It's a Dry Heat

On Sunday, my brother began his 1 year engagement with the Marines over in Iraq.  He's not there yet but in a couple months he'll be in the mess pictured below.  Now, you can probably guess I'm not too thrilled with the situation.  I've never believed in the Iraq War/Occupation at all. 

At the time it started the country was united to find the bastards who knocked down the Twin Towers and only needed a slight nudging from George W. Bush to go invade Iraq.  Many months after the capture of Saddam and the so-called "end" of the war, the country is a total mess and September 11th goes unanswered.  Thousands of US and other foreign soldiers have given their lives towards a mythical democracy which may never prove useful nor even possible to the rest of the world. 

My brother's new wife held a party for him and dozens of people arrived to drink, eat, and laugh.  It was a great event and resulted in a late night of talk and lots of empty bottles and cans.  The next day, we said our "see ya later"s, shared several hugs, and wiped wet eyes.  He said the week before that it was something that "has to be done".  The tone he used suggested he feels the same as I do about the Occupation (I no longer call it a war).  He joined the Marines a few months before September 11th as a way to serve his country and pay for school...not go to war so a rich Texas President can enjoy a terrible legacy. 

I won't place a yellow ribbon on my car stating my support for the troops for the same reason I haven't yet.  You should support the troops no matter what.  They are your friends, neighbors, and siblings.  Cars don't carry magnets saying "support the atmosphere" or "support gravity".  Now, I don't mind the "ribbon people" as much anymore.  The people I have the problem with are the ones who deliberately pushed the invasion of Iraq despite the lack of threat or lack of interest in nearly half the country.  (They usually have "W" stickers on their cars.) It starts with the guy you know that thinks Jesus hates gay people and goes all the way up to the miserable failure in the White House who thinks he's Jesus.  If the war was warranted, maybe I wouldn't feel so pissed off about my brother boarding a plane to a far off country, although, I'm no less proud of him.  In fact, I'm more proud due to the fact he's willing to do the job he promised to do despite the man who sent him there being a complete fool.