There seems to be a lot of query flying around lately to those who support the war on terror. Generally, it is in the form of "why aren't you/your kids/the Bush twins in the military if you/they support the war so much?" There isn't time enough in casual conversation to recite the reasons that I am not in Iraq and why my kids won't be going anytime soon. As for the Bush twins, I have no impact on their decision making processes, so why they aren't in Iraq is anyone's guess. I can say that telling anyone that they can't support the war effort without physically being involved is as absurd as claiming to support the troops while calling them terrorists.
When my six year tour in the Marine Corps was coming to a close, the nation was in a state of relative peace. I say relative because there did in fact exist jihadists that were bent on commiting acts of violence against the United States (contrary to popular belief, there were such people on the planet before Bush took office). The USS Cole bombing had not yet taken place, although the bombings at US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania had. The Khobar Towers incident was in recent memory, and American servicemen were still engaged in scuffles in Europe although no one seemed to protest the involvement there. The Clinton era was coming to a close, and America had not yet chosen a successor.
Some three years earlier,the American people gave a second presidential term to a man that never donned an armed forces uniform, yet signed into law a policy of allowing homosexuals to serve in the military that he admitted loathing without the input of a single enlisted man. There was a strong chance that his vice president, whose stated intention was to turn the military into a humanitarian "meals on wheels" service, was going to succeed him. Not long after Ross Perot talked of a "giant sucking sound" while speaking of NAFTA, the giant sucking sound in the military was that of experienced officers and non commisioned officers leaving the military in numbers not seen since the end of hostilities after WWII. And in response to widespread humor on behalf of his checkered past and marital affairs,President Clinton issued an executive order repealing the few remaining first ammendment rights of our servicemen.
In a political sense, the military was not a great place to be. Coupled with the harsh treatment that servicemen generally receive in their host military towns, it was very easy for myself and many others to make the decision to leave the Marine Corps. While the Corps gave me a great sense of accomplishment, along with good times and friends I will never forget, I was bitter towards the non serving public as a whole. I felt that it wasn't worth risking my life and limb for those that held contempt for us "Jarheads". In response to them and all of those who won't let daughters date Sailors, Soldiers, or Marines, or admit them into their establishments, I turned in my rifle and helmet and checked out with the duty officer for the last time.
But the world has changed since those days.
In the Corps, it was discouraged to go off and get married and start a family until your service was up, and for good reason. I figured if a Marine needed kids while they were in, they would issue them to us in boot camp. So I waited until I left before I ever considered fatherhood, and if I weren't a father today, I would give serious consideration to walking back up to my old command and knocking on the door. Whether they would open it for an unshaven 33 year old that is thirty pounds heavier than when he left nearly eight years ago is questionable. What isn't questionable is the fact I would return a rank lower than when I left, leaving me as the lone Corporal in my unit with grey hair and out of shape to boot. It would also leave me homeless since my paycheck as a single Corporal was less than my mortgage payment is today.
While on the subject of my kids and my mortgage, it won't take a math major to reach the conclusion that since I waited for kids until after I left the Marines eight years ago, my boys are too young to join the military, and we will enter another two decades before they are old enough. Being around my toddler son, I cannot fathom ever supporting his decision to put himself into harm's way. However, I know there are years ahead where he will turn rebellious, stay out after curfew, mouth off to me, and basically do things that will push me to decide that maybe the military isn't such a bad idea. This will happen at about the same time that the mortgage is paid off, so I would gladly go in place of my sons if we are still entangled in the current faceoff against the seventh century barbarians. I'll be in my early fifties, and with things like erectile disfunction, receding hairline, and nearly thirty years of marriage, I'll have much less to live for than my kids. Besides that, I'm already a pretty good with a rifle.
Of course, my rifle skills won't be very important since my rejoining will depend on the war being run the way I feel it should be run. Right now, it isn't. Our military is fighting with their hands tied behind their backs because those in charge are afraid that the traitors in our midst are going to label our own men as terrorists if they stuff a watery rag in some thug murderer's mouth. Marines handing out Korans and kosher cuisine to terrorists at the detention center at Gunatanamo Bay are themselves the ones labeled as the bad guys by dispicable idiots in our own government, such as Dick Durbin (D-Ill). This is no way to fight a war, and all of the traitors will have to be sent packing before I consider going back. I will not be a part of any organization where dolts such as John Murtha, Barbara Boxer or Chuck Schumer have even an inkling of control over my well being.
Additionally, I don't believe we should have as many troops on the ground in hostile areas as we currently do. In Vietnam, the Air Force was limited by the era's technology and the fact that the war was mostly taking place in dense jungle that made fighting from the air impractical. Today, we don't have that problem. When I see pictues of Iraq in print and on television, I find some things are conspicuous in their absence - such as craters. I have a problem with our troops walking around hotspots with M-16s when those places would be barren if anyone with half the will and determination of General Patton were in charge. The ground pounders need to take a break, and when the terrorists come out of the woodwork and start beheading children for taking candy from American soldiers, that area of town needs to be leveled by bombs. After all, a quick decisive bombing campaign, even with the higher amount of civilian casualties, will be more humane in the end when hostilities come to a quicker close.
That brings me to the Bush twins. Logically, I can tell you that the Bush twins aren't in Iraq right now because they don't feel like joining the military. Millions of other people their age, including Chelsea Clinton and the Kerry girls, whose parents also supported going to war, also don't feel like joining the military. Expecting them to enlist is a double standard, so before anyone that is against the war goes around blabbing that the Bush twins should be drafted, they need to draft themselves.
However, I do feel that having the Bush twins in Iraq would be a great idea. The reason for this is simple. Any time they saddled up a Humvee and drove into one of the areas where trouble can be found, you can rest assured that there would be nothing left alive in that area by the time the Bush twins got there. If they were to go on a tour of Iraq, the hostilities there would be over with next month. There wouldn't be enough bombs to drop on Fallujah if word came Barb and Jenna would be in town next week. There also wouldn't be enough booze for them when they got there.
For all of those that aren't satisfied with the short version of why I'm not in Iraq, there is the long version. For those that claim to support the troops but not the war, it should be known that every American troop that is in Iraq right now has volunteered to go and instead of insisting our politicians pull them out, or "redeploy" them, maybe it is time to support the mission that they signed up to do. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, those that have been behind the politicians that cut down and hold contempt for our military need to stop wondering why others aren't beating down the doors to sign on.