After years and years of flag-draped coffins, of listening to the justification of the unjustifiable, of the "Wear Red on Fridays to Support the Troops" (red is my favourite colour, but I'll never wear it on Friday again), of renaming the part of the Trans-Canada Highway as the "Highway of Heroes" (it sounds better than Highway of the Unnecessarily Dead) along which hearses containing the bodies pass on their way to autopsies in Toronto while people on overpasses wave flags as if they were the only Canadians, I can't take it any more.
After the lies, the beating of war drums, the weeping relatives, the waste of young life, money, and opportunity to do something really useful, I've had it.
After all the displaced and frightened people, the slaughter of innocents, the unthinking and uncaring occupation of another country and the arrogance to think that we have all the answers - or any answer - I've had enough.
And so I direct you to Arthur Silber, who in this blog post, writes a Memorial Day piece that he's been meaning to write for years. He cites another piece written in 2006 by Joel Stein of the LA Times on the same theme.
From Joel Stein:
"I don't support our troops. This is a particularly difficult opinion to have, especially if you are the kind of person who likes to put bumper stickers on his car....but we shouldn't be celebrating people for doing something we don't think was a good idea. All I'm asking is that we give our returning soldiers what they need: hospitals, pensions, mental health and a safe, immediate return. But, please, no parades."
No, I Do Not Support "The Troops" by Arthur Silber
Warriors and wusses By Joel Stein (January 24, 2006)
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