Anti-war protesters act like self-indulgent kids

By TERRY GARLOCK

Thomas Finnegan says I reached the highest level of hypocrisy in my column of two weeks ago, that I am willing for others’ children to die in Iraq but not my own. That twists what I said completely out of shape, but the point I was making does involve a bit of a paradox.

As I said I would be proud to have my kids serve their country in the U.S. armed forces if they were old enough, even in Iraq. But I would never willingly give up their life for that cause or any other. No parent would; the bond is too tight; we cannot rationally balance the needs of the nation against the life of our child.

We also cannot expect a grieving mother like Cindy Sheehan to be objective and rational about our national strategy in Iraq, even if she did know something about military strategy, even if her political views were not radical left.

How do we put in perspective the anti-war crowd that seems to be using Cindy Sheehan? Think about these four points.

Point 1: Those who disagree with the war in Iraq are not unpatriotic by that disagreement, and their support for our troops might be genuine. Being a good citizen depends not on what one believes, but on how one behaves.

Point 2: Those who disagree with the war in Iraq absolutely have the right to speak out and protest and even say bad things about our President and our national policy in Iraq. But having that right does not make it the right thing to do.

Point 3: Anti-war protests in the U.S. give aid and comfort to the enemy striving to kill America’s sons and daughters. Those of us who fought in Vietnam remember the anti-war protests that encouraged our enemy, and gave rise to their slogan, “We will win this war on the streets of New York.” They did just that.

Insurgents learned an invaluable lesson in Vietnam. The target of their action is not the opposing force they shoot at and bomb. Their target is you, the American public, through TV cameras. By staging violence and casualties for our cable channels to feed to us 24-7, our enemy can erode public support for U.S. war policy. The public protest occurring at the Crawford, Texas, ranch is exactly what our enemy hopes for.

Point 4: Those who disagree with the war in Iraq should understand that acting out their anti-war frustrations publicly might help get young Americans killed. Instead of purposely staging anti-war events to draw TV coverage, they could write to their President and representatives and senators, and work more quietly to make known the views they are entitled to hold.

Some have said the anti-war protesters are acting in a treasonous manner, but I don’t think so. We all have the right to make a public spectacle of ourselves, even one that encourages our enemy. I think of the protesters as self-indulgent children, indulging their own selfish impulses despite the danger it poses to our troops.

Personally, I was against this war from the start. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t dream of helping our enemy accomplish their goals by participating in public protest, and I wouldn’t use the absurd argument I am protesting on behalf of the troops.

Whatever my sentiments about the war, I owe the troops my complete support while they are doing the nation’s dirty work. That doesn’t make me particularly virtuous, I’m just trying to act like a responsible adult.

Recently I talked to a Newnan High School class about the myths and truths of the Vietnam war. I told them the mainstream media always seems to get the lessons from Vietnam wrong, and I told them what I believe are the real lessons, like this one: any time our country sends our troops to war, we owe the troops our complete support while they are in harm’s way, and we owe them our thanks when they come home no matter what we think of the war.

These bright high school students understood that immediately and instinctively. It isn’t hard to understand. Unless you’re a self-indulgent child.