war years

[Ken Carman]

I read your opinion piece, and what came to mind is we are not all this war in Iraq, as we were in the world wars. This war is being fought without disturbing our morning coffee and that is not how the world wars were. Those world wars touched everyone's lives. People were forced to conserve and forced to make sacrifices and do without. Somehow wars that don't require this of us, seem even more immoral to me.

Agreed. It should disturb our morning coffee. If it's a just cause, fought well, then the news of the dead and defeats will spur the public into sacrifice and more support. If it's kept out of the news one must ask why, but assume until explained, logically and with compassion, that it's because it's a war neither worthy of sacrifice or support.

Shouldn't give up at least something?

We will, and we are. In the future we will be giving up whatever we must to pay off this massive credit card bill we've been building up. Many scoff at the possibility of a Depression. I don't.

For now we are giving up our freedom. There are those here who argue that if you say we should withdraw you are a traitor: helping the enemy. But our enemy is not just the insurgents or terrorists. If those who struck on 9/11 "hate our freedoms" then so do those who argue against free speech. They and the "enemy" are intellectual soul-buddies in this case. I would never argue that any citizen has a right to reveal troop movements or plans. Loose lips do sink ships; whether they be an actual ship or metaphorical. It's like screaming fire in a crowded theater.

But like those who insist that a leader should be able to jail anyone without due process for an indeterminate time, those who insist having an opinion on a war is treason have already intellectually crawled into bed with those who do "hate our freedoms."

You're right. War should never be easy or hidden. Freedom really isn't free. Hiding the cost leads you down the road to hiding other, far worse, things. How do we know this? We have the pictures.