Today my son is 18, and I realize that should our stressed military need to turn to the draft, my son could be among those called. So as I now watch the mother in the new MoveOn "Alex Ad" tell John McCain he can't have her one year-old son, I'm reminded of just how naive I was eight years ago. I really had no idea that I was working to keep my son out of war at the time.
John McCain has taken pride in saying we are in Iraq for however long it takes. He has had over a year to help Americans understand what his plan is in Iraq, and still, all we know is that we should stay for as long as it takes. This approach simply does not work in Iraq, a country where we are not welcome and all too often our soldiers can't even tell who the enemy is.
This occupation of Iraq is something that history really should give us some insights on. Sectarian conflicts go on for centuries. Those of us that think we can fix Iraq by hanging tough are naive or in denial. The Mom in the Alex Ad has more foresight than I did eight years ago by saying by saying "No." to John McCain.
The Iraq occupation is a conflict John McCain has no realistic idea of how to end. He is offering us more of the same. We can't afford more of the same. I'm also a founder of, MomsRising.org. We are working to pass policies that support families and ultimately our future. We are motivated by our children. They cause us to take a long view.
Unfortunately so long as we are bogged down in Iraq, the chance of us investing the way we need to in our future is small. We will continue to be a country that neglects its children and families. Few people realized that out of over 170 countries in the world, only 4 have no form of paid leave for new mothers -- Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, Liberia and The United States of America; our child mortality is 37th worldwide; we have 40,000 kindergarteners home alone after school and 14 million children unsupervised; our health care system is a study in dysfunction; our schools are underfunded and employers are deeply biased against mothers in hiring and wages.
It is time for us to responsibly exit Iraq. We are not making ourselves or Iraq safe. Then we will be able to focus on the very vitally important issues that must be addressed in our own back yard.
The image of one-year old Alex, with his mom saying "No," is about having the right priorities. In addition to being an ongoing tragedy, Iraq is distracting us from global warming, family issues, our economy, healthcare, and other important issues at home. We need to get back on track.
And Joan, your juxtaposition of unrelated issues is pretty fuzzy thinking: paid leave for mothers, kindergartners home alone after school, biased employers, and a lousy health care system. Didn't all those problems exist before Iraq? Were we just about to solve them all but the plug got pulled because of Iraq?
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I agree with you that America is egregiously off -track. However - since America is only and forever ABOUT war - we have told our children to find a way to emigrate - and not look back. They will also have to worry about their children - for as your statistics prove - we are losing the battle here on a humane level for most Americans. My children may never finish college - or they will incur profuse debt to do so. And how will they afford college for their children? Health care? WHAT health care? What is there to stay for? So that their children can worry about these same problems? To continue to feed the ravaging never-ending appetite of the US Military Industrial Complex? No thank you - there isn't enough young blood in America to keep that behemoth sated
The statistics you offer are wonderful tools in discussions on these issues. I wish you had linked to some of the sources for them, as reliable numbers (from reliable reports) are difficult to acquire/determine.
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Now, I am concerned that support for the troops is drifting back to the Viet Nam attitude. This poster and the mother in the "Alex" commercial lean toward denigrating the troops. Even if McCain were elected twice, he could not send Alex into war. That would take another Republican and a draft.
Who can look so far into the future to decide that his/her son/daughter should not serve? My daughter is as opposed to the Iraq war as I am, yet she is attending the Naval Academy and intends to serve our nation. Just because we currently have an idiot for commander in chief does not mean that our nation does not need a defense. Even if McCain were somehow elected, the nation will need a defense. And that defense will be the stronger if our service branches are not populated by fools.
While I completely empathize with Alex's mom, she is shortsighted.
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=EBB20061022&articleId=3558
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We can learn a lot from them.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7430600.stm
Australia, one of the first countries to commit troops to the war in Iraq five years ago, has ended its combat operations there.
…"Of most concern to this government was the manner in which the decision to go to war was made: the abuse of intelligence information, a failure to disclose to the Australian people the qualified nature of that intelligence," Mr Rudd said.
He added the public had not been told of a pre-war warning that an attack on Iraq would increase, not decrease, the terrorist threat to Australia. ….
Our soldiers have worked tirelessly to ensure that local people in southern Iraq have the best possible chance to move on from their suffering under Saddam's regime and, as a government, we are extremely proud of their service," he said in a statement on Sunday.
He singled out the Australian contribution to the Iraqi army's Counter Insurgency Academy as a "lasting legacy".
Yours sincerely,
The Playdo Institute
Handel Glassberg, President
Yours sincerely,
The Playdo Institute
Handel Glassberg, President
My son is the only child I have as is my friend's. I served in the Military during Gulf War #1, but at that time we did what the US is famous for: protected the weak(er) nations...not invading them.
It's a shame that each day something comes about about the criminal, unethical behavoir of the current Admin, yet, where is the uproar!?
O Canada.....
(I guess I should be learning the rest of the song ASAP)