Home of the brave

As I sat in DFW waiting for my boarding call from American Airlines, I noticed a young man--kid, really, nearby dressed in full army uniform (sandy-coloured, camouflage wear). It's not something I often see in Canada. Moments later, the P.A. announced "We invite our first-class passengers to board Flight #XXXX".

After a couple of minutes of glancing around taking in the scene while avoiding eye contact with anyone else taking in the scene, the following message came: "We now invite our AAdvantage clients to come forward for boarding as well as any of our military in uniform". At that point, a thought started formulating in my mind. By the time I heard "Passengers with seating in Zone A are now asked to...", the thought was complete:

We greatly respect our brave, patriotic young citizens who put themselves in harm's way risking life and limb so that we can continue to enjoy all the freedoms we hold so dear...but not as much as we respect large sums of money.


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The war on sanity

Am I the only one who doesn't believe that North Korea is dangerous? Seriously, I don't know what all the hoopla is about. Does anyone actually believe that those in charge are anxious to have their country destroyed and for them to die an ugly death or be imprisoned for life? Does anyone not believe that would be the only possible result if they fired missiles at anyone? They aren't as loony as some would have you believe. Even if they were, I'm sure they're instinct for self preservation would trump any delusions they may have.

And the same thing goes for Iran.

When the U.S. spent trillions of dollars over decades on developing ridiculous numbers of nuclear weapons--enough to destroy the entire world many times over, I'm sure they didn't think of themselves as insane. But if today a country develops a single nuclear weapon, they're painted as individuals so unstable that they're apt to start a war with any of their neighbours at the drop of a hat. Give me a break. The United States has always been the most aggressive state since it's rise to power and even now should be feared more so than any other. If they can go to Iraq for no reason at all, what is beyond the realm of possibilities?

Whose side is God on?

I stopped on a religious channel where an American soldier was recounting his experiences in Iraq. Several times he explained how he kept asking God to show that He was on his side. It seemed bizarre and incongruent that a believer should call on God while he is directing his tank to bombard the hell out of people across the river.

It made me think of the old expression "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition". Certainly anyone uttering this phrase sees the irony in it. Was the soldier's tale any different? How different was his situation from the enemy combatants possibly shouting "Allah is great!"?

I can understand a person defending his life with deadly force if he were in immediate danger. I cannot comprehend someone going half way around the world with the express purpose of killing people and then invoking God's name for his protection or even His help in killing other human beings.