Post-800 level musings

I'm very distracted by the Iraq situation today, as it turns out an Italian hostage was shot and the man who helped negotiate her release was killed by U.S. forces on her way to the airport. Great. The President says a full investigation is pending.

Why not fully investigate what the hell we're even doing over there?

Of course, I can bitch and moan, sitting here in a comfy suburb in Washington. What have I done lately to stop this from going on? 1508 U.S. soldiers are dead already, with roughly 20,000 Iraqi civilians already gone as well. Subsidiaries of Halliburton are getting 8.5 billion dollars from the government to build huge bases in Iraq for the troops, with Pizza Huts included. But we can't keep our boys knowledgable enough to stop them from shooting people we've released? I don't understand it. It's almost too surreal to even take as the truth anymore.

And the sick shit is that I'm part of it. It doesn't matter how many angry posts I write, I'm still somehow okay enough with the fact that people are being slaughtered. What am I going to do to prevent it? What will be the most effective way to make it end?

I don't believe that a sillyass yellow sticker on the back of an SUV will change things. What does that really mean? "Support Our Troops"? What does supporting our troops entail, exactly? How about preventing them from enlisting? Or is that too over-the-top, anti-patriotic?

What I'm asking of myself (and anyone, really) is what do we believe in when we say we're for or against something? How passionate are any of us about these things? Liberal or Conservative, blah blah blah? What part of our lives are we dedicating to preserving, informing or researching our beliefs? What part of our week are we giving to creating a better place to live? Which is more important, Survivor or a protest?

I'm getting to the point where this doesn't cut it for me anymore. By being complacent and withdrawn, nothing happens. And the people I despise who make the decisions about Iraq are counting on me to continue on in this way.

How can I have any sort of opinion on world affairs being some fat, lazy suburbanite who blogs about playing video games and the Oscars?

Is that what "supporting the troops" means? Thanks, nameless, faceless 20-yearold kid for getting your face blasted off on a sandlot in downtown Baghdad so I can sit back and go about my daily routine of self-absorbed whatever-ness.

I am the war in Iraq. I am the thing I hate the most. I have no moral values.

I have no value period unless I define my anger, define my reasons, and take action to prevent others from hiding behind their bumperstickers and complacency.

Kidlets, ask yourselves: what do you believe in? If something is wrong, why? And by allowing it to continue, are you equally wrong? If not, why not?

There are over 1500 American people dead from this war, and ask yourself what they thought they believed in. What did they believe America was doing and what it is as a country. What will make what's happening in the world more personal for you?