The officers’ most emotional objection seemed to be that the peace flag we had taped to the table was dragging on the ground, and that to them was an insult to those who died „under that flag“, when it was obviously meant to be a version of the American flag. The other objections they voiced were 1. that we shouldn’t be apologizing for the American government , which would diminish America in the eyes of the Germans who have always been against us anyway. 2. That we had not been „on the ground“ in Iraq to see all the good things the army was doing there so how could we know? 3. How could we use the word „Empire“ when the U.S. had never claimed any territory for its own 4. If what we were saying were true, everything they had done in their lives up to that point (one had joined at 17 and had been in the army for 12 years) was „null and void.“ I hated to be the one to tell them that I did wish they had different options for employment.

My objections to their objections came from totally different convictions and life experiences. I was personally caught between wanting to have an impact on them so they would begin to think differently, and feeling total compassion that they were so young and had no alternative but to bolster their defences of what they are being asked to do. Our issues are not with them as individuals, but with the people who are using them for the purposes we are convinced are immoral. They were right, we should take our infostand to the people who make the policies.
Now how?

Penny