Quote of the Day

Rightwing Guy said...
The article stated that iraq was a mis adventure. I do not believe that and military action fo free other people will ever be a mis adventure

Comment a "right wing guy" left on my blog on the Harper's essay from yesterday. Clearly he is one of the kool-aid crowd and did not offer any response on the substance of the essay. Not surprising.

I appreciate it when people come right out and state it very simply like that. Makes it easier for me to cut to the chase in response.

The issue is worthy of debate. I can understand that Americans want to "free" oppressed people. That's one of the really great things about Americans. We do want people to be free to choose a life they desire, and not live under constant threat of tyranny. But that's not how the Iraq war was sold to us. It's simply not. If Bush had come out and said, "There is no imminent threat from Iraq. They had nothing to do with the attacks on 9/11. However, it is our moral duty to send our military to free the Iraq people from a brutal dictatorship."

How well do you think that would have been received?

Never before in the history of the American military have we fought for somebody else's freedom. Korea and Vietnam were both fought due to perceived threats of communism and the "domino effect". They turned out to be colossal blunders both, but neither were sold as "freedom". Iraq, on the other hand, was sold by a complete bald faced lie. A lot of them in fact.

Every grunt soldier sent to Iraq believed he was going to "protect America", not "free the Iraqis". How many of the nearly 3000 dead Americans would have gone knowing it was a mission simply to "free" the Iraqis?

That's why Bush's approval rating is in the low 30's. That's why American opinion on the Iraq war is so low. American's do NOT send our military to fight and die for another culture's cause. Even Churchill had to beg and plead to get Roosevelt to send troops in WWII, after the Nazi's were already rampaging in Europe!

Assuming we did fight wars to "free" other cultures, what is the effect? Iraq is in civil war. The Turk's are theatening to invade to quell the Kurd's in the north.

ANKARA, Turkey - The Turkish military is moving forward with plans to send forces into northern Iraq to clear out Turkish Kurdish guerrilla bases, the prime minister said Wednesday.

The Sunnis and Shiite's are killing each other daily, threatening a regional split in the south.

In short, Iraq may end up divided into 3 warring states. Some "freedom" eh?

And what of North Korea? What of China? What of Darfur? What of every other country where people are oppressed and living under tyranny? Are we responsible for those countries as well?

You know what? Fuck that. The Iraqis were responsible for themselves, and if they were unhappy with their government, they should have risen up and toppled the regime. In fact, they tried in '92, but we didn't help them with air cover and they were slaughtered.

It is beyond the pale that right wingers have morphed what was once the "defense of the United States" into a war to liberate a culture we had nothing to do with (with the exception of their oil). That the same right wingers refuse to enlist and go die for some Iraqi's "freedom" is even more disgusting.



That's "right wing guy" right there.. 25 years old. Looks prime for military duty, but his profile lists him as a "driver". I looked at his blog. It's the typical right wing "Islam is evil and they must all be killed" drivel.

Fucking coward.

While I'm at it.. this kid is the personification of the "authoritarian person" that John Dean has been talking about. His will is non-existent and he cannot survive without "leader" giving him his point of view.

As Dean Said;

DEAN: The lead researcher in this field told me, he said, “I look at the numbers of the United States and I see about 23% of the population who are pure right-wing authoritarian followers.” They’re not going to change. They’re going to march over the cliff.

This kid would go right over the cliff.. and smile all the way down. That frustrates me. I keep thinking there is something that we can do or say to help these people see what's going on, but it does appear they are lost to the authoritarian cult, and there's not a thing we can do about it.

That's really upsetting to me.