As five more NATO soldiers die in Afghanistan, in what is already the bloodiest month. And we prepare to bury another of our own.
A young British soldier writes to his Mum to tell her why he died.
Hello its me, this is gonna be hard for you to read but I write this knowing every time you thinks shits got to much for you to handle (so don't cry on it MUM!!) you can read this and hopefully it will help you all get through.
For a start SHIT I got hit!! Now Iv got that out the way I can say the things Iv hopefully made clear, or if I havent this should clear it all up for me. My hole life you'v all been there for me through thick and thin bit like a wedding through good and bad. Without you I believe I wouldn't have made it as far as I have. I died doing what I was born to do I was happy and felt great about myself although the army was sadly the ending of me it was also the making of me so please don't feel any hate toward it.
If I could have a wish in life it would to be able to say Iv gone and done things many would never try to do. And going to Afghan has fulfilled my dream ie my goal. Yes I am young wich as a parent must brake you heart but you must all somehow find the strength that I found to do something no matter how big the challenge.
Mum, where do I start with you!! For a start your perfect, your smell, your hugs, the way your life was dedicated to us boys and especially the way you cared each and every step us boys took. I love you, you were the reason I made it as far as I did you were the reason I was loved more than any child I no and that made me feel special.
A medic once told me that most young soldiers die crying for their mothers.
Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. His parents say they are proud of him, and they still support the mission.
But ten years from now I wonder what they'll think. They'll always be proud of him of course.
But will they believe then what so many in Britain...but not Canada...believe today?
He was just another humble squaddie who died for nothing.
In a war that couldn't be won...
"He's the one who gives his body
ReplyDeleteAs a weapon of the war,
And without him all this killing can't go on.
He's the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame,
His orders come from far away no more,
They come from here and there and you and me,
And brothers can't you see,
This is not the way we put the end to war."
Universal Soldier
As long as young men join up, put on a military uniform for adventure and allow their bodies to be cannon fodder, war will continue. This is directed to young men (Canadian and Taliban both).
A profound respect for soldiers was developed during the 1st and 2nd world wars.
ReplyDeletePeople carry that respect into any war our country is involved in today.
Lest we forget. Lest we forget.
Lest we forget how we treated Japanese Canadians and others.
"... His parents say they are proud of him, and they still support the mission.
ReplyDelete[...]
He was just another humble squaddie who died for nothing."
This is what so many of the relatives are loathe to admit: that the deaths of these soldiers is pointless, and that their deaths were in vain -- it won't even ensure cheap oil (if one were to take the cynical view and maintain that this whole "foreign adventure" is about securing the area so they can build their proposed oil pipeline through the Caucasus Mountain region.)
By the way, why do these minions of Capitalist Enterprise (the soldiers) and their supporters (family, friends, mainstream media, doctrinaire neo-cons and theocrats, the stupid and the gullible) continue to call this The Mission®© rather than a "war"...? Ohhhh, that's right... that pesky Geneva Conventions thingy that obviously doesn't apply to Brown-Skinned Foreign Devils. I forgot.
This whole exercise in greed, power politics, hubris and war crimes sickens me.
Oh, and thanks, Parkadeboy for the totally appropriate quote from Buffy St. Marie's awesome "Universal Soldier". This "humble squaddle", Rifleman Cyrus Thatcher, was not just some innocent victim:
"I died doing what I was born to do I was happy and felt great about myself [...] going to Afghan has fulfilled my dream ie my goal."
No, he's no innocent victim. That phrase is reserved for the thousands of dead Afghan civilians, who are being butchered by both sides.
hi parkadeboy...I know what you're saying and I sure love that song.
ReplyDeleteBut I mostly blame the older ones, who though they should know better, fill young people's heads full of crazy ideas. And send them off to kill and die...
Hi Oemissions... I respect our military accomplishments like the fight against the Nazis, and I support our troops. Just like I hate the Taliban.
ReplyDeleteBut I can't help but feel that there is something wrong with this mission. And that trying to occupy a country like Afghanistan only stirs up more resistance, when there are more intelligent ways to defeat the real terrorists, and help the people of Afghanistan...
Hi 'berto...again I can't disagree with what you say. I remain conflicted about this war because I really want to help the Afghans...especially the women, the children, and the gays.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have written extensively about the brutal air campaign that has taken the lives of so many innocent Afghans.
But in this post I thought I'd just let the letters speak for themselves.
For all those working class or troubled kids who join the army to try to better themselves,and end up in places like Afghanistan fighting a war they don't even understand...
Simon wrote: "I really want to help the Afghans...especially the women, the children, and the gays."
ReplyDeleteWell, Simon, you'd better not be relying on any Canadian troops for any of that -- they're too busy locking up women and queers in prison:
quote: "Afghan jail holds gays, elopers 4 years after ouster of Taliban regime
The teenage convicts hold hands as they arrive at Kandahar prison by car, shackled in pairs at the ankles and wrists beneath their bulky red coveralls.
"The young ones are thieves and some are homosexuals, but mostly they are thieves," says a prison guard who refuses to give his name.
Most of the 620 prisoners behind the walls of Kandahar prison are the usual assortment of adult male thugs and bandits. But scattered among them are women and children accused of so-called crimes that human rights organizations denounce.
Four years after the end of the brutal excesses of the Taliban government, Afghan authorities supported by the U.S.-led coalition, including Canada, are still jailing teenagers convicted of homosexuality and women accused of adultery, eloping or running away from their husbands."
There's more to this appalling story here: http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/WarOnTerrorism/2006/02/27/1465239-cp.html
I AM EX FORCES AND SPENT 2 YEARS IN AFRICA WITH THE UN KILLING CHILD SOLDIERS IN SIERRA LEONE, AND EVEN WHEN MY MOTHER DIED SHE TOLD ME SHE FORGAVE ME FOR ALL ID DONE BUT I DONT FORGIVE ME.IN A WAY I WISH ID DIED AND IF I COULD HAVE TRADED PLACES WITH HIM IWOULD IN A HEARTBEAT.THEE ARMY ARE GOOD AT TEACHING HOW TO KILL BUT NOT HOW TO LIVE WITH IT..MY ONLY ADVICE IS DONT JOIN UP IT HARDER THAN THEY'D LIKE TO ADMIT.
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