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From: Daniel L. Bazsika
T1: Bazsikad
Date: 10/30/97
Time: 7:46:22 PM
Remote Name: 130.68.21.171
Dan Bazsika-My Interpretation of Colin Powell's Memoirs
At times I feel like I'm becoming a communist, due to the way that I think of our America when it comes to our foreign war tactics. At the same time though I realize that in time of war it's kill or be killed, which leads one to believe that one should use any means necessary in defeating the opponent; this case being the Viet Cong. Is it fair though to use superior artillary though compared to a country that is far inferior to us in weaponry, with many innocent and defenseless people being murdered that look suspicious? I think not. Powell's mentality is that no expense can be spared when identifying an enemy in a country that our troops know seemingly little about. Everyone is a suspect and it's better to kill innocent people as long as the likelihood is good that we may have gotten some people that may have impoased a threat to our agenda. And what is our agenda? From a generic perspective it would seem to be total annilation of an inferior enemy. The fact that Pritchard was shot, due to an MAM sets the same excuse for mass-murdering innocent civilians as did Sergeant Cox's murder which provoked the Mylai massacre. Whe push comes to shove it seems that instead of pushing back, the U.S. just knocks you down. The answer to the question, "Does it matter if you shoot your enemy or starve them?" is based on morals. In war there seems to be no morals. I cannot simply answer that it's far worse to starve than shoot your enemy because a difference in opinion as to which one is more barbaric doesn't solve anything. I just feel that it is impossible to solve a problem by creating far worse ones, such as destroying soil and landscaping that will for years to come pose a problem for sel-f sufficient farming of people; many are pheasants whom live off the land just for survival, rather than economic stability. It seems to be that by using such chemical toxins as agent orange we are doing far more than stifiling our enemy, we are proving a point. It's sort of hypocritical for mysel to be judging the actions of others during a war when I, personally, have never been involved in a war. If I was in a war I suppose that my actions would be justified by the authority of my commanding officer, but as a person it would be me who would have to live with the mental reflection of my actions whether I was told to do them or not. I guess the only thing I can't be hypocritical in saying is that there were many barbaric occurances that the U.S. participated in during the Vietnam War and although I can't judge one's actions, I can sympathize for the common soldier's mentality.