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Active Warriors Ask for End to Iraq-Nam Involvement
Because of the Military Whistleblower Protection Act, active-duty military, National Guard and reservists may communicate with Congressmen and women on any subject without reprisal. Earlier this week, Marine Corps Sergeant Liam Madden of Rockingham, Vermont, spoke to the media after joining a couple hundred other active-duty troops in demanding an end to America’s participation in Iraq-Nam. Once again, the troops are walking point for the rest of the nation.
When a US citizen joins the military, certain rights that civilians have go away or are greatly diminished. Even in exercising free speech, Sergeant Madden and the others who have made their “Appeal for Redress” had to be very careful. They couldn’t be on-duty, in uniform and had to make clear they didn’t speak for the military as an organization. What they signed was this:
As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq. Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for US troops to come home.
What the sergeant and the 300 or so who have signed this statement through the Appeal for Redress website have stated is simply this: Iraq-nam isn’t worth fighting over. This isn’t the first time that civilians have fought a war that had no strategic meaning. South Vietnam was supposed to be a vital ally in the war on communism and to lose it would be to lose all of south east Asia. The domino effect only extended to Laos and Cambodia because the US bombing destabilized these countries – Thailand never fell, or Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma (worse happened there), and the commies never made it to Pleasantville, USA.
Of course, this isn’t the first time the troops came around before the politicians. Another Marine, the Commandant of the Corps and winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor, David M. Shoup, said in 1966 at anti-war rally at Pierce College near Los Angeles:
I don't think, the whole of Southeast Asia, as related to the present and future safety and freedom of the people of this country, is worth the life or limb of a single American [and] I believe that if we had and would keep our dirty bloody dollar crooked fingers out of the business of these nations so full of depressed exploited people, they will arrive at a solution of their own design and want, that they fight and work for. And if, unfortunately, their revolution must be of the violent type…at least what they get will be their own and not the American style, which they don't want…crammed down their throat.
Jarheads apparently think better than chickenhawks like Messrs. Cheney, Wolfowitz and Feith. Sergeant Madden’s enlistment is up January 20, 2007, but until then, it is the duty of every civilian to make sure that he and his compatriots don’t suffer any reprisals. Just because they are illegal doesn’t mean they won’t happen. The motto of the US Marine Corps is Semper fidelis, always loyal. Loyalty is a two-way street, though, and Sergeant Madden holds an IOU from the rest of America. If ever there was a time to support the troops, this is it. Does America have his back?
© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.
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