The Warrior, not the War

One thing that I've learned is that politics, policy, and war do not necessarily make pleasant bed fellows. I have met a lot of people with a lot of different things to say about the wars and foreign policies adopted by the U.S. government. With such a sensitive and polarizing topic, I thought I'd offer my thoughts, as a U.S. Veteran, on this subject.

The politics of war are not hard to decipher. Being strong on national defense, homeland security, and appearing to be "pro-military" are considered safe places to land if you are somehow involved in politics. Unfortunately, the politics of war are always going to be present and will play a hand in the decision making process, which doesn't necessarily bode well for the policy of war. The policy behind war is much harder to nail down.

During the debacle that was the ramp up to the invasion of Iraq, it was told to us that there was irrefutable evidence that there were many weapons of mass destruction (WMD) that were potentially vulnerable to being sent to people that intended to do us much harm. After all of that, it is hard to believe now anything that I hear about this. Based on my experience in the military, I find myself asking so many questions...

Is the problem still in Afghanistan? Is it in Pakistan? If it is, what is being done about this on the Pakistani side? What about financial aid that is being sent to either of these countries - including the issue involving corruption? What about the emergence of Al Qaeda in Yemen? If Yemen is a direct threat, why aren't we at war against Yemeni terrorists? Or are we already? What actually constitutes a threat to us? How can we fully buy into a war that went unattended to for many years due to the lies of our government in trying to sell the invasion of Iraq? When we went to Iraq, I was on board because I couldn't see how our government could ever make such up front lies about what we were looking at, in terms of the threat we faced. How could we trust, as a citizenry, the word of many of the same individuals today?

It's hard. I'm not anti-war, under proper circumstances. I'm not anti-military, and I'm not a extremely "left" person. What am I then? I'm devastated that thousands of us had to die in a war that was EXTREMELY unnecessary by every account I've seen. I'm pissed off that I feel like I can't trust my government when it comes to war, because now it seems that "last resort" is a term that you hear but don't see practiced. I'm angry that the media doesn't help keep American's on task because of the agendas that they pursue - which apparently don't include objective reporting. I'm sad because I don't know if it will ever get better.

You don't have to blindly support war because you're a Veteran, or because you're a (insert party affiliation here), or even because you don't want to seem un-American. There are patriots of all shapes and colors, and it's okay if you're not necessarily co-signing the actions of our military. What I would like is to see people not question the patriotism of those that dissent to the idea of war. I would like to see people not make assumptions of those that have served during these wars, and assuming only the worst. We are not indiscriminate killers, nor are we the ones that make the decision to send us there.

It's about the warrior, not the war. Separate the two, respect each other, and remember that freedom isn't free. Lives are lost, families are broken, and futures are changed every day. If you're a religious person, pray for the troop, and the families. If you're not religious, put good "vibes" out for those that you don't even know. Most importantly, the children of our troops need their parents, and spouses need their significant other to come home unharmed.

Fight well, and hope for peace.