Friday, March 14, 2008

War and Morality Part 3

Now, boy, remember this. Your grandfather is pro-victory when it comes down to whether or not I support a war. Never doubt that regardless of what you hear me say. But it isn’t because I think war is just or moral. Wars can only be called a necessary evil. Your grandfather supports it because, in losing a war, there are consequences that we, as a nation, we as a people, cannot afford to pay.

One of those consequences is the loss of respect of any potential and future enemy may have for our military power and strength. And when we lose the respect of the enemy that makes us very vulnerable to attack. The reason being is that they will see that loss as a sign of weakness and think that if some one can claim victory over us then they can also.

This may have been one of the reasons we had a cold war instead of a hot war with the U.S.S.R., mutual respect of each other's military power. We are at war now because we lost the respect of our enemy. Osama bin Laden made this abundantly clear many times.

Another consequence is the loss of confidence that we must have from our allies. This is especially true when we are speaking of those allies who need to depend upon us for their own national security and safety from those who would impose their will upon them. And there will always be those who will prey upon the weak. And if we are to be looked upon as being the strong then we dare not let them down. We dare not turn our backs to them as they cry out for help. We dare not allow ourselves to be perceived as unwilling to confront those who would do so as Hussein must have thought as he invaded Kuwait.

But most of all we must honor those who have chosen to fight for that victory. For that be their only goal, victory. They did not go into battle to lose. They did not stand as their friends fell in battle so that they may come home as losers. They did not go into battle so that when they came home they will come home feeling as if they failed their country, failed their families, failed themselves. And only victory can prevent this.

Tis the support we give those gallant men in regards to their quest that is the food of their souls, the drink to lift their spirits. For it be our support for those men so brave that will make them proud men, men never given a reason to know shame, men never to know doubt of who or what they be. They may go into war as boys but each will come home as men.

And those who have died in this quest, they will not have died in vain. For they will be remembered by both, foe and friend. It will be those that died that the foe will remember when he thinks we are weak, then thinks again. It will be those who died that the friend will remember as he knows his own new found freedom. It will be those who died that will be remembered as the instruments of peace.

'Their bodies are buried in peace; but their name liveth for evermore.'
Apocrypha

Truth, my boy, can be a very strange phenomenon. It may even appear to be self-contradictory. And wars seem to point this fact out very vividly. For it uses acts of evil to bring about a conclusion of good. And we can only declare that it be necessary but the truth."

Upon hearing this I knew why grandpa was such a ferocious defender of the war. And, in my eyes, he had just grown a foot taller.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Right on target!

The Griper said...

thank you, david. welcome to my home on the internet. hope you will visit again.

Goat said...

Very well said granpa, very well said!

Goat said...

The steel that forms the backbone of this great nation was forged in the fires of war, my family has fought in all of them from 1623 on and I would gladly be in Iraq or Afganistan if my back was not fried. I believe that defending liberty is in itself a good thing while the means may be ugly the defense of liberty never is, but I understand exactly where you are coming from and agree.
Sidenote: I am from Alabama but my paternal family is from Michigan and I lived in SoCal for a while and loved it. I am now in the Sac'to area and love it even more. Maybe one day we can sit around a campfire and search that night sky. Where in SoCal are you?

The Griper said...

down here in riverside goat. and my family be in michigan, in a little resort town called charlevoix. on the map you'd find it between the little finger and ring finger of the mitt. lolol

and yes, defense of liberty is a good thing, this i agree with you. and as i said i'm pro-victory. but the issue is whether or not the means is moral or not. and the most i can say of it is that it is a necessary evil as government itself is considered a necessary evil.

i say government is a necessary evil because it imposes its will on the people with every law that is passed. while laws are only enforced upon the few it is imposed on all.

The Griper said...

yes defense of liberty is good but remember that is the end result not the means and morality declares that the end never justifies the means.

Average American said...

Griper:

This post contains some of the most profound writing that it has ever been my honor to read. Your "Grandpa" is one danged smart cookie!!

.......in losing a war, there are consequences that we, as a nation, we as a people, cannot afford to pay. One of those consequences is the loss of respect of any potential and future enemy may have for our military power and strength. And when we lose the respect of the enemy that makes us very vulnerable to attack. The reason being is that they will see that loss as a sign of weakness and think that if some one can claim victory over us then they can also.........

Truer words were never ignored by so many! If 10,000,000 liberal Americans read this, 9,999,999 would still want out of Iraq yesterday. So sad!

I'm new to blogging and don't have many readers but I will link you and send whatever traffic I can. Keep up the fantastic work.

Joe

Tapline said...

Gripper, First time visitor....excellent read....my thinking exactly, but I am not as elequent in my delivery. stay well....

Goat said...

Beautiful country up there Griper, been to Petoskey(cool rocks),the Great Sand Dunes, the Sault Locks and Mackinac many times, very different from Riverside. It sounds like we are on the same page when it comes to war and gov't just approaching it from slightly different angles. War is never a good or even a moral thing but it is the last defense of what is good and moral. I am a small "l" libertarian myself, heck, country boys almost always see eye to eye.

The Griper said...

welcome, tapline

tis a pleasure to invite you into my home. hope you enjoy the stay enough to return again.

The Griper said...

goat,

awww shuckens, i just put a name to it that is all in recognition that man does have needs. and that those needs to be satisfied regardless of how it is done. and while we should avoid it at all costs the means to satify is considered an evil like my example of stealing.

The WordSmith from Nantucket said...

Grampa needs his own tv series.

dcat said...

Wow! Nice Griper! :)

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