Sarah Beckstrom is (present tense, for now) a National Guard soldier, one of the two who were shot in Washington. An an interview with her father from her hospital bed, we learn that she is too far gone to be saved. Her father said it’s just a matter of time before she does pass. Today is not a day to celebrate. However, it is not a day for sympathy, at least not from me.
Before we go any further, she was not defending our freedom. Military deaths have never been about defending our country, at least not since the Civil War, The War of 1812, or the Revolutionary War. Except for those three conflicts, military deaths have come about as part of petty revenge, not defending our country. I point you to 9/11.
No, our military should not have taken action after 9/11. What we did was childish, petty revenge. Osama bin Laden should never have been shot. At the time that he was murdered by our military, he was no immediate and direct threat to anyone. Whether he masterminded the attacks or not is no concern of mine.
Then there are all of those other wars. Our involvement in those wars has been about fighting other nations’ battles. A lot of soldiers died, yes, but they died for no good reason. They died for nothing. Absolutely nothing. In those cases, I can find no sympathy because they knew that they were going to do battle on behalf of other countries.
But back to Beckstrom. Yes, it’s unfortunate that she was shot and that she will apparently not survive, especially since multiple news outlets are reporting that she was basically just sworn in. In short order, she was shot. That shouldn’t have happened. Do not misunderstand me and do not twist my words. Her shooting and her apparently impending death should not have happened. But guess what? It did and I don’t think that tears are called for here.
She, like many before her, signed on the dotted line knowing that this could happen. Yes, she died while on duty, but her duties at the time that she was shot were not about defending our freedom. Therefore, I posit that feeling sympathy for her and her family is not appropriate here. In other words, save the hero nonsense for someone who would fall for that.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, from Afghanistan, is the suspect and is in custody with injuries that are not life-threatening. Before we rush to judgement, however, we should find out what motivated him to do such a thing. We should give him his fair day in court and, to be quite honest, if I were in a position to do so, I would put funds on his canteen account.
Hell, if I had the means, I would pay for a damn good defense lawyer. He deserves to have someone step up and help him. Let’s get his reasoning before damning him even before his jury is formed.
A lot of people are having issues over the fact that Lakanwal is apparently here because of an asylum application. There are arguments as to whose watch he was under, Sleepy Joe Biden or hero Donald Trump, but the simple truth is that if it weren’t for asylum, this may have never happened in the first place. We should have never granted anyone asylum and we should never bring people in for asylum. See? I solved the problem!
Even if Lakanwal is here because of a botched background check and because of asylum that should have never been granted, it doesn’t matter right now. What matters is ensuring that he is treated humanely and that he gets the best defense representation that he can possibly obtain.
I might be writing something completely different if she actually defended our country, but this is not that. She knew what she was getting into and did it anyway. Her presence in Washington was never about defending our country. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!
If you want to hear more, you can watch the TikTok video that I made regarding this.
UPDATE at 7:19 pm: Her death was confirmed moments ago. Still no sympathy.