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Opening Arguments

No parades, thanks, we're embarrasse

Been there, haven't done that:

Americans won't be seeing a huge ticker-tape parade in New York City anytime soon for troops returning from Iraq.

It's not clear if veterans of the nine-year campaign will ever enjoy the grand, flag-waving, red-white-and-blue homecoming that the nation's fighting men and women received after World War II and the Gulf War.

Officials in New York and Washington say they would be happy to help stage a big celebration, but Pentagon officials say they haven't been asked to plan one.

Most welcome-homes have been smaller-scale: hugs from families at military posts across the country, a somber commemoration by President Barack Obama at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

We'd love to help you with something! Nobody has requested anything! Pathetic.

As mentioned here once or twice, reports of spitting, "Baby killer!" wrath directed at returning Vietnam vets were greatly exaggerated. But there weren't any ticker-tape, flag-waving parades, either. Who can celebrate a war that became an embarrassment to the country? Most of us were happy just to get those smaller-scale, family-hug homehomings.

So here we go again. The story mentions the possibility that a big-victory celebration might be seen as unseemly and premature since thousands of troops are still in a bloody conflict in Afghanistan. Crap. Crap on toast. We didn't celebrate VE Day at the end of World War II even though VJ Day was more than three months away? After all this time, we're still not sure why we went to Iraq, and our commander-in-chief can't bring himself to call our leaving a "victory," so what is there to have a "big-victory celebration" about? Another national embarrassment has come and gone.

Comments

Tim Zank
Tue, 12/27/2011 - 8:07pm

"Another national embarrassment has come and gone"..

That will be true again in January of 2013.

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