“Thou protesteth too much”
The personal rage that is festering over the Iraq War
By Arnold Sherr

That which I am about to write many would suggest is dangerous ground. It is of the most divisive and emotional partitions of human emotion displayed openly since the Vietnam War. Many who demonstrate against the Iraq war, its justification, its failed strategy, its ambiguous interpretations, its controversial and split loyalties, its present and what is opinioned as a hopeless state seem unable to separate the well-being of the troops who regardless of why they are there are non-the-less Americans and who believe or not their presence is of a noble cause should without exception be prayed for by every American as if they, our men and women in uniform were of their own families. Moreover, in the sense that we are all Americans we are indeed, family.

I served honorably during the Vietnam era and I must attest I am ashamed and embarrassed for those who returned home from Vietnam to face an ungrateful, angry, and ambivalent America. There were no ticker-tape parades, no celebratory expressions of gratitude, and only after years of national guilt did America build monuments to honor those who so bravely perished in one of histories most difficult and dangerous wartime environments.

Earlier this evening I spoke with Angela Le May, Editor and Chief of the Tampa Bay Informer. She spoke of a group of anti-Iraq war protestors who, since July 7, 2007 have routinely gathered at the Marina at Dunedin. They gather there to protest the war every Wednesday afternoon at 4:30 PM. Angela approached one of the protestors only to be met by stubbornness. They, I’ll call them the Dunedin Marina Protestors, are impassioned by a rage unbendable and reactions to passersby who seem of opposing points of view with defiant yells and gestures.

I am fretful that another historically embarrassing Vietnam-like homecoming may be evolving. Those who are risking all for what may be their beliefs whether in support or not of the reasons they are waging war in Iraq to begin with are in-fact American heroes. To those who wish to withdraw their support of the troops for any reason, there are no reasons sustainable as justification for doing so.

Is it okay to protest the war? Yes! Is it okay to despise the present administration for having sent us there? Yes! Is it okay to stand-aside support of our men and women who as dedicated military obeyed what many feel were unwise orders of their Commander in Chief? No it is not!
A retired Marine, Derrick Haefs who dresses in a blue “Captain America” super hero outfit while standing on a ladder waiving an American Flag and holding a sign stating “I support the troops and the War” is opposing the Anti-War, Anti-Bush protestors at the Marina in Dunedin and this writer feels he is equally entitled for his actions. More than just Derrick’s efforts, a group of motorcyclists known as the “Patriot Guard Riders” - http://www.patriotguard.org/ - has been increasing their presence along-side in support while he counter-protests on Wednesday afternoons.

What about our constitutional right to protest peacefully and openly? Truthfully, many protest the war, hate Bush, and want us out of Iraq. I fully support their right to demonstrate

Derrick Haefs, a few Patriot Guard Riders & Italian Angels against just as I support Derrick’s right to demonstrate for. What is unacceptable is standing for any position that would hurt or otherwise deprive our troops in any way.

Are some Americans so out of touch with compassion, concern, gratitude, caring, and all other human empathies? It is well they understand something about the troops that may change their perceptions of why the troops seem and are so dedicated within the performance of their ordered tasks.

Simply that they have and continue to obey their Commander in Chief and have performed magnificently is not an endorsement of political policy. In fact, after a time living within Iraq zones of danger they become more loyal to each other’s survival than to any political agenda, past and/or present. Many after furlough beg to return if only to protect the personal alliances they have formed in the sandy battlefields of Iraq, those who fought beside them day after day, political reasons and objectives aside. They have indeed become brothers and sisters. So, keep this in mind; it is heartless to condemn the troops simply because the war is loosing public support as ‘watched pots never boil’. Believing in the Constitution, I’ve no reason to protest their rights of protest. In the end that which I pray for so diligently is a warm homecoming, not the ungrateful display of ambivalence and apathy such as that which was met by our troops returning from the war that played out in the jungles of Vietnam.

Of course, it is not my mission herein to teach the Constitution but to explain among other things the presence of an ever growing organization of bikers who travel America in support of our troops, many in support of the war. They, the “Patriot Guard Riders” have been and continue to grow by huge numbers. I am warmed by the prospect that the “Patriot Guard Riders” will guarantee the ticker-tape parades, the monuments to the our fallen, and that we shall never forget those who have not only perished, but will live the remainder of their lives with prosthetics, in wheelchairs, in VA domiciles, in homeless centers, under psychiatric care, and more.

The Dunedin Marina Protestors, not as yet a significant presence nationally, but theirs and the voices of others similar are becoming more prevalent as the war continues.

Michael E. Ruane, a Washington Post Staff Writer reported on Thursday, March 20, 2008: “There was a brass band of protesters dressed in green. There was a woman in a pink bed being pushed through busy downtown D.C. intersections. There were demonstrators in black who lay down in the middle of the street.” His article aptly entitled “Cries against War Sparse but Fierce, Fewer Than 1,000 Protest; 33 Arrested in Scattered Displays in the District” is but another indication of growing opposition over what many feel, like Vietnam, was and is an unjust military exercise for reasons other than originally portrayed. An Internet search yields numerous reports of protests ‘against’.

As for Derrick Haefs, after a lengthy exchange less than 20 minutes ago, of beliefs and ideas; he and I not always on the same page, we mutually respect a new-found connection, not based on total agreement but rather on an intense appreciation for each other’s passions but even more important, our differences. The Dunedin Marina Protestors have tired numerous times and in many ways to encourage Derrick to abandon his presence of opposition, whereas he holds no personal grievance against those of whom he opposes because he fully believes for everyone the words of the First Amendment apply; “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”