About the Ribbon

UPDATE: The Iraqi Cabinet agreed that U.S. troops should be out of Iraq's cities and towns by June 30, 2009, and that U.S. troops should be completely gone by December 31, 2011. President Obama promised we'd be out in sixteen months. That's May 20, 2010. Let's aim for the sixteen month goal.

U.S. Military Casualties Reports:



Civilians Reported Killed by Military Intervention in Iraq:

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Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Well, my sister flew out of the country Saturday night. From Wisconsin to the East Coast to Germany to Kuwait, and from there to Iraq. We had a good talk on Friday night (she made a point of calling everyone she could--to say goodbye--before she cancelled her cell phone service on Saturday). She's a good person, and from all that I can tell, becoming a good soldier.

Something she told me during that conversation got me thinking. She mentioned that she didn't like to call a friend of hers anymore because all her friend had to say was about how stupid this war is and why should Skyehunter be going over there at all? Personally, I think this demonstrates this friend's tactlessness and lack of a concrete understanding of the situation. My sister knows that I know this is a stupid war, but she and I both know she is going because she is told to go. She's a soldier; it's what she does with her life right now. She also knows I respect that and I love her.


So now I’ve been thinking about something: Do I "support our troops"? What does that phrase mean anyway? Does it mean supporting this or any other war, asking no questions and voicing no objections? Does it mean cheering for our soldiers to defeat the "bad guys," to crush the enemy? Does it mean accepting the political operations of the rich and powerful as they launch military campaigns to secure further wealth and power for themselves?

I would suggest that these meanings are applied to the phrase in many cases. This is why I refrain from using the little slogan, and why I don't have yellow ribbons plastered up everywhere right now. What I have on this blog is a blue and yellow ribbon.

Our Iraq War has nothing to do with 9/11, our self-styled "war on terror," national or international security. Fuelled by our international vengeance sweep, our aggression toward and occupation of Iraq is about oil and power, religion and distraction. On the heels of our failure in Afghanistan, we turn on Iraq--and our failure in Iraq is already resulting in rumblings about Iran. Hello? We are the terrorists here.

The ribbon represents my greatest hopes for the future. Blue: The call for peace--an international apology for our inexcusable aggression against other countries and our self-interested interference in their internal affairs, submission to international and sovereign bodies in matters of reparation for our actions and repayment for the destruction we have wrought, cessation of preemptive military action worldwide, insistence that U.S. weapons manufacturers share in the responsibility for the results of their products' usage, and a new emphasis on non-violent diplomatic action in our foreign policy. Yellow: The call for genuine support for our troops--bringing them home, funding their healing and enabling their return to their communities, preventing future wars as far as is possible through our own efforts, and recognizing and honoring the value of all human life.

Pretty tall orders, aren't they? But I have found that one of the greatest sorrows of our civilization is that our dreams are too small and too mean. Our goals reflect our dreamlessness and our actions arise from our shortsightedness. I am a Christian who worships the God who named Godself "I AM," and whose imperatives to us are about nothing but love. Few things make me so angry so quickly as fellow Christians in my community and in my country who teach people to hate us and our God by proclaiming the kind of agenda symbolized by a yellow ribbon magnet clinging to the backside of an SUV.

Count the costs, compare the values of conscience and culture, critically evaluate history and what we can learn from it, contemplate the real priorities of your own faith--if you dare. For my part, I am trying my best to think along these lines. What you have read here are the conclusions I have reached at this time.

God, Your will be done on Earth; and bring my sister safely home soon. Amen

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[For updates on Skyehunter, see Soldier Sister posts.]