“Isn’t It Romantic”

Eisenhower said: “I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.”

Ella Fitzgerald sung the lyrics: “Isn’t It Romantic.”  Now, Bush considers the six and a half year struggle in Afghanistan to be romantic. He expressed this view in a video conference with the military personnel who are fighting there. 

Our Commander-in-Chief stated: “I’m a little envious.  If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed.  It must be exciting for you, in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger.  You are really making history, thanks.” 

A veteran of the Afghan war reaction was: “I didn’t feel like there was anything romantic in not seeing my daughter grow up and watching Afghan children starve to death and explaining repeated deployment extensions to my soldiers.  No, Mr. President, there’s nothing romantic about being sent on an important mission and not being given the tools to accomplish it.” 

The executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Paul Rieckhoff insists: “Serving in a combat zone can be exciting.  It’s dangerous.  It’s terrifying.  Romantic is not the word I would use.  I don’t think anybody whose actually been there would use the word romantic.  That’s the type of language you hear from someone who’s never been in combat. 

“So I think the president is continuing to show how he really doesn’t understand the human component of this war.  A combat veteran understands that people are serving 15 month tours.  We have over 500,000 people who have deployed more than once.  It’s a tremendous toll on our folks.  Romantic is a terrible choice of words.”