ever passed.
Ummm, check out the unanimous UN Security Council Resolution in October 2002. It told Saddam to immediately comply with the previous 17 UN resolutions ordering him to comply with the terms of the cease-fire (not surrender or armistice) he signed in 1991 at the end of the Gulf War or else face the consequences.
We simply administered the consequences.
-
Shhhhhh Phil . . . .
Montreal, Quebec City, heck, even Trawan are NOT places we want the truly dull to know about. Vancouver??? Heck!! A city without 'Muricans. You can have Calgary, though . . .
Wot, you already have Calgary!!
-
Ashamed of my Government
I'm a Canadian and I'm ashamed of my government. I think that a majority of us agree that Canada was enriched by the inflow of Americans who sought refuge here during the Vietnam war, and the general population supports American war resisters' claims for refugee status. Unfortunately, the Harper administration doesn't feel the same way, and tales of Canadian police knocking on doors on behalf of the U.S. military are not new here. Trust me: if Canada continues to blindly obey the policies of the United States, I plan to give up my citizenship and take residence elsewhere. I'm sick of being ashamed to say that I'm Canadian.
-
here's a suggestion
if Canada continues to blindly obey the policies of the United States, I plan to give up my citizenship and take residence elsewhere.
Here's a suggestion: there's a nice country called Iraq that needs such brave, conscientious, oh-so-moral people such as yourself.
I'll help you pack your bags.
-
The right fight to fight
I totally agree with those who say that soldiers should not be forced to commit criminal acts, whether they are criminal from a literally legal point of view or from a moral one. However, the US military is a volunteer force and regardless of one's motivations for joining up a commitment has been made. While I admire those soldiers who choose not to fight, the decision to walk away does not, and should not, come without consequences and desertion from a volunteer army certainly does not qualify anyone for refuge status.
I whole heartedly support any soldier who feels that this war is a monstrous waste of lives, but fleeing to Canada or anywhere else does nothing to help out the other soldiers that the deserter presumably feels are also fighting the wrong war. If you're going to leave your colleagues on the battlefield then you'd better have the balls to stand and fight for them in some other way. These soldiers can use their desertion for a purpose.
Of course, it's easy for me to say as I will never have to make this choice myself but it seems that staying in the US to remain visible and protest loudly would be the most honorable and bravest thing a soldier could do. He or she may end up in jail, but at least the right fight would be fought and when all this is over the soldier can say that, yes, he or she did make sacrifices and they were the right ones.
-
Three points
First, in regards to:
Still, it's likely more than a few have fled out of plain old cowardice. They don't mind doing the shooting; they just don't like it when the Iraqis shoot back.
Fear of getting killed or injured has never been the chief reason for psychological casualties, as David Grossman amply demonstrates in his important work, On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society. It's been the natural human reluctance to kill clashing with the intense loyalty to one's comrades. Since VietNam that's been complicated by psychological conditioning techniques designed to make it easier for our boys to pull the trigger. Here, the increasing obvious fact that the war was started for no good reason and a variety of bad ones makes it an even more volatile cocktail.
Second, as to:
Funny how Salonistas constantly rag on GWB for "dodging" the Vietnam War (though he served in uniform and flew fighter jets) even though the same things were said about Vietnam as are being said about Iraq, but somehow think these cowards who have skipped out and left their friends to hold the bag are heroes.
Actually, GWB isn't criticized by us for dodging service in VietNam per se, but for doing so (flight suit and all) and then starting his own equivalent morass for another generation. To dodge a stupid war in your youth only to start a stupid war in one's middle age leaves one open to a variety of, ah, ethical suspicions.
Finally--while under ideal circumstances figuring out what was going on before one was enlisted would have been preferable, I can't fault anyone for having a Pauline moment after the fact, even if they were nearer to Baghdad than Damascus. Remember, at one point most Americans actually believed the administration's line.