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Support
the Troops
June
3, 2003
By John Walker
 Support
the troops. Heard that one lately?
Of course not. They no longer need our support. They've done
their duty as propaganda pawns in a war with no rational justification.
George W. Bush has hopped from one of our naval jets to the
deck of one of our carriers upon which he strode manfully
in front of a sign saying "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" to proclaim
that we've more or less pretty much won if not a war at least
"The Battle of Baghdad." Thank you troops, couldn't have done
it without you.
A soldier died last Thursday - the ninth that week, 31st
that month. He was gunned down by somebody we liberated. Do
you know that soldier's name? Of course not. He's an afterthought
in a phony war that no longer needs any of the bloody-shirt-waving
PR his death would have provided in the cause of shutting
up the peaceniks and nervous nellies.
Had he died when such a sacrifice would have served the warmongering
purposes of the neo-cons and Faux News you would not only
have known his name, you would have seen your fill of picture-bites
of his hometown, his weeping friends and relatives, and maybe
even a few pious expressions of gratitude for the ultimate
sacrifice from Bush himself.
But, this soldier died too late for such honors. Too bad
- that's show business.
At least those of his comrades who can still stand can come
marching home now, heads held high with hearts full of pride
in a "Mission Accomplished." (Hopefully they won't notice
that the "support" the Republican congress has provided them
in their absence includes a $15 billion cut in their veterans
benefits over the next ten years.)
But hey, at least they're home! Home at last!
Except they aren't. The 3rd Infantry Division who sucked
sand from Kuwait to Baghdad where they became instant Rent-a-Cops
are still there - still sucking sand, still being shot at
by the liberated, and still dying. Most have been deployed
for nine months or more. Nine months: the period of human
gestation. Nine months out of lives in which children have
been born and not yet held, and loved ones have died without
proper farewell, and spouses carry on as virtual single parents
beneath the burden of substandard military pay. Nine months
is a long time to sit sucking sand and being shot at and being
blamed for allowing the destruction of the artifacts of the
origins of Civilization.
Of course Donald Rumsfeld - law-bending CEO-cum-Secretary
of Offense - is sending reinforcements. Reinforcements, mind
you, not replacements. It seems we're all of a sudden stretched
a bit tight sniper-fodderwise. How are we to hold back the
tide of angry Muslim societal chaos sufficiently long enough
to pump oil and, at the same time, have enough kickass left
to spank Iran (or Syria, or al-Qaeda, or Kim Il, or whomever
else the Socktucker neo-con war ninnies deem worthy of our
belligerent, pre-emptive attention)?
Solution simple: Leave the 3rd Infantry in-country. Let them
eat MRE. They're damned lucky it isn't Spam.
Word has it that morale is not so hot these days among the
troops who received so much of our generous, unqualified support
when the reporters were embedded and the cameras were rolling.
Now they want to come home. What a bunch of sniveling ingrates!
Did they think they signed up for the Cub Scouts? Obviously
all that support went to their heads.
John Walker is an unemployed Web developer and freelance
writer in Denver.
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