"Define Irony"

POST-POSTED for 28 JAN 2007

somehow it seemed all too appropriate that the radio was playing black sabbath's "war pigs" when my sister dropped me off at the airport; i swear, whatever construct or entity governs the universe--be it boethius' wheel of fortune, shiva the destroyer, or your own preferred incarnation of the god of abraham (and therefore the god of the jews, christians, and muslims (but that's a rant for another day))--he/she/it has a deviant sense of humour, and fully appreciates just how well i appreciate subtle irony.

while i truly believe that of all the officers in my department that were eligible for this particular bonejob, i was the logical choice, being active duty as opposed to a recalled reservist, and being without young children and a loving wife--my personal life bearing a semblance not unlike that of a train wreck--i am forced to wonder how it is more acceptable to impress the unwilling from the ranks of current servicemembers than to draft from the general youth of the populace. the friends i have made here thus far are all present against their wills, and while they have absolutely no reservations about serving their coutry and countrymen, they chose to do so on certain terms that have been violated. one fellow has a three year old and a newborn at home; when he returns, from that point, he will have spent less than a year of the past three with his family. one has been on five deployments in the last five years--an abnormally high number, even for a surface warfare officer (swo). there is something grievously wrong with this ia process. were we to quantify the stake the average american has in this conflict, and in the welfare of soldiers caught up in it, what should we find? i don't know. i would hope that if the general public discovered how the armed services are quietly augmenting their presence in iraq, they would cry things amiss; the backlash against the proposed troop build-up was a comforting sight. i do know, however, that the point made several times now in congress is valid: the current leadership of our nation sacrifices little to nothing in, and suffers little to no impact from, this conflict.

i leave you with a verse and a line:

politicians hide themselves away.
they only started the war.
why should they go out to fight?
they leave that role to the poor...

all of that being sad, if my presence results in just one more soldier or marine coming home than otherwise would have, this will have been worth it.