I’m not trying to make any personal statement with this cartoon, but it is interesting. In fact, I have been dumbfounded when it comes to holding any kind of intelligent conviction on this war. It just isn’t black and white, as we wish all things would be.
Every year my family celebrates the fourth of July in Canyon Lake, Texas. It is as small as it sounds, and the fourth of July parade is even smaller. It consists mostly of members of the local VFW. My grandfather, a Korean war vet, lives for this day. He is truly a person who basks in all of the glory and honor of war. I went through a stage when I felt the exact opposite. I was angry at the innocent Iraqis who suffered and at the soldiers who fought a war for no reason. I didn’t want to honor them because I didn’t understand them. However, I do believe that some wars need to be fought and that even in all the craziness there could still be such a thing as a just war. That’s when my appreciation for the troupes comes back……and so does my sadness and anger. In the small town parade I attended there were floats with wives and children holding up pictures of their loved ones who are fighting in Iraq right now. Fortunately my over-sized sunglasses hid my tears. Today I’m about to meet my newborn cousin. His dad, my cousin Stephen, hasn’t even met his own son because He’s been fulfilling his duty in Iraq. What am I supposed to fight for? The American way? Bringing the troupes home? Will any of that stop the death and hatred here and abroad? There is no right answer, and my stance on this war will remain undecided, because all I know is that no one wins in war. Despite our preconceptions there is not a good guy and a bad guy when both of them are carrying guns. I want my baby cousin to know his Daddy, and I want Iraqis to have a home. But in this day and age, that might be asking for too much.
The Bohemian Dispatch 