by ALEX HAMILTON
There's no doubt that if given the chance to support the troops, most Americans would do so. A yellow or flag covered magnetic ribbon attached to their car-- now, that is sacrifice. What exactly does the ribbon prove to our troops, a world away, mired in sand and being shot at and bombed daily? The ribbon surely does not outweigh the fact that proper planning was not done for post-war Iraq . It certainly does not outweigh the fact that the American media and public have given this administration a pass for using faulty and sketchy evidence to mount a campaign laced with hubris. The best way to truly support the troops is to demand that their lives be held precious, that their basic needs be met, and that their lives be put on the line only when we would put our own lives on the line for the same cause. If you have a yellow ribbon on your car, this is what you should be insisting.
When it comes to Iraq , the lives of our service men and women have been put on the line for a sketchy cause. What kind of planning was done to minimize our casualties and maximize our chances for success? It doesn't seem like much. The war has become the human testing ground for Donald Rumsfeld's theory of the superiority of an ultra-light fighting force. The results of the test have displayed an exceedingly successful invasion followed by a nightmarish quagmire for our troops unable to properly secure the nation from the insurgency. Certainly there were issues with properly equipping the troops; especially in the National Guard units. In addition, the fact remains that these men and women were sent to war at best by skewed evidence that passed through the strikingly uncurious executive branch, and at worst by lying suits who never knew the hell of war. The fact that there is so little dissention about our justification is perhaps a telling sign for the future of our great nation. We are sending the children of our nation to die for a cause that is being fought on Bush's "optimism" with a lack of reality, a lack of planning, and the lack of a well defined exit plan. Allowing the justification of a war based on unproven and false premises to happen, and voting the lead perpetrators of the Iraq mess back into office is not support.
War requires sacrifice, but this war has been sugarcoated by the administration to avoid riling any feathers. In wars past, the American public was asked to sacrifice in order to mobilize our war machine and fight an effective war. People worked overtime, extra jobs at shell and bomb assembly plants, and women covered jobs that required backbreaking labor. What have we been asked to sacrifice in order to make this war effective and successful? We have not been asked to conserve energy, buy war bonds to fund the war effort, or stop driving our gas guzzling hummers. The entire load has been shouldered by our troops. A yellow ribbon will not change that fact.
Instead of sacrifice, we have been given the first tax cut during wartime in the history of our nation, and most likely the history of the civilized world. Our country has been pressed into a fiscal corner not by the war spending, but by a tax cut which has proven to be ineffective at stimulating the economy. It is a common misconception that most of the current deficit and projected debt are a result of the Iraq War and the War on Terrorism. However, it is the Bush tax agenda that is bleeding the treasury dry. We could fund this war and the hardening of our homeland defenses effectively, but instead the administration has pressed on blindly. In the meantime, any suggestion of repealing the Bush tax agenda is the closest thing to treason outside of questioning the Patriot Act. We could all stand a few years of sacrifice to give our troops and intelligence gathering agencies the funding they need to properly fight the Iraq war and the War on Terrorism. Instead, the administration is now looking to lock in its tax policy permanently. This is bad book keeping, and the public is quiet about it because they are being paid off. Just remember that 500 dollar check in the mail could have been used to properly outfit a soldier with a better protective vest. A yellow ribbon will not change that fact.
The most important way to support the troops is to demand that their lives are valued. Much was made of the "global test" during the campaign, but what about the moral test? Would you die for the cause you are supporting someone else dying for? If the moral test is not passed by those claiming to "support the troops", and they are not working to change the situation, they are in fact displaying a hypocritical gesture. How can anyone claim to be supporting the troops while sending them to die for a cause which they themselves are not willing to die for? That is not support; that is hypocritically passing the buck.
Support means shared sacrifice, not the sacrifice of a few. If we are to combat the threats which actually do face this nation, more than just our troops in the field must pitch in. If this war is a war for the fate of our country, why should its success rest on the shoulders of so few, and the effort be so poorly planned? So, by all means put a yellow ribbon on your car, your backpack, your front door, but realize what it means. It means that you will do your part, and share in the sacrifice to do what it takes to win.
Alex Hamilton is co-administrator and founder of a website devoted to educating the populace to the ongoing lies of President George W. Bush, seeking his removal from office and creating a progressive organization to push the agenda in the coming years.
Email Alex: alex@ibtp.org
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