Joe: Not a good comparison. Firefighters do good, by definition.
They save people's lives, not take them. Moreover, they are
always volunteers. I don't blame soldiers for war. I blame them
for not using the brains they were given within the framework of
the morality they were taught and, for those with doubts about a
war, lacking the courage they are later credited for,
particularly if they are killed.
William Mandel
Joe McDonald wrote:
>
> William Mandel wrote:
>
> > Joe: Please explain something to me. Anyone who went to fight in
> > Vietnam went to a country incapable of hurting the United States:
> > no air force, no fleet. The simplest kid with any kind of
> > morality whatever -- religious, you name it -- was capable of
> > understanding that. So he was an invader, a killer of people who
> > couldn't do anything to his country. Why should I memorialize
> > such people?
> > In all sincerity,
> > Bill Mandel
>
> Bill if you don't want to you should not memorialize such people. Isn't that the
> great thing about living in a democratic non fascist country like America as you
> yourself pointed out a few posts back. But really very few of us have the courage
> needed to resist the draft or refuse to fight once inducted or processed into the
> military, any military for that matter. Once again: blaming soldiers for war is
> like blaming fire fighters for fire.
>
> A reading of BATTLE CRIES AND LULLABIES, WOMEN IN WAR FROM PREHISTORY TO THE
> PRESENT by Linda Grant De Pauw, 1998 Univ. of Oklahoma Press: Norman will show
> that all wars have been unjust and horrible. Ms De Pauw does not have the
> standing of John Keegan. But Mr. Keegan's A HISTORY OF WARFARE, which is one of
> the many patriarchal bibles on warfare out there, does not give women any play at
> all. I am not suggesting what Alan Lomax loves, a statue of a soldier on a horse
> with a sword, but simple acknowledgment of individual human sacrifice to foreign
> policy adventurism.
>
> Bill are you a military veteran? i ask because i feel it is important to
> understand the 24/7 conditions military personnel live under that acts as the
> grease that keeps the wheels of war turning. i wonder how many shows of virtual
> hands there would be on the list if i ask: how many on the list are military
> veterans or now active duty military? cheers, country joe mcdonald
>
> -- "Ira Furor Brevis Est " - Anger is a brief madness
>
> country joe Home Pg <http://www.countryjoe.com>
> country joe's tribute to Florence Nightingale
> <http://www.countryjoe.com/nightingale>
> Berkeley Vietnam Veterans Memorial <http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Links/Comm/vvm>
> Rag Baby Online Magazine <http://www.ragbaby.com/magazine>
-- To be removed from list, e-mail "Opt Out." You may find of interest website www.BillMandel.net
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