Either side of the argument using the death of a soldier/sailor/marine is cheap. On the other hand, why should his opinion pro or con count for more than anothers?
Something happens however when you take a step back. Its no longer one sailor, or two marines, or even a dozen soldiers. Its an aggregate loss that gnaws at our nation. We begin to ask, is it worth the cost?
Each person, each American citizen, has a right to form his own opinion about what our govt does. Hopefully he then votes on his/her convictions. I fail to see why we constantly believe that warriors have a right to speak authoritatively about war, except insofar as the conditions under which they fight it.
In my 6 years in the reserves I never saw combat, for that I am completely grateful. I don’t feel however that makes me less qualified to pass judgement than anybody else about what our nation does in the world, especially with regards to war.
Each time I hear a story of another person who was killed in Iraq, I weep a bit on the inside and I ask myself was it worth it? More importantly though is my judgement worth less because I am not there?
