What are we fighting for?

In a perverse sort of way two things clicked together. One was a mainstream media report about some Afghan warlord changing his stripes, and the other was the words of a Country Joe & the Fish song from the 60’s. Here’s stanza one of the song that came to mind.

1-2-3 What are we fighting for? Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn. The next stop is Vietnam . 5-6-7 Open up the pearly gates.It ain’t no time to wonder why. Yippee! We’re all going to die.

The Afghan warlord is named Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and he basically changed his stripes to save his hide. His “resources” were down. Knowing the Eastern way of duplicity, he was just backing off (in Western terms) until he could resume his stripes at a later time.

So what are we fighting for? Why do we have our young people fighting in this hell-hole of the world when after they are gone Afghans will still be fighting as one warlord to another? And we Americans will be gone, not as worn out, or vanquished, but finishing what we set out to fight for. If this sounds colonial it is not. Political maybe. It is best akin to setting back the crucible, the cauldron, the cookery of those Muslim jihadists who needed a base from which to kill 3,000 innocent civilians on September 11, 2001…and millions more of us if given a chance to invade cracks in our defenses.

Is there a connection to the war in Iraq? Yes, for sure. It was such a cauldron. Different, yes, but a cauldron, crucible, or cookery that threatened us, it was. We Americans will be gone from Iraq sometime, again not as worn out or vanquished, but finishing what we set out to do. And making Iraq in our own image, Iraqi style, will do much to protect ourselves in the future, and our Families and way of life. If this sounds idealistic and too pie-in-the-sky, it is not. Will it be permanent, probably not? There were, and are, “bad” people in the world who will do harm to our Families; and defeating them, maybe even just setting them back, is what we are fighting for. Iraq is such a cauldron.

For those who see a rising tide of humanity forcing Americans and western values off the stage of history, I say “let’s vote”, if you can. All who assume the mantra of peace and love and diplomacy are well intentioned and spoiled, I think. Many are politically very aggressive to the point of offending many American citizens. Some are even cynical, for good reasons in their mind and media literacy. But unbelievably, sometimes we Americans who also “vote” are forced to fight for our Family’s safety. That’s what we are fighting for.