Changed Your Mind About War? Maybe You Can Return it at Wal-Mart

[dweller]

Customer Service

by Steve Backus

Recently on National Public Radio, a woman explained why she had changed her mind about the war in Iraq. She said, "It's no
longer worthwhile" as if talking about hanging her laundry, as if it were something she'd purchased at Wal-Mart and decided to
return. It occurred to me she had exposed in that single word the cavalier violence not only of the war itself but the violence of the
American mind: We can kill at whim. We can waltz into other countries with our guns loaded when we feel like it. We can skip off to
Granada or Panama and bomb away as easily as hanging our clothes on the line or throwing them in the dryer, whichever is more
"worthwhile."

Everything is weighed in its exchange value: how much can I get out of this adventure? If we only kill a few people and end up with a
lot of oil, it sure sounds worthwhile to me, never mind the moral and legal aspects, never mind the lies and the fact that some (the
oil men at the top) benefit lots more than I do.

It is vile to promote the war, vote for it, support it with your flags and stickers, and then, because the violence continues, or it seems
it might be siphoning all your money, or that it might be ruining the economy, or that it's just not going as expected, decide it is not
"worthwhile". War is not worthwhile. War is the last resort when you are confronted with imminent attack. We were never for one
second confronted with such a situation. And now when people talk about how they have changed their minds, it is sickening to
hear it.

How can you change your mind about something about which you are absolutely certain? It is pathetic to do so, and the fact that
we see this phenomena in the United States points to deeper cultural, social and moral problems. Is it the case that those who have
shifted their position have done so because we are not winning the war? Is it the case that because we are losing, it now appears to
have been a bad idea? This alone undermines the reasons for going to war in the first place. If you go to war as a last resort, then
winning or losing is not something to be taken into account. If you go to war as a last resort, you go to war with everything you have:
You make sure you have as much personnel as possible, you fund it as much as possible, you demand sacrifice from all sectors of
society, you respect your enemy, and you focus all of your attention on ending this regretted decision as soon as possible, win or
lose.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0910-29.htm

dp

[Demobrat]

1. Of course it's not worthwhile.

The war was supposed to bring down the cost of filling up her SUV. Didn't happen. So what's the point?

[tabasco]

2. It's reality entertainment for millions of shallow, stupid people.

The only source of pride in their miserable lives is seeing America bomb a third-world country.

They love war as long as they don't have to fight it.

But I suppose the reality teevee has become boring, since US troops have largely deployed to bases to guard oil facilities.