Working together,...
Piecing Together Peace
By Sgt. Kevin Benderman
There seems to be a large consensus among people who want to stop war that the best way to accomplish this is to urge soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen to just up and leave their post. This is an unrealistic and irresponsible viewpoint that is unattainable.
Turn the issue around. What would you do if a service member told you to quit your job, stop paying taxes and run to Canada or Mexico in order to take away finances and possible personnel used to fight the war? "Unrealistic," you may say, and you would be correct in that assessment. It is just as unrealistic for anyone to expect service members to just walk away from what they have invested so much of themselves in.
If you want to "support our troops" as much as you say, then stop putting all the responsibility on them with the unrealistic expectation for them to just quit. What we need to do as a group of well organized, concerned citizens is set down a clear plan for how we want to accomplish our goals and then implement that plan. Dragging out all the old, worn-out and ineffective methods used during the 60's to protest isn't going to work. It didn't work then and it isn't going to work now.
What will work is to get a copy of our Constitution, familiarize ourselves with it, and understand what its laws mean. What will work is for citizens of this country to learn their responsibility to this country and to honor it with more than words on signs.
We must realize that our efforts should be directed toward reaching a consensus among ourselves about how we want to accomplish our goals in order to provide for mortgage payments, truck and car payments, childcare, and all other living expenses our soldiers are responsible for before you boldly continue with public statements encouraging our young service members to simply walk or run away.
So put down your picket signs, go home, get familiar with the documents that govern our laws, organize your community groups of conscientious citizens willing to communicate with their elected representatives, and work with them to reach a positive solution to the adverse action now affecting all of us. It is your responsibility to be actively involved with our government officials to see that the laws of our nation ethically and morally represent the principles of our Constitution, and this will not be accomplished by yelling in the streets. It will be accomplished by people coming together, hearing all sides, and realizing that compromise is needed to achieve results that fairly represent the rights of all people in this country.
"Supporting the troops" is not flag-waving; it is not attaching yellow, purple, or red-white and blue plastic ribbons to our gas tanks, and it is not waving signs in the streets. There is no support for the troops when people encourage them to simply quit their post while those same people are refusing to take an active role in seeing that there is something positive in place for those "troops" to report to.
It is the responsibility of all United States citizens to see that our laws are protected from the abuse of unscrupulous individuals who seek power for their own gain, and this is accomplished through active participation, not cheerleading from the streets.
