We were at the Bruins/Flyers game the other night, and there were a bunch of servicemen and women there from the USS John F. Kennedy, which was in port for the weekend. Apparently Boston is the ship's home port, and it was docking here prior to being decommissioned. They made an announcement to this effect at the game, and there was a standing ovation. I readily joined in for the ovation, I truly appreciate the role that the ship and the military have played (and still is playing) in keeping this country safe and protecting our freedom. But, and this is the reason I am a hypocrite, in the same time that I was cheering the ship and it's crew, I was thinking "not my sons".
The irony is that after September 11th, I actually gave a little thought to joining the military. I really wanted to do something to help protect us from people who want to hurt us for no reason. Now that we've given pretty much all of the Middle East a good reason to hate us, I consider myself lucky that I didn't join. There's a fine line between fighting for freedom (and against terrorism) and fighting an unwinnable war for an ignorant president with a Napoleon complex. This war in Iraq has somehow made most Americans forget that we still haven't nabbed the person responsible for organizing the 9/11 attacks in the first place. Talk about wag the dog.
How in the world do I let the people fighting for us know that I support them personally but that I can't bring myself to support this war?
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