War Mongering

Watching the movie, "Ground Truth," last night with about fifteen others who had responded to Moveon.org's invitation, my anger was mixed with so much sadness.

Anger at the killing machine our military has become. I am not naive enough to have thought that the purpose of troops was anything other than to kill. But when we were told in the film that during World War II the soldiers, many of them plucked from our cities, towns and villages, were hesitant to kill, the military brass had to do something. So the training procedures were updated to make our troops more blood thirsty.

Anger at Congress for giving the president carte blanche, motivated mainly by saving their own political hides. Even now, after all the evidence that is in, many of them still can't find the courage to say enough.

Anger at the lack of support for the injured, to the extent that if the disability was not directly caused by combat -- say stress based -- certain benefits are denied.

Sadness for the young lives snuffed out whether by death or disability.

Given my many years of parsing the scriptures -- "those who live by the sword will die by the sword" -- I have concluded that war accomplishes nothing. It only further poisons the well.

First Go At It

Since I am new to this blogging bit, I will need help.

Problem is, I have no idea how anyone knows I am here, pecking away at my lap top.

I am going to a Moveon.org movie showing in my community tonight. The film concerns the surge, or escalation, as I prefer to call it.

Frankly, I am scared. The bizarre behavior of the president yeasterday at his press conference was disquieting, to say the least. Horsing around at such a critical time in the nation's history -- when so much blood is being shed -- seemed so out of place. And his bullying the press, covering his hostility -- or trying to -- with that silly smirk, frightens the hell out of me.