I fought for God – Or Did I?

Did you ever wonder what soldiers fight for? Well I’m pretty sure the radical Christian right thinks that every soldier is a red blooded American boy (sorry girls) who goes out to fight for God and Country. I’m just as sure that every Neocon thinks that every soldier goes out to fight for the spread of Christian Democracy. Well you know what? They aren’t just red blooded American “boys” and they don’t just fight for God and Country and the spread of Christian Democracy. I’ll tell you who I think they really are and what they really fight for below the fold.

So who are American soldiers? During my 27 years in the United States Army I discovered that beyond the uniform soldiers had a lot in common but they also had a lot not in common. I found that if you took off the uniform you discovered soldiers are men and women; they are black, white, red, brown and every shade of ethnicity in between. They are tall and short and every other height. They are married and single and something else. They are mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and aunts and uncles. They are gay and straight and not so straight. They are from Angola, Greece, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Great Britain, Germany, Indonesia, Ghana, The Netherlands, Pakistan, Sudan, Egypt, Iran and every other country on the National Geographic map. They are educated, uneducated, smart and sometimes ignorant and some times yes just plain stupid. They are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Latter Day Saints, Agnostic, and Atheist. They are brave and not so brave. They are scared and some even cowardly. They are honest and dishonest and something in between. Most of all, the soldiers I know are, or want to be, American.

Now just what is it that American soldiers fight for? During my 27 years in the United States Army I discovered that there was one thing that every soldier was fighting for and it’s summed up very well in the oath that the soldier takes on the day they join the military. Here is the oath that they take when they join the Army and it is essentially the same, with very minor variations, for all branches of the service and all ranks.

"I, (state your name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

This oath and my experience tell me that soldiers fight in support of and in defense of the Constitution of the United States of America or in other words they fight for FREEDOM. It’s that simple. Contrary to what a lot of people would like to believe the American soldier doesn’t join and fight for God or against terrorism or communism or Marxism or any other ism. American soldiers take and oath and fight for freedom as it is expressed in the Constitution of the United States of America. It is my humble opinion that the great men who gathered in Philadelphia to form our American government and ultimately write the constitution intended it so. Freedom was their focus. I have searched through the constitution and, believe it or not, I do not find the word God anywhere in the document nor do I find anti-Marxism, anti-communism, or anti any other ism. I do however find that every word of it and the construct of every phrase and sentence of that great document is focused on guaranteeing the freedoms of every citizen of the United States of America. It is this for which the American soldier fights and nothing else. This document does not guarantee a religion nor demand the spread of democracy outside the borders of our nation but it does guarantee every citizen’s freedoms and rights.

It is my belief that when you are elected to public office and you take an oath of office to uphold the constitution of the United States that you have incurred a solemn obligation and duty to obey the laws of the land an perform the duties of your office in the most honorable and faithful manner possible. If they believe in God they swear or affirm to God to do so. If they don’t believe in God they still swear or affirm to do so. The President along with the Vice President, members of Congress and all officers appointed by the administration take oaths of office. Below is the oath taken by the President and members of Congress.

The oath of President of the United States.

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

The oath of members of Congress of the United States

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."

I have included these oaths so that you may more fully appreciate and understand that the focus of our government is and always has been on freedom and the freedoms guaranteed to each and every citizen of this country under our constitution. It has never been on the establishment or endorsement of any religion or on the spreading of Jeffersonian democracy. When one views our government through the prism of our constitution one can truly appreciate and comprehend the gross failures of the President and Republican controlled Congress in upholding their oaths of supporting and defending the constitution and in guaranteeing the citizens of this great nation their constitutional rights and freedoms.

President Bush along with the Republican controlled Congress has sent our troops to fight the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time for the wrong reasons and they have done so through the use of lies and deceit. The President has added further insult to injury by denying the American people their rights to a free and open government by concealing the resulting carnage of his misguided war and further violating their rights under the 4th amendment to the constitution by authorizing illegal wiretaps.

American soldiers once again find themselves in the unenviable position of fighting, not for American freedom, but for Executive and Congressional hubris. It is self evident that there are grounds for impeachment of the President and it is time that the Congress did its job. Each day that Congress continues to shamelessly avoid their duty more American blood is wasted into the Iraqi sand, not for freedom but, for arrogance and political gain.

Those Are The Sergeant Majors Thoughts On That.