Are you willing to send your children to war?

At the Park Rag, we rarely touch state issues, let alone national or global issues. Yet, this morning we saw an NBC/Maris poll that stated two-thirds of Americans think we should send troops to defeat ISIS (the Islamic group in Syria and Iraq). President Obama has thus requested Congress to formally approve military intervention against ISIS. We are currently launching air strikes against ISIS so this likely means an escalation to boots on the ground.

This is a big deal. Lest we forget recent confrontations in Afghanistan or we forget recent confrontations in Iraq or even go back to the 1970’s and Vietnam, 5 years on things often morph into something larger than expected.

Often times we think there are no personal impacts. Yet, you can never be sure of that once a war formally begins. Our new Summit County Manager is in the National Guard. Could he be called to active duty? Sure.

While the population of the Snyderville Basin doesn’t typically lend itself to a military life and this scene from Family Guy is too close to reality…

… someone’s children will be fighting this war.

Now, you may believe that another war is worth it, that ISIS must be stopped, and that is fine. Everyone has their own opinion. What we ask is that you form an opinion and please let your congress person know.

Our fear is that we are repeating the mistakes of the past. This time, we have an opportunity to learn from those mistakes and decide whether you are willing to give up your child in order to stop whatever threat ISIS presents. Maybe it is important enough to you that you are willing to pay that sacrifice. If so, then you should let Orrin Hatch, Mike Lee, and Rob Bishop know. If not, you should really let them know.