Fighter

The American Troops are leaving Iraq- „We’re comming home“! These cries were heard throughout various Tv and radio stations as the news broke. They left as they came- in the dark of the night, days before they were scheduled to leave. As this historic moment takes place I’ve come to ask myself what is going through the heads of these young men. What do they feel? Are they joyous? Are they scared about the future? Did they ask themselves why they were fighting in the first place?

The war has caused some major media storm, it has split a country into pro- and cons- and has laid the foundations for various books and TV documentaries. All the while I think it is important to discuss pros and cons of every affair in today’s politics I’ve been shocked to see so many people condescend the soldiers fighting in this war. Surely, events which occurred in Abu Grahib and Guantanamo are not pleasant; they must be investigated and those responsible convicted- yet what about those thousands of honest men who risk their lives ever day? What did they feel when their own people turned against them?

Some of these men are young boys fresh out of high school who wanted to use their war money to go to college- many of these young, hopeful individuals have died. Sure, maybe they died for a war they weren’t meant to fight- but they did. Shouldn’t we honour their memory by remembering how brave they were instead of condescending them for invading another country?!

We humans have a great way of blaming those who really aren’t responsible- the soldiers didn’t make the decision to invade Iraq by themselves. They were serving their country as it was run by their leader- however qualified or unqualified he may have been. They were fighting for freedom, for the liberation of an oppressed people- and all we can do is harass them from our sofas.

Instead of complaining about their uselessness, maybe we should ask ourselves what we have done to fight for our beliefs. When was the last time you spoke out about injustice? When was the last time you got involved to fight for what you believe? I’m not suggesting that you join the armed forces, but rather you should take a cue from them! They fight for their country, their hope of freedom daily-yet when do we fight? Its time for us civilians to get up from that couch and make a difference. These boys are fighting for us- its time that we fight for ourselves!

No matter what your opinion on this war was, has been, is, we should all salute these brave young men who risk their life in the fight for a free, better world!