WE ARE NOT AT WAR ...

The five year anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq is fast approaching (March 20, 2003). I have a few thoughts ...

Whatever happened to the dire comparisons between the war on terror and the threat levels represented by World War II and the Soviet Union? As it turns out, in spite of what he has claimed about the war on terror (WOT), President Bush’s dramatic declarations have turned out to be more political theater than substance. Even the very conservative CATO Institute found the time to point out that Bush’s WOT-WWII comparison “ignores history” and conflates reality.

The point is, if we really are a country at war on the magnitude of World War II we need to ask ourselves a few questions. For example, Why haven’t we raised taxes to pay for this great and decisive national moment? Why aren’t we making sacrifices like we did during WWII? (And, No, yellow magnets and flag lapels don’t equate sacrifice or patriotism). Why have we not implemented, or even considered, a draft?

Instead, we are treated to the folly of those who claim that serving as an aide to a conservative war monger, or that toiling on the front lines of the “culture war”, are significant personal contributions to the "war effort" (let’s be blunt, these people are cowards and probably need help).

On another level, if we were living in such "perilous times" one would think that our national press might actually be dedicating some time to covering the current two great wars of historic importance. Even if we whittle the WOT down to just Iraq, we have to ask why the “central front in the war on terror” is only given casual references in our national news outlets today – and usually only when the president needs to scare up a vote for his domestic spying initiatives.

Instead our national media highlights sharks off the Florida coast, or feels compelled to cover the "dramatic" outing of Prince Harry in Afghanistan.

However, we do need to acknowledge the following. Our military is at war. The families of our military personnel, with the burdens they are forced to endure, are also at war. When it suits his political agenda, our president is also at war. And, because President Bush is “paying it backward” (as it were), our grandchildren’s financial future is also at war.

As a country, however, I find it difficult to say we are a nation at war.

- Mark