A SOLDIER SPEAKS

My 81-year-old mother detests Bush (she calls him "It") and she sent me this today:

Would you say from your own experience and others you’ve talked to that feelings among the rank-and-file of the armed forces are more or less or about the same in their criticism of the war – is it increasing or decreasing?

It’s definitely increasing as the length of the occupation goes on ‘cuz they don’t see themselves getting anywhere. They’re doing things almost like something they heard about in Vietnam where in Vietnam guys would go on patrol and they’d sit outside of the base and they’d make false radio reports. Instead, you’ve got guys who are sent on patrol and instead of a real patrol they jump in a humvee and drive through town as fast as possible to avoid any kind of confrontation. And that’s not the point of a patrol. On a patrol you’re trying to find intelligence, you’re trying to make some difference there. These guys are just trying to get through without getting killed.

There’s two different opinions about what soldiers opposed to the war should do. There’s one opinion that more or less says: you should stand up and raise your hand and say to your commanding officer “sir, I have a moral objection to this war and I will not fire upon the enemy.” And then there are others who lean towards the Vietnam model where people very quietly and carefully organized networks to oppose the war before standing up. I mean they didn’t do Kamikaze stuff. What’s your opinion on that?

I think it’s going to take a lot of both. Just like in the civil rights movement you had Martin Luther King who was organizing and doing the peaceful route and but back then you had guys like Malcolm X who were really the fanatics and going at it and threatening violence. So you’re going to need both sides, you’re going to need the guys who will just stand up out of nowhere and say “I’m not doing this” and you’re going to need the other people organizing underneath it.

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