Memorial Day, 2007: Why We Fight

Townhall ^ | May 25, 2007 | Marvin Olasky

[Kaslin]

Memorial Day is a time to remember soldiers who gave their lives and some non-combatant heroes as well, such as Michael Kelly.

Kelly was an established journalist on the left when he started seeing value in conservative positions. He was an established editor when he decided to imbed himself with U.S. troops at the beginning of the Iraq war.

Kelly's mother Marguerite posted recently an online article (www.theatlantic.com) about her son's willingness to enter into danger: "He believed in this war ... He knew what Saddam Hussein had done to that country. He had seen all those gaudy, golden palaces he had built for himself while Iraqi children went hungry; he had met some of the families whose lives he had wrecked and he knew about the killings he had ordered -- the hundreds of thousands of killings."

Mrs. Kelly continued, "Mike was in Iraq in 2003 because he had been in Kuwait City on Liberation Day in 1991. He saw what Saddam's troops had done. He saw the rape rooms. He saw bodies in the morgue with their eyes gouged out; their skin scalded; their lives taken in terrible ways. He was there because he believed there are times -- not many, but some -- when it is more moral to go to war than to wait for more people to be gassed, more mass graves to be dug."

Believing that this war was worthwhile, Kelly journeyed to report on it. Theodore Roosevelt had come to a similar conclusion in 1898 when he was a nationally influential politician who favored war with Spain: He joined the Army, saying "my power for good, whatever it may be, would be gone if I didn't try to live up to the doctrines I have tried to preach." It all worked out for Roosevelt. He became a war hero and then president. It didn't work out for Kelly. He was killed soon after the war began.

Kelly's death, along with thousands of others, raises the question of theodicy: Why massively bad things happen in a world created and sustained by our good and omnipotent God. Kelly's reason for heading toward death suggests a partial answer to that question: He knew that those who fear giving up the pleasures God has bestowed upon them tend to cry, "peace, peace," when there is no peace -- and they thus become enablers of disaster.

Fighting evil brings its own evil. Over 600,000 deaths in the Civil War. Over 400,000 American deaths in World War II. But Marguerite Kelly believes her son would have considered those huge costs worthwhile: "Would he say that we should have cut our country in two and let the South have slaves? That we should have let Hitler rule all of Europe and let him kill any Jews that were left? (Michael) knew that holocausts start small; that evil is real; that somebody has to stand up and stop it, and that others must watch and tell the world that evil had really been stopped. And sometimes, he said, good people would die in the doing."

She wrote, "That our son was one of them still breaks our hearts, but we can't say that his death was unfair. If we did, we would have to say that it was unfair that he had enjoyed life so thoroughly; that he had such a fine career, such an excellent wife and such jolly, healthy sons ... we are immensely grateful that our son gave so much joy to us and to others. And we hope that he will give it to us again someday, somehow, somewhere."

Mrs. Kelly concluded with the sadness that lingers, the sadness that made Jesus weep: "For now, though, (Michael) lives in the land that was, and we are left alone." Many were and are left alone in Iraq, and many now in America. We live in a fallen world.

Marvin Olasky is a professor of journalism at the University of Texas at Austin,the editor-in-chief of World, and author of Scimitar's Edge.

[Diogenesis]

“Iraq is a long way from [here], but what
happens there matters a great deal here. For the
risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use
nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us
or our allies is the greatest security threat we
face.”
- Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998

“He will use those weapons of mass destruction
again, as he has ten times since 1983.”
- Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998

“We urge you, after consulting with Congress,
and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws,
to take necessary actions (including, if
appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect
Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat
posed by Iraq’s refusal to end its weapons of mass
destruction programs.”
- Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin (D-MI),
Tom Daschle (D-SD), John Kerry ( D - MA), and others Oct. 9, 1998

“Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on
building weapons of mass destruction and palaces
for his cronies.”
- Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999

“There is no doubt that .. Saddam Hussein has
invigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate
that biological, chemical and nuclear programs
continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War
status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine
delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of
a licit missile program to develop longer-range
missiles that will threaten the United States and
our allies.”
- Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob
Graham (D, FL,) and others, December 5, 2001

“We begin with the common belief that Saddam
Hussein is a tyrant and threat to the peace and
stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate
of the United Nations and is building weapons of
mass destruction and the means of delivering them.”
- Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002

“We know that he has stored secret supplies of
biological and chemical weapons throughout his country.”
- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

“Iraq’s search for weapons of mass destruction
has proven impossible to deter and we should assume
that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power.”
- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

“We have known for many years that Saddam
Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass
destruction.”
- Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002

“The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in
October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam
Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and
biological weapons, and that he has since embarked
on a crash course to build up his chemical and
biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence
reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear
weapons...”
- Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002

“There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam
Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear
weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within
the next five years ... We also should remember we
have always underestimated the progress Saddam has
made in development of weapons of mass destruction.”
- Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002

“He has systematically violated, over the
course of the past 11 years, every significant UN
resolution that has demanded that he disarm and
destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any
nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do.”
- Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002

[AirBorn]

Thank You Kaslin,

And May God Bless ALL those who not only do serve Courageously in our Armed Forces- and have served too.

But Patriots like you -and the other Freepers here too!

OOH-RAH!

Darth Airborne, Airborn, Last Horseman

[Valin]

BUMP!