TUESDAY, JUNE 13th

Because of all the down-time we’ve had lately I’ve been doing a lot of reading. My latest escape is a book called “1776” and, I guess, was a pretty popular account of the Revolutionary War. I’m just about done now, thanks to the six hours of down-time we’ve had today.

One thing I will take back from this experience is a completely different perspective on the military and how it functions. It is absolutely jaw-dropping how many similarities the soldiers in today’s Army have with the generations of other soldiers who have fought in the world’s most major wars. One would not think that this bunch, containing a variety so diverse it covers the entire spectrum of the utter stupidity to the brilliant could fight such powerful threats.

A common thread that seems to remain, and one of the chief reasons this Army still exists, is the simple idea of fighting for liberty. In fact, the degree of strength shown by American soldiers is directly proportional to the degree that American freedoms and rights are threatened. For most people who try to put a leash on patriotism (liberals?) by calling some wars or invasions unnecessary, this will probably make very little sense. Americans love to fight for rights and freedoms. Why do you think boot camp is so hard for us?

Some would call us spoiled, saying we are too comfortable and not used to discipline. The British said the same thing about us before we beat them back to their side of the ocean. Americans had a higher standard of living than most people in the world before our revolution. Does that make our cause any less worthy?

We wanted freedom and rights, so we fought for it. We took the offensive. If we could’ve, I believe we would’ve invaded Britain and “occupied” it until the oppressors surrendered. Politically, this would’ve been disastrous and would’ve created much chaos at home. But that’s how the military works.

Here, we celebrate the detainees locked up in our prisons in Cuba, because they threaten our country’s freedoms. It’s idealistic and it is principled. It is not academic. It is not a humanitarian effort. Thank God it’s not, because frankly, people would die. Americans will die if we do not drop more bombs, raid more homes, and hunt down more terrorists. Military operations or war in general, seems to operate this way. I used to consider this logic rather barbaric and primitive because it ignored humanitarian concerns and open political considerations. Now I understand that in the mindset of battle, the suggestion of discussing political or social concerns makes about as much sense as cutting your fingernails before a fist fight for fear that you might scratch your opponent. Once a war as begun there are no manners, only tactics. It is an unpopular fact that war ends in surrender or death. Americans need to understand the principles that early revolutionaries, or “sons of liberty” as they were known, were motivated by beyond all other considerations. They considered it an act of Providence, or God’s Dive Will, that they would fight for and win their freedom. They left their homes for a promise of pay, benefits, hopefully some glory of their own, and to provide for their families. So did we here. Some fought just to escape something in their lives. And the same is being done here.

We are fighting for the same reasons as the colonies did: we want to create a free society. We are rebellious now against the attacks and control that terrorists organizations have on us. We share this fight with the majority of Iraqi people because, just as in the distant cities of New York and Boston during colonial times, our enemies are embedded into the operations of peaceful society. So, we go out to face our enemies in Iraq, just as we went and faced them in Boston and New York in 1776.

What happened after that? The British sent more troops to the colonies, just as terrorists have sent troops to Iraq. After that? The colonies were hesitant to send their own troops away for fear of an attack at home, just as some of our coalition members have withdrawn their forces from Iraq. The similarities go on, but we know how the story ends.

Americans love to fight for freedom, no matter how or why they ended up in the fight. So, in short, luck to the next leaders of Al Qaeda in Iraq, you’re gonna need it!

Benjamin