Columnist Abuses Soldiers' Deaths

The Daily Evergreen carried an opinion article today titled “When will they realize the war is wrong?” The author used a few choice phrases to express exactly why she felt our presence in Iraq was unjust or wrong. Most of those points have been said before by other columnists, TV hosts, or so-called experts. But what angered me was just how seditious and damaging the author’s words were, especially about our military:

Another headline Thursday in The Daily Evergreen, “Former WSU student killed in Iraq,” dominated the front page. On that day, the “war on terror” became all too relevant, even though it is being waged nearly 7,000 miles away. Last Thursday, the war once again became local news. One more name. One more life. One more son or daughter who will never come home. One more child who will never know their father or mother. One more unfulfilled destiny. One more name in the newspaper, one more name on a list, one more headline. Last week, the war took two more men with ties to Eastern Washington. When does it stop?

I think regular readers of this blog know my stance on the United States military. I have enormous faith in and love for those that have volunteered to risk their lives for this nation and for others. Not a man or woman serving in the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, or Coast Guard (though no longer an Armed Force) was ordered to take the uniform. We were never ordered to enlist, fight, and even die for the United States; we all, for whatever reasons, made a conscious decision to join. For a columnist to use the loss of any soldier as a means to push a political point is misdirected, as well as detestable and cowardly.

The cost and death of war is terrible: It has been since the early history of human kind, and will continue to be so for as long as we exist. Yes, parents will loose sons and daughters. Yes, husbands will loose wives; and wives, husbands. Children will grow up never knowing their mother or father; only knowing their sacrifice. The pain of war cuts deep, far deeper than many of us may ever know. How dare anyone use that pain to chastise their sacrifice. They did not die 7000 miles from home with the hope that we could site here, safe and comfortable, and rebuke the very reasons they laid down their lives. Shame on those that believe they can praise the troops from one side of their mouths and curse their cause from the other. For those that honorably serve in the Armed Forces, their cause is their life and their death. To insult their reasons for being in Iraq and elsewhere is to insult their service and their sacrifices. To a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine, there is no difference.

When does it stop? A good question, to be sure. Nobody hates war more than the warrior. I pray to God, however, that it stops when and only when the job is done. Let us press on until be can truly say our sons and daughters died not only for a noble cause, but for a successful one as well. President Bush is being stubborn on this matter, and I cannot blame him. Who wants to be the one to tell a grieving mother that her son died for nothing? To say, “I am sorry for your loss. We tried to make his death worth something, but in the end we weren’t willing to do what it would take to achieve success…”

More may and will die. That is the cold reality of war. I do not claim to understand what it means to know battle; to feel and see death around me. I have never seen a man die with fear and pain in his eyes, or felt that pain and fear for myself. In the future, perhaps I will. But I do understand where our soldiers are coming from. I know what motivates the vast majority of us to walk with heads held high in pride and purpose. It is not so that others can capitalize on the horrors of war. It is not so others can degrade our president, or abuse our choice.

Our military fights in war so others can live in peace.

If you believe the war should not have happened, you are entitled to that opinion. But the war has already begun, and that cannot be changed. Don’t make it worse by stirring hatred and resentment here at home. Our service men and women fight so you don’t have to. Please honor their commitment. One more name has been added to a growing list of those that willing gave everything they had. One more newspaper headline has been written. But instead of reading headlines like “Terrorist car bomb kills seven in Chicago playground,” we read of soldiers dying in foreign lands, thousands of miles from our homes and families.

The war is far from over; the issue is far from resolved. We have reached a point in this conflict when America is losing….[President Bush] seems to believe we can still hold on; we can still make a difference and win, whatever winning means.

If we do lose this war, I assure you it will not be due to any lack of military proficiency, supply, or will. Failure will occur here at home as it did for Vietnam, and with an attitude like that seen in The Daily Evergreen today, we are already on our way.

Do not let members of our military die in vane. Don’t let fear overcome resolve. Everything of worth comes at a high cost, especially peace. God bless our men and women in the Armed Forces.