It never ceases to amaze me when someone exclaims that even though he/she is against the war in Iraq, that we should still “support our troops”. This begs the question—support them in what? Whether through indirect complicity, or through direct participation, soldiers routinely carry out murder, torture, rape, and other atrocities. They commit these crimes against civilians. Women. Children. “But they didn’t want to fight in a war, they just wanted to go to college”, our flag-waving patriot might suggest. Look, this is not about juding men and women for entering the armed forces—there are so many good men and women, who perhaps have been duped into believing they are doing the right thing. This is about saying “no”. This is about refusing to support the war machine in any way.
There is a common term used by military personnel and their supporters to describe the act of participating in the armed forces—“serving”. As it turns, out, “serving” is a perfect word to describe the relationship that a soldier has with the military, as it indicates a state of bondage, such as that between slave and master. Soldiers are truly in a position of slavery, whether they will admit or not, as every aspect of their lives is controlled by those further up in the hierarchy. Oftentimes, humans are forced into the contract against their will, as in traditional slavery, when governments conscript soldiers through constructs such as drafts and mandatory military service. But in these modern times, in which the populace is so thoroughly trained to think a certain way, the draft has not yet been necessary in nations such as the US. In these countries, there have thus far been enough willing volunteers ready to eagerly enter into this state of servitude, or increasignly, reservists whose contracts have been forcibly extended. Several reasons are offered by volunteers to justify their decision, such as:
- Patriotism, or sense of duty—Many citizens believe in concepts such as nationalism, whereby they feel that by living in a particular country, one has a duty or obligation to serve at least some time in the armed forces, whether in times of war or peace.
- Benefits—many sign-up for military service, to receive certain benefits. In the US, for example, after the completion of a specified term of service with a branch of the armed forces, the military will pay for the individual to attend college. Others are lured by the prospect of having basic needs met, such as receiving room and board, in addition to a regular paycheck. Some may simply enjoy the prospect of travelling to different parts of the world.
- Job Skills—besides those joining for lifelong career opportunities, many enlist in order to learn skills that can eventually be applied in the civilian world, such as computer programming or electrical engineering.
I associate the mentality driven by a patriotic sense of duty with a phrase commonly seeon on American bumper stickers or t-shirts, touting “Freedom Ain’t Free”. The mindset is very widespread—where a citizen of a country believes the government generally acts in the best interest of it’s citizens, maintaining a state of freedom for the populace, and thus, if that country enters into a war, then it is right to support the government in that campaign. Such people are unaware that the elite create and manage both sides of these conflicts, and that the soldiers who fight in them are simply fodder of no importance to their masters. Those joining the military for benefits and job skills, may actually subscribe to the patriotic point of view as well, or they may not quite have the same trust in the government. But at any rate, they consider any potential wrongdoings to be a worthy trade-off in exchange for the gains they will receive. In light of this, I present the following points:
- We aren’t free—While in many parts of the world, we appear to live in a free society, this is only an illusion. Over time, the globalists gradually switched from a towering overt control structure to one that exists beneath the surface, barely perceptible in our daily lives. Humans in many nations are sold the idea that they are free, and programmed using terms like “democracy”, and so forth. The members of these nations are now controlled with much more precision through this covert source than was possible in the days of visible tyrrany.
- Freedom is free—true freedom is our right, by simple virtue of existing in this universe, and it is achieved by simply choosing to step into one’s own power, and resisting any external source of control, and any source of fear. At every juncture of our lives, we have the absolute power and ability to make the decisions that we know are right—we have the power to refuse to submit to any outside source of influence or pressure.
- Murder is murder—soldiers in every war, on every side, commit atrocities that they believe are wrong, and yet they do them anyway. The reasons may be justified to them by being in a war, or “just following orders”, but in truth, we always have a choice. If you commit murder, rape, torture, or any other such crime, there is no excuse. Never. There is no such thing as a necessary evil, and we will never create peace through violence.
- We shouldn’t support a bad decision—it really makes no sense to support millions of people in making the same poor decision over and over again. It makes no sense to support a practice which results in the worst imaginable horrors carried out on a massive scale. Many soldiers, once being exposed to real-life warfare, see through the farce. And these soldiers should be commended for waking up, and realizing the nature of the sham. Those that have the bravey to go AWOL, that risk exile and jail time, should be congratulated, and assisted in any way possible in finding safe haven.
“Support our troops?” No, they’re not “our” troops—the word “our” implies that I am being included in some sort of collective affirmation. These soldiers do not represent my beliefs and desires, and I will never support their actions. By constantly urging others to support them, a message is spread that seeks to perpetuate the dispicable acts of violence. How about this? Why not urge others to support human life, to support peace? Let’s support the refusal to join the military in the first place. If a draft gets re-intated, we must refuse this as well. Until we refuse to be slaves to the elite who create the wars in the first place, we are doomed to live amongst the horrors spawned through their lies.
Posted: 08/16/2006 12:36 AM
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