I heard this morning that there is another CNMI man coming home from the war in Iraq for burial. Leroy Camacho.
I want to cry. Such a sad and mournful event.
I want to scream. Such a needless loss.
There are other opportunities for our young men and women. They might require hard work. They might not be draped in red, white and blue. But they are honorable and moral.
1. Education--college, vocational education. Studying and writing and reading and researching--these activities are easier than marching, slogging through heat and grime, killing and living with fear.
2. Jobs in the states--if you're willing to move for a military career, you can be willing to move for better-paying jobs with better benefits in the mainland.
3. The religious life--dedicate yourself to peace and love. We need more priests, brothers, nuns.
We are not in the midst of World War II, where our military men and women were fighting against evil, where the moral equation justified the war. Signing up for a military career at present is agreeing to follow leaders like our President who make immoral choices. Joining the war effort now is agreeing to become a murderer.
I don't believe anyone from the CNMI who has died in Iraq knew that before deployment. I think we have failed to discuss the ramifications of a military career now. We continue to laud praise and glory on the slain soldiers. And those soldiers are innocents led to slaughter.
But we can't claim innocence forever. We have a duty to educate ourselves. We have a duty to educate our CNMI youth--and stop promoting jingoism.
Patriotism does not require blind allegiance to an immoral war.
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2 comments:
I'd just like to add they we are fighting a war for a President for whom we are not even allowed to cast a vote.
Saipan Writer - Perfectly true regarding the moral challenge behind the war. There are other opportunities for our young people. Not as self-evident, obvious and immediate as joining the rank-and-file military, but just as important. I tell my fifth-grade students regularly how important their education is; how important it is to learn a trade. On the other hand, I am recommending the military to my own son, BUT I have the background to inform him of all of his options in the military as far as a career is concerned. The poor, the young people with few options and the minimally educated - will always be sent to the front lines.
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