02.24.07

Just Five Minutes A Day

Posted in General at 11:54 pm by ZoeWashburne

Did you think about the war today at all?  Did you think about the thousands of troops who are out there right now with sand in their shoes, their food, their hair, and in their lungs?  Did you think about the 18 year old men and women who can’t even drink or gamble in this country and probably never even voted before they were shipped off to fight a war that nobody even really understands?  Maybe I’m wrong, but you probably spent more time thinking about what to eat for dinner tonight.

Sure, you’re probably saying right now, feeling the blood boil in your veins at the mere suggestion that you aren’t thinking of such important things.  Of course you’ve thought about the war today, how could you not?  It’s on the front of every newspaper, the cover of every magazine, the homepage of every news site, the topic of discussion on every cable news shows, right?  Well, let’s take a look…on CNN.com right now a story about a Baghdad car bomb that killed 39 people today is ranked 5th on the list of Top Stories below one about the Oscars.  On MSNBC.com’s Most Viewed stories list the #9 story is about Obama ridiculing Cheney for Iraq comments, well below the #2 story about a Jaguar killing a zookeeper at the Denver Zoo.  On FoxNews.com, the top story is about how the British terror threat is at its worse since 9/11.  Well, no big surprises over there on Fox!  On their Most Read list, there is a story about Israel asking for Iraqi airspace in preparation for an Iranian strike, but that’s seven stories below the one about the very first Wendy’s Restaurant closing in Columbus, Ohio.  Oh, those poor minimum wage earning kids, well they can always join the military!

On the news channels right now, Headline News is covering the Anna Nicole Smith debacle, CNN is featuring a special on the importance of rap music in the world, C-SPAN is discussing the importance of the movie business to the U.S. economy with former president Daddy Bush and Will Smith (I don’t even want to get into the ridiculousness of all that), and CNBC is discussing the New Orleans disaster.  Well, at least CNBC is talking about something of importance.  To be fair, I am randomly checking these sites and channels as I write this.  Perhaps they spent the entire day focusing on Iraq and I just missed it, but it seems that every time I turn on the news these days it’s about some blonde celebrity dying or going to rehab or losing her panties or something ridiculous like that, but it’s rarely about the war anymore!

Now, don’t take offense, I’m no better than anyone else.  I have been riveted by the whole Anna Nicole Smith nonsense all week, mildly amused by the Britney Spears minute-by-minute breakdown coverage, and watched more than my fair share of reality TV shows.  My point, however, is that maybe we should be spending more than five minutes each day perusing the headlines (and probably not even reading or watching the entire stories) for Iraq updates.  Since the war in Iraq began, nearly FOUR years ago, 3154 American Military deaths have occurred, 23,677 American troops have been wounded, 800 civilian contractors have died, and approximately 60,000 civilian Iraqis have been killed.  Shouldn’t we be paying more attention to what’s going on over there rather than focusing on fluff and distraction?

I’m not trying to make you feel bad, because I’m just as guilty as anyone, but I guess I’m trying to remind myself and others that there is a WAR GOING ON and AMERICAN KIDS are being KILLED!  I know we all know this and it’s somewhere in the back of our minds throughout the day, but do you really even realize what these kids are being sent to do?  I work at a college where we give these 18 and 19 year old kids their GED exams and the vast majority of them these days are doing so in order to join the military to fight for whatever it is we’re really fighting for over there.  Each time I tell these kids they’ve passed their GED and are now free to go off to war, I feel a little guilty.  As they thank me profusely and smile excitedly and tell me how they can finally ship off in a couple of weeks, I sometimes feel my heart sink thinking about what they’re about to face.  Will they end up another number added to the faceless, growing lists of casualties above?  Will I even remember their faces next week?  Will I barely even think about the sacrifices they’re going to make for more than five minutes per day?  What about you?

Latest posts by ZoeWashburne

Share and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • del.icio.us
  • digg
  • feedmelinks
  • Furl
  • LinkaGoGo
  • YahooMyWeb

1 Comment »

  1. Joe Lala said,

    February 28, 2007 at 9:33 pm

    I guess if you think more of us should think about, support and sympathize with the troops; I have to say, it doesnt make a damm difference. First off, the United States military has been sending soliders off to die in Hegelian wars since WWII. If you dont know what that means, look it up. There is nothing new under the sun. Now, I will be the first to admit that our educational system dumbs our kids down so they have no REAL understanding of the true geo-political spectrum when they are 18. This makes them ripe pickins to be duped by the elite into enlisting in a volunteer force to be shipped off and killed in wars for profit and empire. Ask any enlisted man who has been discharged from the armed forces,(honerably) and they almost always hate the military and our government, but love the US. ( I said almost) They always figure it out when they are older. But, at the end of the day, they are adults, and are responsible for their own choices. Their parents hold some of the blame for not telling them the whole story, but then the parents are just as stupid as the kids. When the day comes that our government declares a draft, and starts forcing people to fight, I will stand with them. As for now, your little guilt trip isn’t working. Go read some more and see through the propaganda. What if they gave a war and nobody came?

Leave a Comment