It seems that every time I turn around, the general topic is ‘war’. A TV can’t be turned on without 24 hour war coverage. Radio stations have regular war news breaks. Conversations, whether my own or others center on war. It’s like life ceased to exist and war has taken over.

The very sad thing is that not only are we fighting a war in Iraq, but we are fighting one in our own country as well. Our country, which was united at one time, is now divided between the anti-war and pro-war groups. And of course, there may be a small group of the ‘I don’t cares’. But even they get into this ‘war’ debate.

Now what’s more than sad is that most of the ‘issues’ of these debates are completely moot. People are arguing and becoming angry with each other over issues that are useless to even bother with.

For instance, the ‘blame game’. Who is to blame for this current War with Iraq? Some of the recipients mentioned for blame were President Bush, Tony Blair, John Howard, the Clintons, Hussein, Bush Senior and several others. Usually for various reasons, the most common being, what could have happened instead of what actually happened.
And if you happen to be lucky enough to know exactly where the blame should be placed, then enlighten us with how that actually helps anything? It’s certainly not stopping the war and it is not saving any lives. It is nothing more than a frustrating moot point for everyone.

This brings us to the ‘if game’. “If President Bush hadn’t…If Hussein had…if whoever had.”
If Japan hadn’t bombed Pearl Harbor, then we wouldn’t have entered WWII.
If Truman hadn’t assigned us to a ‘police action’ in Korea, then we wouldn’t have spent 3 years in a war.
If we had never gotten involved in Vietnam, then we may have avoided a lot of very negative effects for our troops as well as our country after the war.
If I hadn’t over slept today, then I may have had enough time to go out and do something on my day off.
If…
If…
If…

The truth is, we did enter WWII. We were in Korea for 3 years. We did enter Vietnam. And I did over sleep. But asking what if is completely pointless because it does nothing for anyone. Except maybe cause some hard feelings in discussions.

So instead of focusing all attentions on anti-war rallies, playing the blame game and visiting the ‘what if section’, why not put our time to better use.
Oh say like supporting our troops and the members of the coalition. There are a lot of brave men and women fighting for us as well as other countries. They are risking their lives to make our futures better. They are the true definition of what heroes are. Heroes don’t have to like a situation. But they face it and fight the good fight.

We don’t have to like any war. However, we are now in a war and we will remain in this war until the end. Nothing anyone can argue will change that.

So take the time to pray for those men and women fighting for us. Pray for their families. Pray for the dead, the lost and the wounded. Pray for our leaders to make wise decisions. Pray for this war to end and for peace to once again prevail.

Send the troops messages of encouragement or support. If you have family or friends in this war, have your friends send the troops messages as well. Or send messages to the whole platoon.

If you come across people grousing about the war, ask them exactly what they are accomplishing by this. And if by chance some answer the ‘freedom of speech’, then let them know that ‘those soldiers in the past and present are dying just so YOU can bitch about an action that has to play out to the end’.

Don’t let the world slap those brave men and women in the face by showing discouragement and blame for something they are fighting for. I can think of nothing worse than when our soldiers come home and realize that while they were fighting for us, we had no support for them.

Our troops deserve the love and respect for the risk they are taking for millions of people they don’t even know. None of us have to like the war. But we all have to live through it.

Author's Note: This is the opinion of the author, myself, and has no reflection on anyone else. My heart and love goes out to our troops and their loved ones. May God bless us all.
Written March/April 2003