A Time to Kill

 NC Renegade

by LT

VERBATIM

I am a soldier.  I know what war looks like, what it sounds like, smells like, what it feels like in my soul.

I stand today in the twilight of my nation’s grace, looking into the darkness of impending war.
My sleep is troubled, knowing what awaits, yet the ignorant and the ‘true believers’ sleep easily in their delusions, and I am saddened by it.

Daily, I see the Blackhawk and Apache helicopters flying over my city, the military vehicles which appear so frequently now on our roads, often with ‘guns up’ in violation of Posse Comitatus, and I know why they prepare, that it is not far off.

Nightly I hear the report of gunfire near my home, the noise angry men make as they prepare to boil over.  These are not soldiers – they are but angry men.  And though I share their well-justified anger, I am cautious with them, for they are not disciplined, and they know not the face of war, nor the burdens it imposes upon mind, body, and soul.  Because of this, they are dangerous, and I am saddened by this – that dangerous men should roam the streets near my home, full of anger and the lust for vengeance.

All about me are the ceaseless murmurs of soulless politicians and media propagandists, who wear their agendas on their sleeves as a badge of superiority, and the boundless echoes of their contrived ‘message’ assaults me from all sides, even repeated from the mouths of dear friends, and I am saddened by it.

I bear witness to the fact that throughout my lifetime, the lifeblood of my republic has been drained away by greedy and self-serving men, from high to low, who contrive nought but deception against their neighbors and countrymen, and who fail to consider that their children and mine shall share the same fate, the same future, and I am saddened by it.

But I am a soldier, and I know what must be done; and so I shall put away my sadness and I shall harness up the bitter steed of war, and gird myself up for the battle; and I shall ride out to meet the enemies of Liberty; not in rage, not for anger sake or the hope of vengeance; but because I swore an oath before God, to jealously guard our Republic and its Constitution against all enemies;

Him I shall not disappoint, for He is my Hope and my Trust.

Therefore, as much as my soul laments against the harsh truth before me, I make this declaration to my enemies who press me into this battle, that none shall be able to afterwards say “I did not know, you did not warn me”;

I do not care why you took that job with the government, or why you continue to hold it.  I only know that you have become Judas and sold yourself to an oppressive state - your government office buildings and vehicles are part of the battlefield, and as a soldier I shall act accordingly.

I do not care why, as a journalist, you choose to spin and corrupt the news, rather than report the plain truth and let the people judge for themselves.  I only know that you have violated the public trust in the most vile and seditious manner, and thus your homes, offices, studios, vehicles, and any other place you may find yourself are part of the battlefield, and as a soldier I shall act accordingly.

I do not care why you signed that union card.  I only know that you pay dues to a communist organization which conducts treasonous works against my Republic daily – and so your union hall and your work-sites are part of the battlefield, and as a soldier I shall act accordingly.

I do not care that you only voted for the traitor because you are elderly/disabled or otherwise dependent upon government largess.  Are you so ignorant and/or disinterested that you could not see through their propaganda, to the fact that your sustenance was assured either way?  What have you gained now that the public housing areas you live in, and the public facilities you depend on are part of the battlefield?  Though I am a soldier, I can afford you little protection, for you have placed yourselves on the battlefield.

I know that all of these places and all of these people are part of the battlefield ,not just because I am a soldier, and have experienced a few battlefields in my day; but also because our President declares that even our own homes are on the battlefield, whether we wish them to be or not, and I have no choice but to believe him; it’s not just that the NDAA passed – a battlefield is not defined by law; it’s the profound build-up of martial power and resources across my once-great nation which tells me a battle is being prepared here.  Over two billion rounds of ammunition procured by DHS and its sub-agencies in the past 18 months, plus machine guns in the tens of thousands, armored vehicles, combat aircraft, drones, and other implements of war being staged throughout our nation, our home – how do you explain that except as the preparation for battle?

I will fight not because I desire it, but because I cannot justify any other course of action – when the enemy attacks, you must fight – you must kill or you will die.  

I smell you, my enemy; I can feel the ambush you have laid for me and my true countrymen, all about like a sticky spider’s web, yet we will not back down, and though you will kill some of us, you will not get us all before we have finished with you.

I stand here, ready, on the eve of battle, and I ask God why I have been brought to the threshold of this battlefield, about to be thrust in, when I though my soldiering days were through; and I am reminded that there is by His decree, a Time to Kill, as well as a Time to Die…  who am I to question why?