FC: Politech member's advice as he leaves for Army Basic Training

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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Subject: Into the fire
From: Ryan Marsh <me () ryanmarsh com>
To: declan () well com
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Date: 10 Mar 2003 15:44:13 -0600
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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




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