Blog For Arizona

Michael: R.I.P. Sam

Pfc. Sam Huff will be missed. Her friends and family amply demonstrated the love and loyalty that this young woman inspired in those whose lives she touched in her far too brief time.

What is missing from coverage of the celebration of her life and the mourning of her loss is any questioning of the cause of this young woman’s death, and the deaths of over 1,600 other young people who likewise leave ragged holes in their families and their communities. Why did Sam Huff die? And do we really think that cause is worth her life?

The Administration line is now that our young people are dying for freedom and democracy in Iraq. Of course, it is much easier to support such a sacrifice once we are already deeply embroiled and invested in the conflict in Iraq. If Bush had told Americans that our soldiers needed to fight and die simply to ‘spread freedom,’ I dare say many fewer Americans would have supported the Iraq war.

The original reason given for attacking Iraq pre-emptively was that Saddam was hatching WMD that threatened our security. Just this week, the final verdict has come in on that rationale: there are not, and were not, WMD in Iraq, and no WMD were transferred to Syria or anywhere else.

Charitably, our soldiers are dying for a mistake. Uncharitably, they are dying because of a campaign of deliberate deceptions designed to lead us into an unnecessary war. I doubt that is the mission Sam Huff signed up for.

Now that the mission in Iraq has crept all the way to making the best of a complete fiasco, people need to be asking themselves, "is sacrificing Sam Huff for the political convenience of Iraqi politicians, the profits of American contractors, and the GOP’s ideology, in line with my values and ideals?" If the answer is yes, then carry on, your acquiescence to our continuing occupation of Iraq is ethically consistent. If your answer is no, however, you need to consider what you personally are going to do to prevent more innocent and patriotic young people like Sam Huff from being led to their slaughter in a mission that never was, and is not now, about protecting America.

posted by Michael Bryan @ 4/27/2005 09:43:00 PM