>> when professor Librescu saved his students' >> lives at the cost of his own".
> The sort of thing that happens every day in Iraq... Robert G. Seeberger wrote: Ahhhhhhhhh......no it doesn't.....no no no.....not at all. > I can't help but feel frustrated that while they were > so quick to identify with the victims of that insanity, > where are the memorials to the mostly college-age >people who are sacrificing themselves in the war? > If it makes sense to identify with unwilling victims > of senseless violence, doesn't it make even more > sense to identify with those who willingly put > themselves in harm's way, even if you believe that > the cause in Iraq is just as senseless as the crime > in Virginia? Nick? Are you weirding out on us? What would ever make you think that people do not identify with our soldiers and their families? My wife and I discuss that particular issue regularly. And more, my wife in particular goes out of her way to befriend the wives of military men. Even the most strongly anti-war folks I know take pride in our military people. There have been quite a few memorials to our fighting soldiers of the sort held at Stanford for the VT victims (among other places) over the last few years. Where have you been? The only reason there is not some hulking physical monument to our Veterans of Iraq is that the war is not over yet. BTW, Happy Patriot Day! > David Brin has written and spoken much about > "otherness." One of the most discouraging things > about living with Wes' sacrifice in Iraq -- and all > the others' -- is that they seem to be treated by < most people as "other," rather than the strong > identification that students have with those killed > in Virginia. Bah.........you underestimate one and overestimate the other. > Right now, I feel like shouting at every college student > who is thinking, "That could have been me," to consider > that the same is true for the 3,300+ who made the > ultimate sacrifice in Iraq. Big difference Nick. You have to choose to join the military to go to Iraq to be shot at. The students and staff of VT were given no choice in the matter. rob i believe that almost all of the american public do support the troops, EVEN those of us who protest this war vehemently. what professor librescu did is equivalent to falling on a grenade to save his comrades. it is true that sort of thing does not happen every day in iraq but over time the loss of american lives is much higher than these shooting incidents. that is not to minimize the tragedy of what happened in the space of a few hours in blacksburg. on the other hand we should recognize the loss of lives in iraq, provide better logiistical support, and followup care for the wounded and traumatized. even if many of those soldiers were duped into joining, it does it lessen the hard reality that those who trusted our president and volunteered to serve, are heroes. my generation didn't have a choice, we were drafted. --jlm __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
