In A Rush to Death

I just read a New York Times article stating that the U.S. is rushing a new weapons order to Israel to help them in their onslaught against the evil members of Hezbullah. Doesn't it make you feel good inside knowing that your tax dollars are being used to help the Israeli army kill people in Lebanon? (The majority of the dead are civilians, including many children. )

Remember, they're rushing the order. This is urgent. More guns. More bombs. More death.

I've noticed that the majority of people who romanticize war are those who have not fought it. Talk with veterans. Even those who are proud of their overseas service will, when pressed, clam up about their actual combat experience. My father was a soldier--a young man when he was sent to Korea. He looked back on his time in the military with fondness, but he never said much about what he did or what he saw during the war.

Again, I was challenged a few days ago because I called for justice against oppression. Sometimes fighting is necessary. When a nation is invaded, the citizens of that nation must take up arms to defend themselves. A right enumerated in the U.S. Constitution.

So why wouldn't we expect the people of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon to have similar feelings? The right to bear arms. The right to self-defense. The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In a way which suits their own culture.

I've heard it said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. So after Vietnam, why does anyone think that the U.S. can invade--or support the invasion--of a sovereign nation and expect the people to roll over and obey?

Hurry up with those weapons. More dead or orphaned Palestinian and Lebanese children within the week.

We are living in the age of insanity.