Some thoughts on war

(NOTE: I don't know what, if anything, this has to do with Shakespeare. But, it has been on my mind a lot in the past two days, so here it goes.)

I was a high school senior when the United States went to war with Iraq. I remember staying up late the first night of the invasion. I watched CNN, half expecting them to say at any moment that Saddam Hussein had been killed and it was over. It was naive, yes, but then again this country's leaders had made it seem like this would be an easy operation. I remember being a bit mad when Mom came downstairs to find me watching tv at midnight (on a school night!) and sent me to bed. I might miss history.

I've thought a lot about the rhetoric leading up to the war. The mentality of us vs them. I opposed the war and my pro-war classmates parroted the right wing talking point that if I didn't love America, I should leave it. I don't know why not fully buying into the reasoning President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Collin Powell, and Condoleezza Rice put forth meant I didn't love America. But, it was us vs them, and I guess I was seen on not being on board with us. This frame of mind still plagues this country.

Some of my classmates fully bought into the speeches of the times. They enlisted in the military, ready, perhaps eager, to go overseas, fight the Republican Guard, save democracy. I don't blame them. They are braver than I ever could be. I had two classmates die in Iraq. Dying in service to one's country should be a noble thing. The effort should be worthy of the sacrifice. Ten years after the start, I've grown increasingly frustrated with the effort, the reason behind it. Over the past few days, I've wondered a lot about if the sacrifices my classmates made were worth it. In my eyes, there are few things that are worth the price of the ultimate sacrifice. I don't know that we were fighting for them in Iraq.

I dreamt last night of a summer's night when I was going to college at Southern Illinois. I came back for the summer and was spending time with my friend Scott. He was in Navy ROTC. One of our classmates had been killed over there a short time earlier. We were sitting in a grocery store parking lot, talking about him. He was a popular guy, funny, smart. "It was needless," Scott said. Other than that quote and the setting, I don't remember anything else about that time. But, its stuck with me.

As I said, I don't know how this ties into Shakespeare. Its quite possible it doesn't. I won't even try to make a half-hearted attempt to do it. But, this has been on my mind a lot recently. Thank you for being an audience, and if you can tie this into class, I'd appreciate it.

Now the sun's gone to hell 
And the moon's riding high 
Let me bid you farewell 
Every man has to die 
But it's written in the starlight 
And every line on your palm 
We're fools to make war 
On our brothers in arms

-Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms

Alan