WAR IS KIND
Christian Dewar
As our nation girds itself for war and the
expenditure of the lives of our
sons and daughters and the wealth of this country,
it should be pointed out
that the architects of this new slaughter are a
cabal of little souls that
avoided the draft when they could have served in the
jungles and rice
paddies of Vietnam.
Despite a year and a half waiting list for the Texas
National Guard, George
W. Bush was accepted on the day he applied. He was
allowed to enter flight
training despite the lowest possible scores for
flight aptitude. He was
assigned an obsolete plane which was being fazed out
of commission, assuring
that he would not serve in South East Asia. He had
many unexplained
absences. (Vietnam vets have offered substantial
rewards to anyone who can
prove that Bush did serve at one post he claims to
have been assigned to.
See awolbush.com). He was permanently grounded after
refusing to take a
physical exam which included drug testing. He
appears to have gone AWOL
during the last 17 months of his committment. But as
Molly Ivins has pointed
out, no enemy aircraft penetrated Texas air space
during his tenure.
Dick Cheney received five deferments. When asked why
he didn't enter the
service, he claimed that he had "other priorities".
Other chickenhawks who
dodged the draft but thirst for war include Newt
Gingrich, Ken Starr, Trent
Lott, Bill Bennett, Dick Armey, Tom Delay (He
claimed that he would have
gone except all of the slots were filled with blacks
and other minorities),
Frank Gaffney, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Jeb
Bush, Dennis Hastert, Marc Racicot,
Charles Krauthammer, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh
(he had anal cysts), Karl
Rove, Phil Gramm, Elliot Abrams, John Bolton, Ted
Olsen, Clarence Thomas,
John Ashcroft, Scalia, etc.
A website designed by a Vietnam Vet lists many more
of these heros. (see the
New Hampshire Gazzette's Chickenhawk Database at
nhgazette.com). Members of
Congress are contemplating reinstating the draft.
During the Gulf War, only
two children of Senators and Congressman served in
the military there. The
fighting and dying will be reserved for our
children. Like Vietnam, the
troops in this volunteer army will be
disproportionately minorities.
To these brave men who lust for war, I dedicate the
poetry of Stephen Crane.
War is Kind
by Stephen Crane
Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind.
Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky
And the affrightened steed ran on alone,
Do not weep.
War is kind.
Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment
Little souls who thirst for fight,
These men were born to drill and die
The unexplained glory flies above them
Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom--
A field where a thousand corpses lie.
Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.
Because your father tumbled in the yellow trenches,
Raged at his breast, gulped and died,
Do not weep.
War is kind.
Swift, blazing flag of the regiment
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die
Point for them the virtue of slaughter
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lie.
Mother whose heart hung humble as a button
On the bright splendid shroud of your son,
Do now weep.
War is kind.
(Christian Dewar writes about politics, history and
race relations for
democrats.com, democraticunderground.com and Pulse
of the Twin Cities. His
work also appears at progressive sites such as
buzzflash.com, bartcop.com,
thehamster, smirkingchimp.com and others. He can be reached at christian_dewar@hotmail.com )