Society overvalues military action
Collegian Opinion

    As we begin to prepare ourselves for the emotions we will experience on Sept. 11, we also prepare ourselves for the inevitability of a war with Iraq.

   Over the next few weeks, we will all take part in memorials and tributes for those who lost their lives last year.

   Some schools also will hold an “American Character” week. As part of the week’s events, they will have helicopters and war veterans come and speak to children about “American Character.”

   We should all find the misinformed public’s glorification of war alarming. Here we are on the verge of war with a country we have been at war with already, and we are telling our youth that we must be involved in a war to be proud Americans.

   What we consciously fail to admit is the value our society places on war. This importance is abundantly obvious by the number of our presidents who were war heroes.

   Historically, we have gone to war for the wrong reasons. Also, we continue to place our armies in no-win situations with expectations to have a dramatic influence we have never obtained.

   We made a mistake by getting involved in the Korean War. We really messed up a few years later with the Vietnam War, and more recently we allowed a deadly, defiant dictator to remain in control of the oil-rich nation of Iraq.

   Here we go again. We are now about to make another clumsy attempt to police the world. What our leaders are doing is making our security concerns global.

   However, we must proceed with extreme caution. Our political leaders have infected our judgment with endless propaganda intended to make us believe we have to go to war to get anything accomplished.

   Can we stand by and allow other people to sponsor activities harmful to Americans? The obvious answer is no, we cannot. This does not mean a war is necessary.

   We have reached a unique point where our leaders are faced with the decision to stick us knee deep in another world war or sanction our enemies to death.

   No matter what is done, each one of us will witness first hand a terrorist activity in our lifetime.

   How war can be taught as an ideal influence on “American Character” is unbelievably frightening. We should focus more on community well-being. We must start there; if we can do that, our national security will fall into place.

   Our political leaders belong to the wealthiest segment in our nation. Also, they are part of the population that stands to profit from our control of the world’s oil supply.

   We must stop teaching our youth war that is acceptable and that being a killer is honorable. Our military is on the fringes of being placed in a political war, we must stop this mistake from happening.

   Our leaders must tell us the truth, no matter what.

   We must get off our couches and get involved in our communities.

   We have to realign what is socially important and end the nation’s craving for war.