The Madness of War

As if getting killed on the battlefield in some obscure place weren't enough, U.S. Armed Forces personnel are killing themselves in growing numbers. This shouldn't come as a shock to anyone. American soldiers are all over the place doing their corporate masters' bidding, sometimes so repeatedly -- like the guy who got killed recently in his 14th tour of duty -- or in such extreme conditions that they become damaged goods and end up committing suicide. American imperialism comes at a very high price in casualties, not only for those who die at the hands of, very often, people who are just responding to the fact that their homeland is being invaded, but also those who, being sick of mind and spirit for what they have been put through, take their own lives. I suppose that many come to realize, perhaps too late, that they have been taken advantage of and brainwashed into believing that they are fighting for democracy and freedom. Faced with the awful truth, they can't take the shame and the insanity of it all, and blow their brains out.

Personal responsibility is at issue here. Every individual must examine critically what is it that his government is asking him to do. War is no picnic, and should not be entered into thoughtlessly. It's better to be court- martialed for refusing to go, than to be tried for torturing or killing others wantonly. 

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