Today, I thought I would stir up the hornet’s nest a little and give you my two cents on the war. These are my opinion and observations and you are entitled to yours. All I ask is that you be respectful in the comment section. Rarely, do I delete comment, but I have the power to do so. I remind you that I was the wife of an active duty soldier until his retirement last October – and he did get a “Sandbox Vacation Package”(aka Iraq). Truly, if anyone should be anti-war, it is the wife of a soldier. Young Grasshopper….if you think that is the norm, you must be smoking something. Military families are the ones who support the mission the most and they have the most to lose. We all want to be armchair something or other and we may hold a sign and practice our freedom as Americans any way we choose, but does it really help or hurt those who are actually fighting for you?

On to the meat of this discussion. There was a “peace” rally yesterday in New Orleans and it was countered by the Gathering of Eagles. I have been searching for the “after-action” report from both and have yet to find them. Hopefully, they all enjoyed New Orleans and all the festivals it had to offer downtown and are too tired to write. So I will write something about it without ever having been there…hey, this is what you get for free readers (evil laugh inserted here).

Peace Protesters – Here is where is gets ugly, because I will write a generalization of who they are and get yelled at for something. These are people who truly believe what they believe and for the most part their reasonings are distorted by conspiracy theories and anti-government ideologies. Free Country ya know. Most of these people have never been in the “inner circle” of the military but feel it is their place to make a stand against the war. Their speakers (and I did not check the list) are people who somehow have come into contact with the war and feel it is wrong. The New Orleans “peace commercial promos” stated that the Federal Government should be spending its’ time and money on New Orleans rebuilding and not (in my own words) blowing up buildings and rebuilding them in someone else’s yard. In other words, they want the Federal Government to only think locally. They got together with handmade signs about wanting the Feds to “Make Levees not war” yadayadayada. They fed off each other and internally became angered by the action of the war itself. They enjoyed the rest of the day together and went home feeling like they accomplished something.

Gathering of Eagles – Generally, these people consist of veterans or people who have one degree of separation from a soldier. They want peace too – believe me – these are people with the most to lose. But they know first hand that the “anti-war” movement directly impacts the morale and well-well being of those in uniform and the ones they leave behind while they fight for our freedom. So they mobilize and traveled to New Orleans and various other cities yesterday with their signs and shirts and stood near the “peace demonstrators” to let the world know that they “support the troops.” They enjoyed the rest of the day together and went home feeling like they accomplished something.

Wow, I am tired after writing about the event I didn’t attend and I’m only on my first cup of coffee this Sunday AM. Now I am unsure of what was actually accomplished yesterday and if anyone left completely satisfied. Then again, do you think a man or woman sleeping in a foreign country away from their families and home cares what went on yesterday. You betcha they do, because unlike you and me who slept in our own bed, they are serving out their mission and doing their job and would like to know that you support and appreciate their efforts.

Regardless if you feel strongly enough to protest about your opinion of the war or not, let’s all come to some common ground for the sake of my sanity!
* we all want to be safe in our own Country
* we don’t want anyone to be killed on foreign soil or U.S. soil
* we feel strongly in our own beliefs and opinions
* we want the best for our generation and generations to come

I also think we can all agree that we need to support the men and women in uniform, past and present. This is where I will ask ALL of you kindly to make holiday cards, send letters and packages, donate your hard earned money or organize a group to help those who support your right to feel and believe the way you do. I run the Louisiana website for Soldiers’ Angels (part of an international non-profit) to make a difference in the lives of all heroes and their families. Certainly everyone can agree that this a cause they should join. So come on over to the Louisiana website or stop over to the main site and step up to the plate and show you care. Feel free to call or e-mail me about how you can help. Gretaperry@gmail.com (985)807-4805

Can you believe I wrote all this before 7:30 on a Sunday AM? phew Ready for the day now after I insert the coffee IV. The Princess of Positive has spoken!
(c/p at NOLA.com)

5 Replies to “Give war a chance?”

  1. This should help with troop support if we can get it on the radio:

    The author of I Wanna Go Home, Karridine, has authorized me to give away 1,000 free copies of the song to our men and women in the military for personal use only. However, recipients of a free copy can let anybody listen to it if they want. Members of the military can put it on their i-pod, use it on their computer, or make one CD.

    You can find out how to get a free copy at 1,000 Free Copies.

    If you want a copy for review e-mail me. My e-mail address is on the sidebar.

  2. Greta,

    I have to disagree with you somewhat when you say “Military families are the ones who support the mission the most…” I can only speak for myself of course but I suspect that many military families (like myself) are just as confused and frustrated about this war as the rest of our country. The trouble with this debate is that it’s always couched in simplistic “black-and-white” terms – either we stay and fight at the current level of troops or we leave completely. Nobody is discussing the reasonable middle ground. I think we should stay to fight al-Qaeda but we can do that with smaller numbers based perhaps in Northern Iraq. We should continue to train Iraqi forces but at the end of the day we must realize that this is ultimately Iraq’s fight and only Iraqis can “win” this war. President Bush has compared our presence in Iraq to our presence in Korea but I don’t think that is a good analogy. In Korea we had a cease fire. Also, there is a huge difference between a how our military presence is perceived in Asia and how our military presence is perceived in the Middle East.

    Do I support our troops? Yes. Absolutely. No question. Do I support the mission? I don’t honestly know what that means anymore. If it means a smart, nuanced, multi-prong approach to fighting the Global War on Terror then yes I support the mission.

  3. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t put much stock in either side of the political fence. However, we all need to understand (families and soldiers alike), that when we joined the military, we weren’t going to pick and chose our battles — that is done by the politicos in DC. And where were all those protesters when we were in Bosnia, Somalia, Waco, and Ruby Ridge? Hmmm, makes me wonder what they are really protesting.

    However, I am in Texas. My husband is in Al Asad, Iraq. Neither of us heard anything about their protest, so you can tell how big a media event it was — but I’m glad it made so many people happy with themselves. Perhaps it will give them enough self esteem to do something about their own problems rather than hoping someone else will take care of them for them.

    48 weeks and counting until my husband comes home. 😀

    A Blue Star Wife

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