"The 9/11 Generation": a report from fantasy land compliments of the Weakly Sub-Standard

[laststeamtrain]

The 9/11 Generation
Better than the Boomers.
by Dean Barnett
07/30/2007, Volume 012, Issue 43


In the 1960s, history called the Baby Boomers. They didn't answer the phone.

Confronted with a generation-defining conflict, the cold war, the Boomers--those, at any rate, who came to be emblematic of their generation--took the opposite path from their parents during World War II. Sadly, the excesses of Woodstock became the face of the Boomers' response to their moment of challenge. War protests where agitated youths derided American soldiers as baby-killers added no luster to their image.

Few of the leading lights of that generation joined the military. Most calculated how they could avoid military service, and their attitude rippled through the rest of the century. In the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, military service didn't occur to most young people as an option, let alone a duty.

But now, once again, history is calling. Fortunately, the present generation appears more reminiscent of their grandparents than their parents.

I've spent much of the past two weeks speaking with young people (and a few not-so-young) who have made the decision to serve their country by volunteering for the military. Some of these men have Ivy League degrees; all of them are talented and intelligent individuals who--contrary to John Kerry's infamous "botched joke" ("Education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq")--could have chosen to do anything with their lives. Having signed up, they have either gone to Iraq or look forward to doing so. Not surprisingly, the mainstream media have underreported their stories.

One of the excesses of the 1960s that present-day liberals have disowned and disavowed since 9/11 is the demonization of the American military. While every now and then an unrepentant liberal like Charlie Rangel will appear on cable news and casually accuse U.S. troops of engaging in baby-killing in Iraq, the liberal establishment generally knows better. They "support" the American military--at least in the abstract, until it does anything resembling fighting a war.

In search of a new narrative, 21st-century liberals have settled on the "soldiers are victims" meme. Democratic senators (and the occasional Republican senator who's facing a tough reelection campaign) routinely pronounce their concern for our "children" in Iraq. One of the reasons John Kerry's "botched joke" resonated so strongly was that it fit the liberals' narrative. The Democratic party would have you believe that our soldiers are children or, at best, adults with few options: In short, a callous and mendacious administration has victimized the young, the gullible, and the hopeless, and stuck them in Iraq.

<more>

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/904pffgs.asp

[bluestateguy]

1. The Baby Boomers have their faults but they did a lot of things right too

Were it not for the Boomers refusing to accept 1940's and 1950's style social conformity, blacks would still be drinking from separate drinking fountains and women would still be second class citizens.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. What does Mr. Barnett...

Call the blood spilled in The Nam? Was that not answering the phone?

Twerp.

[OETKB]

3. How do we judge ourselves?

We get all bogged down trying to seem appropriately militaristic while at the same time yearning for peace. I believe it is because we do not choose the right starting point. Wars are started by somebodies. And history shows that eventually they pay for it. They pay in people, wealth, security or loathing. There have been no good wars and the only reason we have soldiers is that there is some political entity that will not evolve to this rightful conclusion. In World War I and II, the so called Axis suffered mass destruction by those they attacked and in many cases overly so. The ones to judge whether the war was "good" or "bad" were the Germans. I think they have made their decision. The same can be said for the rest of the 20th and 21st centuries. The only time progress in human wealth occurs is during times of peace.

It is time to stop tit for tatting these neoconservatives and stand up for what we really believe. There is no longer any reason for one country to make war against another. Isolated criminal groups a.k.a terrorists should be dealt with by international law and international cooperation. If citizens in any country feels their government is protecting their rights and allowing a decent life, they will readily hand in anyone who wishes to take those freedoms from them.

The United States attacked Afghanistan and Iraq, yes both, and now are paying for those follies. Yes, I believe, there were other ways to handle both those situations. A simple glance of the lay of the land in both those places would have predicted the troubles we are having today. Look how groups like Hamas and Hezbollah gain support in their respective regions. As unsavory as they may be they provide needed services to the communities they inhabit. When you become an element in someone's survival while the outside world thinks they can bend you to their will by denying these resources, who do you think you will line up with? Some may think South Africa was an exception but they were already deprived of resources with no ready source to receive it, so it was the over-class that suffered more. It does not match the same situation. Until we understand we must help without strings attached, except decent world citizenship, I do not see progress being made.

Oddly enough our UN Ambassador in July 20th op-ed page in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/20/opinion/20khalilzad.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1185040898-41f2HbZTbM6ZuElC5nn1LA, lays out a scenario that even the Bush administration realizes this may need attention. Isn't it odd that a signer of the PNAC manifesto is calling for help from the UN? Are they starting to cry uncle? Do they have a "cake and eat it" strategy? Before even such peaceful methods get screwed up we need to pay attention to the details on this one. Has anyone seen anything in press reports where this radical departure for this administration is taking shape. October surprise anyone?

[bemildred]

4. "Few of the leading lights of that generation joined the military."

This guy so full of shit, in so many ways.

[laststeamtrain]

5. See thread linked below.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3392404