John McCain is a genuine hero, even his detractors say.
His US Navy jet was shot down during the Vietnam War in a bombing raid on Hanoi in October 1967 and he spent five years in a prison camp where he suffered beatings and other torture.
So he was a hero. Such is the mythology of war.
Is heroic to drop bombs on cities? It was not warriors McCain and other American pilots killed when they dropped bombs on cities in Vietnam. It was civilians -- men, women, babies. And they frequently died horribly, burning to death, which is not a death you would wish on your worst enemy.
During the Vietnam War, I ranked people from Most Admired to Least Admired in the following order:
FIRST,
those who went to prison rather than fight in an immoral war
those who fled to Canada
the grunts who were drafted
professional military men who simply did their duty
military men who signed up for extra combat tours because it offered chances for advancement.
At the very bottom, of course, were
the political leaders who started the war.
McCain did what his country ordered him to do. He was a loyal professional and he did what he was asked. But he was no hero; he was a trained killer who gloried in his job. And he thinks we're doing a great thing by slaughtering Iraqi men, women, and children.
Save us from the heroes.
Posted by Deck at April 9, 2007 05:28 PM