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would you die for your country?


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I don't like to reduce people to a country. I have to laugh when I hear politicians say stupid things like, "The Iraqis are not cooperating" or something equally stupid. So, the ninety year old dying in her home and the two year old little boy in his momma's arms are not cooperating?

I do not consider myself an American, I consider myself a citizen of the world. Patriotism is okay to a point, but not if dehumanizes people from other countries. And "dying for your country" can mean so many things. What is our country? Who is asking? Are there politicians lining their pockets with the blood money?

I would die for someone being hurt or mistreated. I don't care what country they are from. And, I would kill someone who was trying to kill someone else. The whole idea of dying for your country is so polluted with politics...blech.

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I took an oath in my naturalisation ceremony. If the US were to call me to bear arms - as in a draft - then I wouldn't hesitate to do so since that's part of the deal of me getting citizenship. Now, as to whether I would voluntarily join the military... that's more tricky. If we were invaded or a foreign power declared war on the US, then I'm thinking I would. Now, if it's to invade Iraq or some other misguided project Congress has in mind, then no.

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I don't like to reduce people to a country. I have to laugh when I hear politicians say stupid things like, "The Iraqis are not cooperating" or something equally stupid. So, the ninety year old dying in her home and the two year old little boy in his momma's arms are not cooperating?

I do not consider myself an American, I consider myself a citizen of the world. Patriotism is okay to a point, but not if dehumanizes people from other countries. And "dying for your country" can mean so many things. What is our country? Who is asking? Are there politicians lining their pockets with the blood money?

I would die for someone being hurt or mistreated. I don't care what country they are from. And, I would kill someone who was trying to kill someone else. The whole idea of dying for your country is so polluted with politics...blech.

Wonderful Amy..... more eloquent than I!! :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

General douglas MacArthur on the USS Missouri / Sept.

'45

We are gathered here, representatives of the major warring powers, to conclude a solemn agreement whereby peace may be restored. The issues, involving divergent ideals and ideologies, have been determined on the battlefields of the world and hence are not for our discussion or debate. Nor is it for us here to meet, representing as we do a majority of the people of the earth, in a spirit of distrust, malice or hatred. But rather it is for us, both victors and vanquished, to rise to that higher dignity which alone befits the sacred purposes we are about to serve, committing all our people unreservedly to faithful compliance with the understanding they are here formally to assume.

It is my earnest hope, and indeed the hope of all mankind, that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past -- a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance and justice.

Today the guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been won....

As I look back upon the long, tortuous trail from those grim days of Bataan and Corregidor, when an entire world lived in fear, when democracy was on the defensive everywhere, when modern civilization trembled in the balance, I thank a merciful God that he has given us the faith, the courage and the power from which to mold victory. We have known the bitterness of defeat and the exultation of triumph, and from both we have learned there can be no turning back. We must go forward to preserve in peace what we won in war.

A new era is upon us. Even the lesson of victory itself brings with it profound concern, both for our future security and the survival of civilization. The destructiveness of the war potential, through progressive advances in scientific discovery, has in fact now reached a point which revises the traditional concepts of war.

Men since the beginning of time have sought peace.... Military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war. We have had our last chance. If we do not now devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature and all material and cultural development of the past two thousand years. It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.

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General douglas MacArthur on the USS Missouri / Sept.

'45

...It is my earnest hope, and indeed the hope of all mankind, that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past -- a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance and justice.

That was just beautiful... :cool:

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There is no such thing as "peace" anymore.

If anything, it should be taken out of the dictionary. There will never be "peace"

Geez the last "peace" i had was of some cake.

Im sorry i sound so negative, but in a way its true. Wars are always gonna be here. Why are we devising a plan to stop wars when that plan will just in turn cause another one. There will always be problems in the world. The soldiers of the world will always be traveling somewhere to kill the enemy who in turn is trying to kill him. Every day, a mother, a wife or father will get a letter in the mail saying that there son died doing his duty, like its supposed to help. If anything, it would make me madder. I didnt die doing anybody's damn duty unless it was my own. Im following orders, that follow a whole lot of other orders from higher up powers.

Picture this...

CEO hits it big, lots of money, so he has a huge office party, people get drunk, there are some fights, there are games played and lots of music.

So, all these rich folk get to walk away from it, throwing there crap on the ground, for the Janitor.

Right now, as an American Soldier, thats what i feel like we are doing. We are just pickin up the trash, we are cleaning somebody elses mess. Some higher power made a mess and calls us to clean or fix, like babysitting.

