On the bus this morning..

[lithera]

Got on the bus and sat down, planning to read. Instead the man next to me, in a very gravelly voice, commented on my Red Wings shrt and we talked about hockey for a bit and then he commented on the possible war in Iraq.

"There was a general who said it would be over fast. I was a POW in Laos. It can never be fast enough."

I just kind of sat there for a few moments and then nodded, not really knowing what to say to that.

"We should have just killed Saddam the first time if we were going to make such a big deal about this. We haven't even found bin Laden. I don't understand all of this."

I watched him get of off the bus and sat there, thinking, though I'm not sure I could have said exactly what it was I was thinking about.

Comments

[deqlan.livejournal.com]

I dunno. I think about the politics of the war a lot, and I've been intrigued by conspiracy theory A and conspiracy theory B.

But when you boil it down, I really don't want to believe that people are that stupid/selfish/cold/methodical/evil. I don't want to question the motivations of our leaders. I want these things to be readily apparent. I want an honest government, so people who fight for this country understand why they risk their lives and are forced to have blood on their hands.

I want to believe that freedom can be the number one priority of a country and it's government. I want to believe in diplomacy first. I want to believe that no one would push the red button. I want to believe that our elected officials are good people, who think carefully and thoroughly before committing the millions of citizens under their protection to a course of action that could change the face of the world. I want to believe that those who we elect to speak for us will do so, rather than represent private and corporate interests.

I wish I understood.