thevoid

I know that a lot of people are probably sick to death of hearing about the impending war. Although there seems to be enough concern to keep the thread going on the message boards, I know that if some one out there is bored enough to read this post, they are probably saying, "Oh god, not another one". Well guess what? Nobody is forcing you to read this.
Anyways, I think a lot of what is inspiring me to write something down is the fact that one of my friends got recalled into active duty a few days ago. This wasn't some former intelligence guru who had just gotten out a week ago. This guy drove trucks in my unit and was within months of the end of his inactive status and thus being released from military service permanently. For those of you out there who haven't actually served or are still serving in the military, that greatly increases my chances of getting recalled, even though I only have a few months of inactive time left. To be honest, I am really not that worried about going back in. I have been in a combat zone before and from what I remember people telling me about Desert Storm, I might as well be going and playing in a sand box. The important thing is, no matter what I think about this operation (that's probably going to be the most accurate word for what this is going to be) those are going to be my people out there and I'm not going to just sit around with my thumb up my ass while they are doing all the work. I've always felt that indifference was a greater crime than any action. Granted, if someone else has a better idea about how to go about all this, a plan that is feasible, and the determination to follow through with it, hell, sign me up! Going to the polls isn't going to fix this problem, and, more importantly, neither is bitching. In the meantime, all I can do is go over there and make sure as many people make it out okay as possible.
As far as the reason that we are doing this, I came across an interesting angle today. Anyone reading the papers should know that we actually have two problems of grave concern right now. Iraq and North Korea. While Iraq is suspected to be in possession of nuclear arms, it is a definite fact that North Korea possesses them, including missiles that can carry a payload to the western US. They have already launched two missiles, from what I heard, over Japan, I presume as a means of intimidation. They have also re-activated a nuclear plant that produces weapon-grade plutonium. Not to mention that the only country they are even concerned about dealing with is the US. Not the UN, the US. Now we do not want another war with North Korea. They beat our asses during the Korean War, or at least forced us to a stalemate, depending on the perspective of historians. I have heard about the Korean Rock Marines. They are some bad sons of bitches. We do not want to mess with them. But, this country is intent on creating a unified Korea. A sense of nationalism that existed for Germany during the 30's and France in the late 17th Century is not something the world needs, especially if it concerns nuclear arms. Thus, Bush is trying to put on a show of force in an attempt to intimidate the North Koreans.
Now, just for the record, if this is what Bush is trying to invade Iraq for, I STILL think it is absolutely retarded. You do not stand up to a bully in the play ground by beating the shit out of a smaller kid and then tell the bully, "YEAH, and if you don't watch your ass, I'll do the same to you!" If nothing else you are just going to give the bully that much more of a reason to fight you. Bush is already well on his way to isolating the US from the support of the rest of the world by trying to act like the big boy on the block and confirming every other country's view of us as oppressors. Thus, I think what we are witnessing today, boys and girls, are the last days of the US as a superpower on this planet. Granted I don't know what is going to be left after this mess is over with, but if it involves nuclear weapons, it's not going to be pretty. It might very well be the last days of human beings as a "super power" on this planet. So, in reality, I'm not worried about my own mortality, I'm worried about all of yours.
I really wish I had some idea of what could be done. I remember when I was about 5 years old, my aunt and uncle were involved in this religious "group" (I might as well go ahead and say cult) who thought the world was going to end in 1983. They had all their things packed up in boxes and my cousin, only a few months younger than I, was crying all the time (I can't even begin to describe the impact of that on her mental stability). When I was old enough to comprehend what happened (I thought they were just nuts at the time) it irritates the hell out of me. Not just Christianity, but the position of all religious groups when it comes the the idea of "Judgement Day". They all just want to roll over and die and accept the end of everything with an apathetic grin on their facez. I don't know about their God, but my god does not smile on anyone who expects him/her to do all the damn work and take the responsiblity for the conditions of the world that would require it's destruction on his/her shoulders. My god says, "pick up your cross and follow me", not "go ahead and put the thing down. As long as you acknowledge me, I can give you a piggy-back ride all the way to paradise". And if the end of the world does come, I don't think we should just throw up our hands and say, "oh well!" I believe that we were put in this world for a purpose, and it wasn't to serve our time in some kind of waystation to eternity. I believe we were meant to take care of the place that we were born into, and we shouldn't just give it up without a fight. Every moment counts when we are here, and if we quit, even for a moment, we surrender ourselves to oblivion. Granted, maybe I don't really know the best way to fight the battle, but I would rather fight and be wrong because at least then I have a chance of being in the right. If you don't fight at all, you are always going to be in the wrong.