Lucia

de Vernai

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January 21, 2008

Once the Troops Are Home, Then What?

A proud nation, Americans have called themselves many things. We may be independent, freedom-loving, tolerant and brave. What we are for sure, though, is insane. That’s per the American legal system, not personal opinion. If you’ve ever seen “Law and Order”, “Law and Order: Criminal Intent”, “Law and Order: SVU”, “Law and Order: Dick Wolf Needs a Hobby” or any other popular criminal justice primetime drama with a catchy opening score, you know what I’m referring to. A sleazy yet articulate teenager kills a pretty blonde straight-A student but gets off on the insanity defense because the hours of video games and media play have caused diminished capacity to distinguish right from wrong. 

We shake our heads as credits roll – anyone can see the action-consequence link! You do the crime, you do the time, buddy, and those coddling, politically correct liberals need to place responsibility where it is due!

Well, we’re trying. Unfortunately, connecting the dots doesn’t seem to be a strong suit of the American people. We like to start things and not finish them. The art of realistic planning has been lost on us. Our attention span is miniscule – what comes after is irrelevant. The foreign policy examples of this are as numerous as they are overstated. It’s domestic politics that seems to be suffering.

Part of taking responsibility for your actions is knowing when what you are doing is not working. Finishing the job you started is not a catch slogan for when to pull out of Iraq. “The job we started” refers to our troops after they come home as well. Insanity is also defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Five years of President Bush-bashing hasn’t made life any better for our military personnel. I don’t care how much you love Dennis Kucinich and your American Apparel t-shirts – being a vet is still miserable. Try influencing the situation from another side. In this case, the raging battle on the home front: Medical care.

Because once the flag-waving welcome is over, the extent of our responsibility to the troops is not. In 2006, the number of homeless veterans in the U.S. was 336,000 – but that’s a rough estimate. The repercussions of Vietnam still have not resonated with us. Soldiers who served multiple tours in Iraq come home and attempt to take their own life because of the unmanageable post-traumatic stress disorder or because the laughable sum of their disability checks cannot support their family.

Outraged liberals and yellow-ribboned conservatives alike are passionate about a shortsighted goal: Bring them home.

Then what?

Influencing foreign policy is not the only way for the American public to assume responsibility for those who serve the country. While it is often difficult to look at the big picture and determine how the multiple, multi-dimensional issues are interconnected, history has repeatedly shown that even if the combat portion of the war is over, the war is not. As citizens, we must assume responsibility for the consequences of our actions – all of them.

Even Fred Thompson wouldn’t object to that.

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