Memorial Day.
The US celebrate today as Memorial Day, a day when we remember those who have fallen in service.
I think it's astonishing that some people offer to put their lives at risk to protect the rest of us at times when our country faces maximum danger, and I get so angry at the fact that some politicians take this incredible act of generosity so lightly and enter wars of choice, like the Iraq war; a war that was completely unnecessary.
Nothing sums up the taking of this act of generosity too lightly as Cheney's remark, when the dead from Iraq reached 4,000, that those who died, "volunteered", as if this somehow removed from politicians the need to respect the generosity of what the servicemen were offering.
What's even more astonishing to me is that the Cheney's of this world - and their right wing counterparts - are allowed to paint themselves as, somehow, on the side of the troops, even as they place them in danger unnecessarily. The Cheney's of this world don't give a shit about the troops, as Cheney's cynical remark about them "volunteering" amply proves.
So today we rightly remember those who have fallen, but we should also remember the people who placed them in danger unnecessarily, and we should seek ways to make them accountable for what they have done.
That's the real way to show respect for the dead. We should work to make sure that no politicians ever again take the volunteer army's incredible offer to defend us at our moment of maximum danger as lightly or as flippantly as Bush and Cheney did.
UPDATE:
This picture says all that needs to be said about the sacrifice which some soldiers make. It's a sacrifice that has devastating effects on the lives of everyone who knew them, but especially on their children.
It appalls me that people like Dick Cheney and George Bush manipulated evidence in order to bring about a war of choice. A war which has devastated hundreds of thousands of people's lives, bringing grief and misery which will take years and years to come to terms with.
And, the most appalling thing, is that none of it was necessary.
I apologise if I sound like a broken record, but Obama needs to prosecute these people.
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