Cromey Online

The writings of author, therapist, and priest Robert Warren Cromey.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Sacrifice and the Draft

My statement at the “Eyes Wide Open Rally” at the Federal Building in SF on 5/3, 10:00 AM.

The Sacrifice of the Young in a Call for the Draft.

Americans have not suffered enough. Soldiers sent to Afghanistan and Iraq have suffered plenty. So have their families, so have the citizens, civilians and military in those countries.

We at home have suffered little. The president goes to his land in Texas and drives around in his car, amiably saying hi to his neighbors. Many of his neighbors die in the Middle East.

Our lives go day in and day out with no real interruption. Baseball and basketball, the symphony, opera and theater go on entertaining us as our soldiers are killed each day.

We have not suffered any new taxes to support the war or to care for the thousands of wounded and maimed in the president’s war.

We sit quietly and comfortably in our homes while our soldiers fight a war where there is no army, only guerillas called terrorists.

We pray for an end to the war in our churches and it costs us nothing. We get angry and enraged about this senseless war and we feel no pain. Frankly, we are not hurting enough to end this disastrous war.

We need sacrifice.

We need to withhold our taxes and take all the risks and consequences that entails. Ask Joan Baez about that when she did it in the Vietnam era.

We need endless actions of disobedience in front of Federal Buildings, the White house and the House and Senate Buildings.

And most important, we need sacrifice. I call for a draft of young people to go into the military to support and assist the exhausted soldiers now in place.

I have six grandchildren who might be liable to be drafted into the military. I would hate for them to have to go. But nothing will move the present president except political power. Watch the politicians run for cover if we who are concerned for peace and justice gain sufficient power to call for a draft.

The Congress will have to debate human lives, not easily spent dollars.
The Congress will have to face their constituents with the idea of sending more young Americans to the President’s stupidity.
The Congress will have to see how grass root Americans really feel about this war as they seek voter approval for a potential draft.

Let us bring a wave of passion to sacrifice our young to end this war. Let us bring a wave of honest patriotism to support our troops by adding newer, younger, riper men and women to get us out of the horror Mr. Bush has created for us and the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. We need a wave of passion to end this stupid, immoral and sin filled entanglement.

The draft and all peaceful means must be done in the name of human kind and peace on earth.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You are an old fool. You didn't learn from Vietnam and you haven't learned the lessen of mercy. Joan Baez is a singer old fool, is this your guide, popularitu Your pride in elevating yourself to godhood is meaningless as you gurgle in your blood by the muslim butchers who will slice your throat. Then you'll see the error of your ways.

7:03 PM  

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