Your kid asks you......

[migtig]

...count Vietnam.

I did think of Viet Nam, but it's still very different. You have to worry about your neighbor now when it comes to terrorism. The Enemy can be the guy or gal next to you on the plane. Your server at a restuarant. The passenger next to you on Metro.

At least Viet Nam was confined to one geographical area with Vietnamese and Chinese wearing different uniforms. It was an unconventional "police action" war and thankfully there were lessons learned from that style of gurriella fighting, however, obviously not enough.

 

[vraiblonde]

Larry, remember when we explained Socialism and welfare to Emily? She understood it right away.

 

[Larry Gude]

Nice fear...

I did think of Viet Nam, but it's still very different. You have to worry about your neighbor now when it comes to terrorism. The Enemy can be the guy or gal next to you on the plane. Your server at a restuarant. The passenger next to you on Metro.

At least Viet Nam was confined to one geographical area with Vietnamese and Chinese wearing different uniforms. It was an unconventional "police action" war and thankfully there were lessons learned from that style of gurriella fighting, however, obviously not enough.

..mongering. Dear Shorty, be scared of everybody.

 

[desertrat]

Would we have gone to war if not for 9/11? I doubt it

Might have ,but that put the country and congress in the right frame of mind to be behind an all out attack on Iraq. Afghanistan was a no brainer, we were chasing the guy responsible.

 

[smoothmarine187]

..mongering. Dear Shorty, be scared of everybody.

 

[SShewbert]

...would the responding question from an inquisitive kid be to that one?

Well I don't really think that there is a simple explanation to this question of his and I figure that in order to answer him there will probably be quite a discussion on it. As with any kid they are going to ask questions. All you can he can do for his kid really is tell him what he thinks of all of this. There is no straight answer as to why we are there, while some people support it and others don't. If he wants his kid to be open to forming his own opinions then he can give him arguments from all sides. But all in all I figure this one question of his would lead to some kind of a conversation.

 

[smoothmarine187]

Might have ,but that put the country and congress in the right frame of mind to be behind an all out attack on Iraq. Afghanistan was a no brainer, we were chasing the guy responsible.

Exactly! That's why we went to war, people wanted to see something done about the sucker punch that we took.

 

[Larry Gude]

Yeah...

Larry, remember when we explained Socialism and welfare to Emily? She understood it right away.

...because it was a PERFECT analogy.

If Shorty asks any questions in response to Saddam the Bully it might be like "So, did Saddam kill all those people in NY?"

And then what? "Well, Shorty, that was a different guy."

"Oh, what happened to him?"

"Well, we're really not sure..."

We're doing as much giving of lunch money to the bully as we are of punching his nose to get him to like us. Aren't we?

 

[Larry Gude]

Yeah...

Might have ,but that put the country and congress in the right frame of mind to be behind an all out attack on Iraq. Afghanistan was a no brainer, we were chasing the guy responsible.

...until that got boring.

 

[migtig]

..mongering. Dear Shorty, be scared of everybody.

Don't put words in my mouth to say to a child. I'm replying giving specific examples for you. Also notice in my original post I did not say "unlike ALL wars the US has ever fought".

My response to a child/ young adult would still be my first post.

 

[Larry Gude]

How do...

Well I don't really think that there is a simple explanation to this question of his and I figure that in order to answer him there will probably be quite a discussion on it. As with any kid they are going to ask questions. All you can he can do for his kid really is tell him what he thinks of all of this. There is no straight answer as to why we are there, while some people support it and others don't. If he wants his kid to be open to forming his own opinions then he can give him arguments from all sides. But all in all I figure this one question of his would lead to some kind of a conversation.

...you explain to a kid we live in mortal danger and we're doing this and this and this yet the one guy, OBL, most responsible, Mr. 9/11 himself, sends us updates from his Myspace every so often wanting to know if we give yet?

By letting OBL breathe after what he did, the argument to kill anyone else in the name of justice nad protecting ourselves goes out the window and I don't care if you are 10 or 50 or 100.

Then, the only proper answer is; "Look, kid, there is no right or wrong, only a whole bunch of gobblydeegook that world leaders play around with that makes no sense to me anyway, so, it ain't gonna make any sesne to you either, so, don't worry about it."

 

[desertrat]

...until that got boring.

Iraq did change the focus of the media didn't it.

 

[Chain729]

I did think of Viet Nam, but it's still very different. You have to worry about your neighbor now when it comes to terrorism. The Enemy can be the guy or gal next to you on the plane. Your server at a restuarant. The passenger next to you on Metro.

At least Viet Nam was confined to one geographical area with Vietnamese and Chinese wearing different uniforms. It was an unconventional "police action" war and thankfully there were lessons learned from that style of gurriella fighting, however, obviously not enough.

Politicians don't learn. It's not that the military isn't smart enough or skilled enough to do their job well, it's that the politicians won't let them.

 

[Chain729]

Iraq did change the focus of the media didn't it.

It would've changed anyway. My 9 month old's attention span is longer than that of the American public.

 

[Larry Gude]

I don't mean to...

Don't put words in my mouth to say to a child. I'm replying giving specific examples for you. Also notice in my original post I did not say "unlike ALL wars the US has ever fought".

My response to a child/ young adult would still be my first post.

..put words in your mouth. I'm debating with you how to answer "why are we at war" to a kid.

You can lie to him and say we're getting the people who hurt us.
You can get into the whole geopolitical meanderings.
You can tow a party line.

The simplest, most straightforward answer is...

Oil.

But that opens up a whole other can of worms.

 

[Larry Gude]

Thank...

Politicians don't learn. It's not that the military isn't smart enough or skilled enough to do their job well, it's that the politicians won't let them.

...you.

 

[Larry Gude]

I have...

Iraq did change the focus of the media didn't it.

...cats. Whatever's moving catches their attention. Coincidence?

The media did not make us let OBL go.

 

[vraiblonde]

...because it was a PERFECT analogy.

If Shorty asks any questions in response to Saddam the Bully it might be like "So, did Saddam kill all those people in NY?"

And then what? "Well, Shorty, that was a different guy."

"Oh, what happened to him?"

"Well, we're really not sure..."

We're doing as much giving of lunch money to the bully as we are of punching his nose to get him to like us. Aren't we?

Oh stop.

MM asked a simple question of how to explain the war to his 7 year old. When someone asks what time it is, you don't build them a clock. I don't think Shorty needs a 12 hour Byzantine history lesson in order to answer his straightforward question.

Children should be curious about the world around them. If you drone on and on, their eyes start to glaze over and they forgot the question they asked in the first place.

 

[desertrat]

...cats. Whatever's moving catches their attention. Coincidence?

The media did not make us let OBL go.

I don't think we let him go. We are still over there patrolling. I just don't think we are capable of finding him. Or maybe we did...

 

[Larry Gude]

Fine...

Oh stop.

MM asked a simple question of how to explain the war to his 7 year old. When someone asks what time it is, you don't build them a clock. I don't think Shorty needs a 12 hour Byzantine history lesson in order to answer his straightforward question.

Children should be curious about the world around them. If you drone on and on, their eyes start to glaze over and they forgot the question they asked in the first place.

..."We're getting the bully's"

That's great. It's also not true.

The ice cream/socialism worked because it was simple and clear...and true.
Shorty may well know who OBL is and may well know the connection to 9/11. Maybe he doesn't. Maybe he'll never turn to MM in a few years when OBL sneds us his 10 year anniversary love note and say "But I thought you said..."

The socialism analogy stands the real test, that of time.