Ross Middleton August 21st, 2007

Great thoughts on war. It is an intriguing subject that seems to polarize at least the political world. If you lean right, war is the answer for everything, if you lean left its the answer for nothing. Thank God I don't have to drink the political party kool-aid to be a Christian.

Bill Chickering August 22nd, 2007

I notice that Mr. Samples is careful to include the possibility of a pre-emptive strike in his piece. Whether it's to justify our presence in Iraq right now I don't know. That's not for me to say. I also think that Mr. Samples, or anyone choosing to write on the topic of a just war right now are afforded the luxury of thoughtful reflection by the fact that this country has never had a sustained conflict fought on it's own soil.

Iraq does not, under the above definition, fit into the definition of a just war: there was no reflection or moral deliberation before entering the war; it was presented as a fait acompli. There was no imminent threat of attack from a government weakened both militarily and economically by over a decade of sanctions. (2) Have a probability of success—-we can see now in 20/20 hindsight the delusion of that thinking. Just ask the families of the 4000 kids who will never return home. (3) Have a just cause–if your idea of a just cause is to secure the iraqui oilfields for American companies, as is being done right now, then I guess you could say the cause is just.(4) Be just in intent–I refer you to 3. The goal is not to establish peace and freedom, but to destabilize and enhance wealth for the few. We have no intention of leaving the country, despite what the president says. Even now, we are in the midst of constructing a 1 billion dollar permanent embassy to be used to oversee our economic interests.

I have saved the first reason for last–"waged by a legitimate authority." I have an opinion on that, but I will not voice it here.

In the leading up to Iraq, I noticed something quite striking about the pros and the cons of going in–the pros were usually voiced by politicians who had never faced a bullet fired in anger. Many of the most strident and cautious voices came from soldiers who had faced combat. They knew the horror first hand. Unfortuantely, we already had the fires of fear stoked and did not listen to them. As I write this, one member of congress, a Democrat, has a loved one serving in Iraq. Another member, a Republican, will soon see one of his children deployed. That's two out of five hundred and thirty five. It's amazing how fervent you can be about war when your personal stake is nil.

I also recall Colin Powell's comments in his autobiography when he remarked how mad he was that the children of the privileged and the wealthy managed to avoid service while the bulk who were sent into harm's way were from the milddle and lower middle class portions of the population. And so here we are again–the rich kids get richer and the poor kids get a wooden box and a folded flag.

Olivia Hammar August 23rd, 2007

I am the mother of a marine. A marine, who by most standards, was raised in an affluent household. He has spent the last four years being deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq. While he was in Afghanistan he provided security for the first democratic election in that country's history. In Iraq he served in Fallujah during an extremely volatile period. He lost over a dozen friends in a matter of weeks and he was shot at almost daily by 12 year olds. And he certainly has questioned whether the US should be there. But early on in his deployment they found graves filled with women and children and he decided it was worth it. He completed his enlistment and is now home and in school and his unit is back in Fallujah and has not has a casualty since May. Most of what they are doing now are civic projects. Time will judge this war. But your assessments are too broad. My son and many of his friends came from upper middle class families. Many of them were boys who were not ready for college yet and saw this as opportunity to do something bigger than their privileged backgrounds had provided. John McCain's son is an enlisted Marine. The military is now full of guys who left Corporate America to serve with the full support of their families. And at the homecoming when my son came back from Iraq, almost without exception, those families who lost sons during the deployment were at the homecoming. Many had come thousands of miles and they came specifically to reaffirm their committment not only to the Marines, but to their mission. Your comments just simply do not reflect the whole picture.

kenneth Samples August 29th, 2007

Dear Olivia:

Thank you for sharing the story about your brave and thoughtful son. I am deeply proud of the men and women who serve in the United States Armed Forces. We are fortunate as a nation to have so many dedicated patriots. There may be no greater calling in the "city of man" than that of a just warrior. Please extend to your son my very best wishes.

Semper Fidelis.