No War is a Good War....

There are no good days in war, there are only days where you have less deaths than the day before.

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musical interlude

War! huh-yeah

What is it good for?

Absolutely nothing

Uh-huh

War! huh-yeah

What is it good for?

Absolutely nothing

Say it again y'all

War! huh good God

What is it good for?

Absolutely nothing

Listen to me?

Ohhh? War! I despise

Because it means destruction?

Of innocent lives

War means tears

to thousands of mothers eyes

When their sons go to fight

and lose their lives

I said - War! Huh Good God y'all

What is it good for?

Absolutely nothing

Say it again

War! Whoa, Lord ...

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Listen to me?

War! It ain't nothing but a heartbreaker

War! Friend only to the undertaker

War! It's an enemy to all mankind

The thought of war blows my mind

War has caused unrest in the younger generation

Induction then destruction-

Who wants to die?

Ohhh? War Good God y'all

What is it good for?

Absolutely nothing

Say it, Say it, Say it

War! Uh-huh Yeah - Huh!

What is it good for?

Absolutely nothing

Listen to me?

War! It ain't nothing but a heartbreaker

War! It's got one friend, that's the undertaker

War has shattered many a young mans dreams

Made him disabled bitter and mean

Life is much to precious to spend fighting wars these days

War can't give life, it can only take it away

War! Huh Good God y'all

What is it good for?

Absolutely nothing

Say it again

War! Whoa, Lord ...

What is it good for

Absolutely nothing

Listen to me?

War! It ain't nothing but a heartbreaker

War! Friend only to the undertaker

Peace Love and Understanding;

tell me, is there no place for them today?

They say we must fight to keep our freedom

But Lord knows there's got to be a better way

War! Huh Good God y'all

What is it good for?

You tell me

Say it, Say it, Say it

War! Huh Good God y'all

What is it good for?

Stand up and shout it.

Nothing!

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Musical Interlude II

Military Madness

Graham nash

In an upstairs room in Blackpool

By the side of a northern sea

The army had my father

And my mother was having me

Military Madness was killing my country

Solitary Sadness comes over me

After the school was over and I moved

To the other side

I found another country but I never

Lost my pride

Military Madness was killing the country

Solitary sadness creeps over me

And after the wars are over

And the body count is finally filed

I hope that The Man discovers

What’s driving the people wild

Military madness is killing your country

So much sadness, between you and me

War, War, War, War, War, War

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Musical Interlude & III

Leonard Cohen - There Is A War

There is a war between the rich and poor,

a war between the man and the woman.

There is a war between the ones who say there is a war

and the ones who say there isn't.

Why don't you come on back to the war, that's right, get in it,

why don't you come on back to the war, it's just beginning.

Well I live here with a woman and a child,

the situation makes me kind of nervous.

Yes, I rise up from her arms, she says "I guess you call this

love";

I call it service.

Why don't you come on back to the war, don't be a tourist,

why don't you come on back to the war, before it hurts us,

why don't you come on back to the war, let's all get nervous.

You cannot stand what I've become,

you much prefer the gentleman I was before.

I was so easy to defeat, I was so easy to control,

I didn't even know there was a war.

Why don't you come on back to the war, don't be embarrassed,

why don't you come on back to the war, you can still get

married.

There is a war between the rich and poor,

a war between the man and the woman.

There is a war between the left and right,

a war between the black and white,

a war between the odd and the even.

Why don't you come on back to the war, pick up your tiny burden,

why don't you come on back to the war, let's all get even,

why don't you come on back to the war, can't you hear me

speaking?

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Hans plays with Lotte, Lotte plays with Jane

Jane plays with Willi, Willi is happy again

Suki plays with Leo, Sacha plays with Britt

Adolf builts a bonfire, Enrico plays with it

-Whistling tunes we hid in the dunes by the seaside

-Whistling tunes we're kissing baboons in the jungle

It's a knockout

If looks could kill, they probably will

In games without frontiers-war without tears

Games without frontiers-war without tears

Jeux sans frontieres

Andre has a red flag, Chiang Ching's is blue

They all have hills to fly them on except for Lin Tai Yu

Dressing up in costumes, playing silly games

Hiding out in tree-tops shouting out rude names

-Whistling tunes we hide in the dunes by the seaside

-Whistling tunes we piss on the goons in the jungle

It's a knockout

If looks could kill they probably will

In games without frontiers-wars without tears

If looks could kill they probably will

In games without frontiers-war without tears

Games without frontiers-war without tears

Jeux sans frontieres

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