[thechat] name of Operation Infinite Justice to be changed

Bill Haenel bhaenel at twcny.rr.com
Fri Sep 21 13:49:16 CDT 2001


> >What's changed in 50 years is that about 30 years ago, we went
> to Vietnam.
> >At that time, large numbers of Americans stood up and said WAR SUCKS, WE
> >DON'T WANT WAR. Have Americans changed their minds since then? Or will we
> >hold true to those ideals that so many spoke out for during our
> presence in
> >Vietnam.
>
> But is that because
> a) War which kills people we know is an inconvenient thing
> b) War which kills people we know is a non-ethical thing

This seems to me to be a particularly cynical and hopeless outlook(?).

I was under the distinct impression it was because of something much more
significant than inconvenience. Maybe I was just taking the bait. Maybe I've
been had. I don't know - Does your question come from a loss of faith in
Humanity, or just Americans? Or are you posing the question just for the
sake of doing so? I sense incredible suspicion in your question, Martin. Am
I reading you right?


> >We've seen wars that require a small percentage
> >of our volunteers only.
>
> The thing is, this war will not be a Gulf War, or a Falklands War, a
> "Roll up, Roll in, Roll Over" kind of a war where it's all concluded
> quickly and easily, without much in the way of (our) casualties.
>
> It's going to be much closer to Vietnam:
> *) Difficult Terrain (actually more so, because there's nothing
>     to defoliate or burn to make it easier)
> *) An (at best) indifferent population
> *) A dedicated, experienced enemy, difficult to distinguish from the
>     rest of the population

I really, really hope you're wrong. I really, really hope that we're not
going to have anything like what we have previously known "war" to be. I
really, really hope that we're smarter for our mistakes in Vietnam, and that
we will understand that we have to be much more careful with this than we
were then. I want to see people be intelligent and creative with this.

I refuse to believe that there is no hope for a better way. Why should I
cloud my world with doubt and fear instead of illuminating it with hope and
encouragement? We don't have to have a typical hand-to-hand, bomb-to-bomb
war, and I do not wish to let anyone think that we do. I want to be one of
the people who thinks positive - not blind, just positive. In fact, I want
to be the guy who demands that we do something better, something smarter. It
just doesn't have to be the way it's always been.

I'm gonna call GWB right now, and tell him so.

BH





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