Those of us in the civilian world owe our soldiers the ultimate duty of holding our elected officials accountable for decisions to go to war. Saying thank you for your service is on the back-end.
The Patriotic furor over war, the misuse of trust for political grandstanding costs lives. The confusion created in soldiers that challenging our elected leaders is somehow a problem, or unpatriotic, must be addressed and spoken for.
We owe our military the sacred duty, as a constituted free republic, to ensure that our elected officials know the choice to go to war is, and should be, the most solemn and difficult decision a human has to undertake in the performance of his/her duty: To send its citizens to war.
A diary from a soldier with a great question inspired me to write this. www.dailykos.com/...
I can only hope many will read and use the tools of our democracy well to ensure we hold our elected officials accountable and in contempt when they do not. The war powers act is expressly written in such a way that the congress has to put its own constituents view on the table along with their personal job at stake to vote for war. Our fellow countrymen/women have died for this right to hold our leaders accountable, not the other way around as that is what a dictator is.
We do not ask Congress to do its part, I’m afraid, as we should in fear of seeming un-patriotic. They’re contempt to the public should be answered with loss of their jobs.
We have also been sent to battle in folly as some adventure to “grow-up" in.
May we honor our fallen with that fundamental task as the citizens to hold our elected officials to their sworn duty and the sanctity of the vote to send our troops into harms way.
as I responded to his question:
We honor every fighting person that has picked up the call. AND — The soldiers should expect us civilians to hold our leaders trust to bounty and to hold them accountable for the lives they send to war. Our constitution says as much with the war powers act.
WE DO NOT DENEGRATE THE FALLEN OR THE WOUNDED WHEN WE CHALLENGE OUR LEADERS — WE HONOR THE COMMITMENT TO ENSURE THE LIVES LOST, GIVEN, OR WOUNDED ARE NOT IN VAIN.
The main problem is patriotism as “WAR” vs. a necessity of peace.
A Marine Vet