--- Subject: Into the fire From: Ryan Marsh <meat_private> To: declanat_private Content-Type: text/plain Organization: Message-Id: <1047332653.22368.431.camel@princess-mononoke> Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Ximian Evolution 1.2.1 Date: 10 Mar 2003 15:44:13 -0600 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Declan, Tomorrow morning I leave for Army Basic Training. My MOS (Military Occupation Specialty) will be Airborne Infantry. Up until now I've always utilized my Right to Freedom of Speech, I've always been very interested in, and constructively critical of, U.S. domestic and foreign policy. I will no longer be in the position to excercise those rights liberally as a dissenting citizen. I am now an instrument of war. My duty to my country is now to "obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the Officers appointed over me according to the regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice." I am no longer in a position to question, that is why I want every Politech reader to take very seriously the freedoms they hold, and the control they exert over the political process. If you send me to war, send me with decisive force. If you oppose the war I am fighting, please do not oppose me. I might oppose the war too, but I am willing to give my life that you might live in freedom. I am joining up with a healthy realization of what is about to take place in the Middle East (and possibly N. Korea), but I have great hope. I heard an author on C-SPAN Book TV once say (and I'm paraphrasing): A hundred years ago the state of relations between states in Europe was war, fifty years ago the world was fighting a genocidal megalomanic, twenty years ago there was still great question as to whether free markets or planned economies would become the economic foundation of Europe. Let's give them [the Middle East] some time. Long before the idea gained popularity in the media, I was preaching the positive impact that institutions of democracy and a western-friendly gov't in Iraq could have on that entire region. The encouragement it would provide to Iran, the de-throning of Saudi Arabia, the positive impact on Syria, Jordan, and others. I have great hope that one day humanity will look upon turmoil in the Middle East with the same respectful nostalgia we have for WWII, and will finally turn it's attention towards Africa. -ryan -- I stopped reading Wired and now William Gibson and Cory Doctorow don't make any sense. http://ryanmarsh.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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