How About Protesting Real Genocide Indeed

This article by Bridget Johnson asks some tough questions of those protesting the upcoming fifth anniversary of the Iraq War. It amazes me how truly backwards things appear to me right now. I only wish that I lived near one of the cities where large protests are planned (Washington, D.C., San Francisco, etc.). I would certainly be a part of the counter protest.

In my opinion, it doesn't matter to me whether people agree with why we are in Iraq. We need to ensure that the troops aren't treated with disrespect as they were during the Vietnam War. That appears to be exactly what is happening right now with all of the attacks and protests surrounding military recruiting centers. It truly disgusts me, and the fact that the mainstream media has been relatively silent on what's going on makes it a lot worse.

I remember the declaration of war in 2003 well. I was in Mexico at the time with Alternative Spring Break. There was a lot of crying, hand-holding, etc., and I felt completely alone. Judging from the meeting that we had once war had been declared, just about everyone there was liberal, and they were angry and upset that war had been declared. How was I supposed to react as a conservative? Sure I had misgivings about the war, but no one else would even listen to the reasons why we were there. As I did many times while I was in college, I remained silent. The image in my mind of that meeting, those circumstances in Merida, Mexico, will always stay with me. The intolerance, misunderstanding, and anger I experienced there was just a prelude of what would occur in the years to come.

Lindsey

UPDATE - For those who were wondering, the people I talked about in the above post were largely U.S. college students and educators. I can only imagine what our Mexican hosts at the hotel were thinking.