Two Very Different Generations
Every generation has a different set of ideals, principles, and values.
Obviously, the United States of 2007 is not the United States of 1944. In the 1930s, America did not want to fight Germany or Japan. Pearl Harbor changed that. In the 1990s, America did not see the danger of Al Qaeda. September 11th changed that. The Greatest Generation under the leadership of FDR remained united and resolved throughout WWII, and our country was united once again at the onset of the War on Terror.
Unfortunately, certain circumstances, including the situation in Iraq, has damaged many Americans’ desires to fight this war at all. Although there are many differences between the Greatest Generation of the 1940s and my generation of today, I believe there is one influential factor affecting my generation’s view of the War on Terror more than any other: the way the war is reported. The Greatest Generation read about the war in the paper and listened to reports on the radio. My generation watches the war on TV like it is a video game, and to the youthful misinformed, it appears we are losing that game.
I realize some Americans would not agree with the military action in Iraq regardless of how it was reported, but the drastic contrast between the coverage of WWII and the coverage of Iraq has had a huge impact on how Americans view the War on Terror.
For instance, on June 6, 1944, over 2,500 Americans died. Did you get that? Over two thousand! I recently purchased a June 6, 1944 reprint edition of the Cincinnati Times-Star. The headline reads, “BEACHHEADS ARE ESTABLISHED SOON AFTER INVASION IS BEGUN.” The subheading reads, “American, British and Canadian Units . . . Make Rapid Progress.” Of course the media had no way to accurately report how many brave men had died on the beaches that day, but how would today’s six o’clock news report the horror of over two thousand coalition soldiers being killed in Iraq or Afghanistan in one operation? Definitely not by claiming there was "Rapid Progress."
Do not misunderstand me. When any brave American soldier dies, it is a tragedy. Families are crushed, and lives are altered forever. Reporting of the war must go on, but my generation and the media must understand how the dynamics have changed. The Greatest Generation paid an unimaginable price to ensure freedom triumphed over oppression. What if they had not been willing to pay that price?
My generation does not have the stomach to handle the un-pleasantries that automatically accompany the fighting of radicals bent on destroying our way of life, and we suffer from a growing lack of faith in the mission spawned by our lack of patience. Couple that with the fact that my generation does not foresee the dire consequences of prematurely backing out of Iraq and ignoring the threat of Islamic extremism, and it makes perfect sense why many Americans fail to understand how important it is that we remain resolved in the fight for freedom regardless of the cost.
We must put this war in perspective. Victory is not guaranteed by the greatest army or the most sophisticated technology. It requires resolve, patience, and unimaginable sacrifice. Fortunately, the Greatest Generation understood exactly that. Hopefully, my generation will realize it before it is too late.
Make no mistake, our enemies will exploit our lack of resolve. It is what any intelligent enemy would do.
I am convinced that losing resolve in the middle of any battle is not only dangerous, it is outright suicidal.
4 comments:
"I am convinced that losing resolve in the middle of any battle is not only dangerous, it is outright suicidal."
When statements like these are made, it's almost too easy to point out that while this is true, the soldiers over there are losing resolve for a war that they were conned into fight for. It's impossible to go to war against a concept and defeat it, the so called War on Terrorism has done nothing but create more enemies for us, with every Mujahideen that we defeat in Afghanistan, 5 more look at his cause and join it; for every one member of Al-Qadea we capture or kill, there many more that remain in anonymity in a region that simply has no desire at all for a US presence.
The fact that these people are so willing to kill us has nothing to do with them hating freedom or Christianity; we have been told multiple times why we are the targets of such relentless aggression and hatred. It's remarkable how people are so concerned with what Islamic Extremism and the direction that it is leading the world when Christian Fascism, I mean, Fundamentalism, is leading our country into a much darker world.
But of course, you say that it is important we stay the course in Iraq, no matter what the costs, why? Because we're fighting for freedom. It takes someone with a minimal of a middle school education to look at the past 4 years and see nothing but a disaster, a poorly planned and a further poorly executed stumble into incompetence and the lives of thousands upon thousands of people, both Iraqi and Coalition forces.
But still, none of this matters because somehow it is the Democrats who are responsible in some form for the chaos and poor manner that this was carried out, whether it be an aversion for wasting more money or setting down a base time line to end the needless bloodshed in a lost cause. That's the thing that is great about people your age who are involving themselves in politics; it's much easier to complain and moan about the opposition party than actually do anything outside of sit at their computer and wallow in their own ignorance.
Thank you for your comments. I appreciate your opinion.
I do not disagree that declaration of war against terrorists has rallied more terrorists together, but I do consider that fact to be the lesser evil of two choices: 1) we could have chosen to not engage them after Sept. 11th and do nothing as their "hornets nest" grows larger and larger and one day becomes an unimaginable force for future Amercian generations to deal with or 2) we could engage them now, seek to destroy the "hornets nest" and deal with the fact that we have stirred up that hornets nest.
I would rather stir it up now in an attempt to kill it, than let it grow to the point that your children and mine have no choice but to engage in an even worse fight than we would ever have to deal with in our generation.
Enough for now.
I agree with that we should have confronted whoever after 9/11, to bring the war to them; but the blunders that were made in the process of that could have not have been any larger and anymore detrimental to any positive effect that could have happened. All of the wrong mistakes were made and they continue to be made today.
Our generation is quickly being defined by the tragic events that occur as the years go by. In years to come we could very easily be considered the Tragic Generation. Forget generation X, generation Y, the i-generation, or even generation next. The world is watching and waiting to see how we will respond.
I believe the only appropriate way for me to respond in my generation, as a believer in Jesus Christ, is to speak the Truth in love. I encourage other believers do so as well.
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