Reply #5: I'm sick of hearing from the troops [View All]

[alcibiades_mystery]

This particular soldier sounds utterly mystified in the first place, imagining that there actually is a good cause for being in Iraq, that that cause has something to do with "terrorism," and that the only reason that cause is now unworthy is because the Iraqi people don't have the fortitude to pursue it. In other words, this particular soldier seems like he's bought the ideological package complete, and only has mixed feelings because it seems to fail in practice. But this isn't at all the case. There is no good cause, Iraq is completely separate from any issue of terrorism, and the Iraqi people are not to blame for their predicament. The American people are, including this soldier.

But all this is neither here nor there. The real problem with these "soldier testimony" strategy is that it vests decision-making authority in the military apparatus. I don't care what the "troops" have to say. I really don't. Or rather, the "troops" have only just as much say as any other citizen in our democracy, and their positions should be given no more weight or value than anyone else's. We've marched far enough on the road to fascism with this bizarro Troop Fetish. I feel for those who have been ordered to this absurd illegal war. I really do. But policy in a democracy is made by the people, and the more we accord the "troops" an inordinate authority to speak on matters of policy, the more we rest the power of decision from its proper location: the people, regardless of their first person encounter with the policy.