THE JAZZMAN CHRONICLES: DISSEMINATE FREELY

For some time I have resisted use of the term “troops” because it tends to dehumanize the men and women of our military. The term is invariably used in a collective sense, never in reference to individual soldiers, marines or sailors. “Support our Troops” has become an abstraction, a political slogan that does not translate into protective equipment, long-term health care, mental health services or support for military families but rather a cover for politicians wishing to avoid accountability for their complicity in the moral and literal bankruptcy of the nation.

The accusation that principled opposition to the war is a betrayal of our fighting forces is as empty as the heart of a neocon warlord. If you believe that we have sent our soldiers into a war that should never have been launched and that we have abandoned them in the crossfire of civil war, then the best and only way to “support our troops” is to hand them a ticket out by the most expedient means possible.

If congress were to act boldly in cutting off funds for the war, the ball would be placed in the president’s hands to pull them out safely. If he dropped the ball, as he has so often done, the responsibility would belong to him and him alone.

The congressional leaders who believe they have found safe haven in hiding behind “the troops” deserve only the contempt of every man and woman in America, including most especially the men and women of the armed services and their families.

As law professor Walter Dellinger of Duke University testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, in the event congress severed funding for the war:

“There would not be one penny less for salary of the troops. There would not be one penny less for benefits of the troops. There would not be one penny less for weapons or ammunition. There would not be one penny less for supplies or support. Those troops would simply be redeployed to other areas where the armed forces are utilized.” [1]

The law is the law and a lie is a lie and this lie is nothing but a continuation of the steady stream of lies and deceptions the White House and their allies in congress have fed the body politic for more than four years.

While the United States Senate and to a lesser extent the lower house are stuck in the quicksand of disingenuous timidity and antiquated parliamentary procedures, our fighting men and women are stuck in the sinkhole of Iraq. Presumably, no one will die in the crossfire of congressional debate but as a direct result of congressional stasis, the inability to act on the mandate of the people, more of our soldiers and marines will certainly die on the fields of a futile and self-destructive war.

 

Could there be a better definition of cowardice?