American Views Abroad

 
An email received today read: 'There was a maximum of 10 (!!!) counter protesters supporting the troops. The peace march had about 40 participants. So much for numbers.'

The Stars and Stripes report which this blog linked to on Monday stated in the article that there were 30 protestors, yet, in the caption under the photo, it claims 20. It rounded the number of counter protesters to 15. You would think that anything under 50 participants could be counted correctly. So much for numbers.

A closer look at the logistics is in order here. Landstuhl/Ramstein and K-town are very close to each other and in the center of a rather large US military community, not to mention many retired veterans. Stars and Stripes reported on the upcoming demonstrations and yet, few, very few, chose to participate in the counter protests. Those attending the peace march had for the most part to travel from afar. This winter has been harsh and train tickets are not cheap. When people decide on their own free will to attend a demonstration, there are many issues they grapple with. First is the bread and butter one of how to get down there, how much is this going to cost and second, the more important one, is it going to accomplish anything, is it going to be heard and seen, who is behind it all. Demonstrations are not something you go to lightly because you haven't got anything else to do. You go because you have a sense of outrage at what's being done in your name by your government. Unfortunately, many of us today feel numb from being outraged for too long now. There is a sense as an old friend told me recently of being very reluctant to pick up a newspaper or turn on the news. As she said: 'Just when you think things can't get any worse, up pops the next unbelievable news and there isn't any end in sight.' Precisely, no end in sight and, even worse, the feeling of being caught in a trap, in quicksand.

In one of the photos sent with this email there is a bumper sticker which reads: Our Troops Need Support: Not Pity. Interesting that last word and in the dictionary it's defined as sympathetic sorrow for one suffering, distressed or unhappy: compassion. What conclusion should one draw from this-----to have no compassion for a soldier who has been critically wounded in a war based on lies and distorted facts??? To knee-jerk a support for the troops and ignore the results of what happens in war?

No easy and quick answers here. No black and white. Just a trap.
- posted by Gloria @ 3:16 PM