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A US marine kidnapped by an armed group who they have threatened to behead unless Iraqi prisoners are released.
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My
first reaction upon hearing of the US marine being kidnapped in
Iraq and being threatened with death if the US command does not
release Iraqi prisoners—well, my heart just sank. The US
command will never give in to a demand like that, especially
behind that type of threat. And not for an individual marine.
Then that emotion morphs a bit and I get real p**d for a couple
of reasons and in two different ways.
For
one, I have a real serious problem with wanna-be dictators,
religious zealots regardless of who they are, and just plain old
thugs and extortionists—I don’t care what flag or banner
they proclaim and wrap themselves in; a thug is a thug—that
includes those that now hold the life of a single marine in
their hands as well as those that are responsible for that
marine being there in the first place.
Be
that as it may, I’m getting old, am in an electric wheelchair,
absolutely despise Bush and the rest of the “Mayberry
Machiavellis” around him, was opposed to the invasion of Iraq,
and am opposed to the subsequent occupation; but this trying to
use the life of a single marine in this manner—I could get
real medieval with what I see as a brutal, senseless murder, if
in fact they do what they say they will do.
At
the very same time, I hold the Bush Bunch absolutely and totally
responsible for this mess he calls “Operation Iraqi
Freedom.” (These were the people that not long ago told
everyone to just sit down and shut up as the “grown-ups” are
in charge now.) They, through a refusal to listen to anything
from anyone (including some on their own staff) if it opposed
their ideology and greed-based push to invade Iraq, have
actually turned it into what it wasn’t—ground zero for
“terrorism” and a showcase for how low, how inhuman, and how
brutal man can and will be to man.
And
who will pay the price? Quite possibly and sadly this young,
lone marine—would that I could take his place, as I am tired
of seeing young people die—Iraqis, Americans, and everyone in
between. There is an element of truth behind “Once a Marine,
Always a Marine,” even for an old radical like me, and it
kills my “soul” to see anyone, let alone a “fellow”
marine, in this position, a position others made for him.
The
only thing that I see Bush’s “Bring them on” has
accomplished in Iraq is to have provided the window of
opportunity for the worst in people to become the dominant
behavior.
I
am as angry as a man can be that Bush put this marine in this
position. I am also as mad as hell at those who kidnapped that
marine and think they can change anything with his senseless
murder, if in fact that does happen. One lone marine is caught
in a vice by two equally absurd and opposing forces.
How
can either of them be right when they’re both wrong?
Jack
Dalton is a 60-year-old service-connected, disabled
veteran who spent two years in Vietnam (1965, 66, 67). Based in
Portland, Oregon, he holds an MS in Labor and Political
Economics. He can be reached at Jack_Dalton@ommp.org.
For further information, please visit Jack Dalton’s website.
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