There's an interesting debate brewing over at http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com, on my previous blog post, "Let's All Blame the Troops for the Mess They're In," which I cross-posted.  (You can access the comments by clicking on "TPM Cafe" and then, "The Coffee House,")--and that is:

Are those who volunteer to fight in an ill-conceived and ill-planned war somehow to be blamed for their short-sightedness? Shouldn't they know better? 

In my post, after explaining that every male member of my family is either active-duty military now, and/or are combat vets--(my nephew's recent deployment to Baghdad with the Army makes the sixth trip to this miserable war by members of my family, inluding my son, who has been twice with the Marines)--I also made it clear that the vast majority of those deploying to this war did not just recently sign up. 

Most have already been once, twice, or more times, and most do not want to return once they have done their duty in hell.  They go because they have no choice in the matter.

Still, there is a lingering superior sort of whiff in the air that, well really, they signed up, after all, so they deserve what they get. 

The comments bring up all sorts of lofty intellectual debates on historical and geopolitical context, and whether or not the troops are fighting for lofty ideals or crass capitalism (i.e., oil.)

In my responses to the comments, I also explained that the only people in the military service who even have time for such soul-searching would be ranking officers, maybe some NCOs at the sergeant's level, maybe staff positions.

But the "grunts on the ground" are, by and large, KIDS, aged 18-23.  Many of them are just out of high school and have never even left home before boot camp. And I can assure you that all they care about is: (a) getting home alive, in one piece, and of relatively sound mind and (b) seeing their buddies make it home in the same shape.

Those of you who've been hanging out with me over here at Blue Inkblots are probably aware that my son was atypical for most enlisted Marines.  He was 26, a college graduate (Psychology degree), who packed in his seabag books by Jung, Lao Tsu, and Thoreau, as well as a journal. 

In that journal, while battling in the Anbar province, he wrote, "At the end of the day, all I care about is the guy in front of me, the guy behind me, and the guys to either side of me."

Most of the men and women who fight wars are young and impressionable, and they have earned the right to believe that they are fighting for mom, God, and applie pie if that gets them home alive.

Which brings me to my quote in the title, (which, again, I cross-posted over at Talking Points). 

While discussing this whole argument with my husband, he frowned.  As I've mentioned both here, and at Talking Points, in previous posts, my husband served with the 101st Airborne as a 1st Lt. combat platoon leader in Vietnam, and both of his brothers are Army Special Forces veterans, one recently retired at Brigadier General.  All the male cousins in the family have either recently served or are now serving in the military.

And Kent said, "Just because you were born in this country does not mean you deserve its privileges." 

He went on to say that he believed that every American, at, say, the age of 18, should serve their country for two years.

It would not have to be military service.  It could just as well be the Peace Corps, or Americorps, or Vista.  It could be tutoring inner-city kids or building a clinic on a Southwest Indian reservation or fighting forest fires in the Pacific Northwest.

The thing is, the freedom and the prosperity we enjoy in this great country did not come free. 

IT WAS A RARE AND PRECIOUS PRIVILEGE, EARNED FOR US BY OTHERS.

I'm not trying to wave the flag here, necessarily, and no, I don't believe that what happens in Iraq will directly affect my freedom.

However.

Imagine if NOBODY ENLISTED IN THE ARMED SERVICES.  PERIOD.  EVER.

That green line, made up of thousands of men and women in the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, not to mention the National Guard--is all that stands between us and any aggressor who may believe that this country is vulnerable and open to attack or takeover.

The fact that the honor, dignity, patriotism, and powerful sense of duty of the men and women in uniform were, I believe, hijacked and abused by this administration, bogging them down in an endless Iraqi quagmire, does not in any way impugn the good sense of those who took the oath to protect and defend this country.

THEY TAKE THAT OATH AND WEAR THAT UNIFORM SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO.  THEY STAND READY TO DEFEND US ANYWHERE, ANY TIME that they are sent. 

They sacrifice family, peace of mind, and safety so that we can have the privilege to traipse on down to the mall on Saturday afternoon without a thought in our heads beyond the latest sale.

They have no choice but to trust that the civilian leadership who holds their lives in their hands, will regard those lives as sacred, and will not send them into war unless absolutely necessary.

The fact that this sacred trust was betrayed by this administration means that the sole and total blame for their fate rests firmly in the hands of the commander-in-chief who decides what that fate will be.

Those of us who are not, or have not been, willing to risk our own lives--or the lives of our loved ones--in the service of the country we claim to love, have no right whatsoever to criticize those who do, on any level.  (Especially if we also refuse to volunteer to serve it in some civilian capacity, in our own ways, as best we can.)

This is not to say we can't question questionable decisions, such as:  Where were the ranking generals who could have fought these decisions back in 2002?  Some were marginalized, some fired, and the most of the others, fearful for their careers, went along with what they knew was madness. 

The fact that some of them are speaking up now means little, in the final analysis.

So if you want to spread some blame, then they surely must bear their share.

But not the kids who signed up to fight. 

We owe them our lives, after all.  We in this country can't imagine living with the chaos we see in Iraq right now. 

The reason for that is that someone else makes sure we don't have to.