A Challenge to “Yellow Ribbon” & “Flag Pin” Republicans

I challenge you, “In Name Only” Patriots, to stand up and watch Bill Moyer’s Journal for the week of May 30th, 2008, then come back with your rush to bomb & invade Iran. Come back and tell me and everyone in this country, that the lives of these brave Americans, are worth being sent on repeated tours in Iraq, where our President, in his infinite wisdom, has yet to tell us honestly what our soldiers are fighting, suffering and dying for.

I am frankly tired of your faux Patriotism, where you only pay lip service to the principles of what this great nation was founded on, then demean anyone who does not share your shallow views of what it is to represent this country. I am tired of your rush to label anyone who has infinitely more courage than you, who is willing to stand up and defend the brave soldiers in Iraq & Afghanistan, by demanding they are withdrawn & the war in Iraq is ended. I am tired of being called a “traitor” for standing up against this war for oil and occupation of the once sovereign nation of Iraq, in this illusionary “War on Terror” by those who are the real traitors to their country and the principles upon which it was founded.

I am tired of your “Yellow Ribbons” on your gas gluttonous SUV; your preoccupation with who wears a “flag pin” when, where & under what circumstances; your rush to label all we know nothing about, as “enemies” and those that wish to open communication with these poorly understood “enemies” as “naive, appeasers or traitors”; and lastly, those that belittle those that have served honorably and chose by their own volition to speak against willie-nillie war waging.

I am fed up with those that play “armchair general,” yet have never worn an Uniform of the US Military and/or have nothing to lose by sending another person’s loved one into a war that does not protect our freedoms here in the United States of America. I am tired of having the war sanitized before my very eyes so that I can go forth on my “normal” activities without a care in the world as “Patriotism” has been redefined as “Shopping,” Supports Our Troops” and “Sacrificing a Recreational Activity, Golf,” shows solidarity with the US Military & the families who have suffered as a result of extending & multiple deployments, the permanent serious injuries inflicted, and ultimately the loss of a soldier’s life in this faux “Defense of County.”

I do not need to have been a member of the US Armed Forces ever, but as a United States Citizen, I have the right, no I have more than the right, I have the obligation, to stand up against a war that does not promote the ideals of this country, nor ensure that the principles it was founded upon will be preserved. I have the right to defend the best interests of those made to risk their life & well being in defense of this nation, and I have the moral obligation to fight harder in their defense when they are ordered to do that which does not relate to the protection of this nation and the principles upon which it was founded.

As a US Citizen, I have the obligation to call attention to those who seek to undermine the principles of this country through acts of censorship, manufacture of errant consent, and the dissolution of democracy. They may have the right to freedom of expression, however if it is used to destroy the fundamentals of this country, I have a stronger moral imperative to make right their destructive behavior and to call a subversive agent to the founding principles of this nation as they are, a Traitor.

If those brave men & women of the United States Armed Services are denied their ability to express dissent for an unlawful war as every foreign serving member is…

THE RIGHT TO ATTEND PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATIONS OFF BASE
DoD Directive 1325.6 says it is DoD policy to preserve military members’ “right of expression … to the maximum extent possible, consistent with good order and discipline and the national security.” Then it puts limits on that right.
Members of the military may attend demonstrations.

But only in the United States.

Only off base. Only off duty.
And only out of uniform.

then my obligation to not only them, but to the US Constitution for which they have sworn an oath to uphold, is double that which I would hold alone.

United States Marine’s Code of Conduct
ARTICLE VI: I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free
I will trust in my God and in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

It is now my obligation to honor and fight for these brave men and women, who cannot express their opinions openly, while our President has ordered them to fight for an unknown cause, that with absolute certainty is not to defend my rights as a U.S. Citizen. If I have decided to not take up arms in defense of my country, I still have the obligation to defend the best interests of our military members by taking up “arms” of speech, words & written expression, when they are forbidden to speak openly on their own behalf. To not do so would be an act of a coward and a traitor to the country for which they fight.

I will use my obligation to these troops, to fight those that flaunt their faux Patriotism, and use it to justify an attack on Iran or extend the occupation of Iraq for reasons that have nothing to do with ensuring the safety of this country, let alone ensuring the principles this country was founded on remain intact and strong.

Thank you to Bill Moyers, Phil Donahue, Ellen Spiro for bringing this story, “Body of War,” to my attention, for I have no direct contact with either of these wars or members of the Armed Services, thanks in large part to the President and the MSM willing to bend over backwards to sanitize the true impacts of this war from the eyes, minds & reality of most Americans.

To Thomas Young and his family, I wish you the best & hope you are recovering from your latest setbacks.

“Gold Star Mothers who have lost children in the Iraq War touch Tomas Young at a Washington DC peace march.
Credit: Ellen Spiro / Mobilus Media”

May 30, 2008

BILL MOYERS: Welcome to THE JOURNAL.

Five years ago this week, President Bush invaded Iraq because, we were told, Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was plotting with Al Quaeda terrorists to attack America. We were told the war would be quick and tidy – and that grateful Iraqis would welcome their liberators with flowers in the streets.

Well, now the war is into its sixth year. We’re spending over ten billion dollars a month, with the long-range cost reckoned in trillions. For Iraqis and for American soldiers and their families, the human toll is even harder to calculate — numbers alone don’t do it: 4,000 soldiers dead, nearly 30,000 wounded. But numbers aren’t personal; the only way truly to understand the human cost of this war is to know someone who is bearing it. Someone like Tomas Young.

Thomas Young grew up in Kansas City. After the attacks on 9/11 he enlisted in the army because he wanted to fight the terrorists in Afghanistan. He was sent to Iraq, instead. And five days after arriving there, he was shot in the chest and severely wounded. He was 24 years old at the time and will spend the rest of his life in a wheel chair.

Tomas Young’s story is told in a film called BODY OF WAR that premiers in Washington, DC on April 2 and then rolls out in cities across the country. It took three years for Ellen Spiro and the long-time television host Phil Donahue to make this film — you’ll meet them later in the broadcast.

But first I want to show you some excerpts that will give you a sense of Tomas Young’s story, as told in BODY OF WAR. Here he is arriving for a speaking engagement at the Layfayette Presbyterian church in Brooklyn, New York.