I guess I’m not the only one who’s depressed by the war.
The last few months, every time I see an anti-war protestor, I feel the tears coming on. You could say it’s because I’m a Gulf War veteran, and I know what it is like to don the uniform and swear your life to this country. It is no small sacrifice, and should never be belittled. (Read Viet Nam) I supported the troops, by being one. However, I take offense at a $6 Chinese-manufactured magnet stuck on the car as if the person driving it had some sort of moral superiority to others because they supposedly, stupidly, blindly, support the current administration in its on-going bad decisions. I am not a pacifist, but this war, the U.S. in Iraq, doesn’t make sense to me.
Yesterday, there was a lone woman on 16th and X Streets with a big sign proclaiming, “You can stop this war.” I honked support, and yet at the same time, I felt tears rolling again. I wish I believed it. Today, I spoke with a co-worker who said she saw the same woman. We agreed. Neither one of us feel like we can stop the war. It’s a powerless feeling, and when you see our government vote in more money to support this black hole war of poor planning and mismanagement…let’s just say this. I hope the money goes to truly support the troops by giving them body armor, supporting them medically and psychologically, and bringing them home alive and well. Not in body bags. No one who takes the oath when entering the U.S. Armed Forces deserves any less than the full support of the country it is serving. Not only that, but the troops deserve a Commander in Chief whose experience, decisions, and morality are respected and honorable. They deserve an honorable leader. And that’s something, along with body armor, that is in short supply these days.
Related posts:
Oh brother! We can NOT stop this war until our enemy is defeated. Don’t you realize that they want to kill our children and will stop at nothing to accomplish this (something they have proven over and over). They’ve been at war with us since 1979. We just didn’t realize it until 2001. For all of the mistakes made in this war, this administration has prevented us from being successfully attacked. This has not been the result of luck or an accident. It has been accomplished despite a virulently anti-Bush media that seems to have vested its credibility on our defeat. It has been accomplished because we took the battle to them instead of passively waiting for another attack. You know the old saying about war plans: they’re good for the first five feet or first five seconds, which ever comes first. If you want to cry, cry for those Muslim children who are raised with the idea that slaughtering - by deliberately targeting - innocents is not only acceptable, but encouraged with the promise of sexual favors in Heaven. Now there’s something to cry about! Every American conflict of the past 20 years was an attempt to save Muslims. Bosnia, Kuwait, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq. What is our thanks? The fascist wing (you know, the terrorists) wants to kill us. BTW - Who is the biggest killer of Muslims on the planet? Other Muslims! This is not the world I want. Unfortunately, it is the world as it exists and the only one we have. What’s really in short supply are people who realize what’s at stake in this war. Your post confirms that.
William: how do we defeat our enemy, exactly? Does he not have children as well? Little pitchers with big eyes and not enough years of school to appreciate the history you seem to understand so clearly?
And how, pray tell, do you have the evidence to prove that the current administration has prevented us from being successfully attacked?
I’d like to thank you for you comment however. Everytime I forget why I need to work to overcome the Bush administration and its legion of neoconservatives, ignorant followers, and viral campaign of misinformation, I read the words of yet another lost soul who has bought George W. Bush’s conflation of Iraq and 9/11.
I do cry about Muslim children miseducated - just as much as I cry about American children whose parents are likely telling them that we MUST stem the tide of impending Muslim destruction by destroying life ourselves - and that our thinly veiled religious fervor is somehow alright.
You, sir, are foolish and I will pray for your enlightenment. It’s not about “saving” any particular religious sect. It’s about saving the world from the greater demons of our lesser selves. You’ve let a Very Bad Man convince you of connections that do not exist. In doing so, you help sow the dragons teeth that surely will encourage later violence against my children and yours.
William: I didn’t know the Q’uran promised sexual favors to children for killing Americans? But then again the book is written in Arabic. Perhaps you read it there?
Oh my… where to begin. This administration has made many mistakes with this war. War is an ugly, messy business for which it is impossible to predict short-term specifics. But, unlike the liberal, passive, defeatist policy that guarantees Jihad victory and one that you so enthusiastically embrace, Bush’s mistakes are those of prosecuting this war too timidly, not too vigorously.
One of those mistakes was calling this a “War on Terror.” That deceptive term goes only part of the way. What we really have is a clash of civilizations. Part of the reasons, of course, is that he didn’t want to offend those Muslims not engaged in Jihad and I can certainly understand that. The problem is that those good Muslims are not the ones with the guns and bombs who think it’s perfectly acceptable to seize an elementary school and slaughter 331 hostages, most of whom were children, as Shamil Basayev did just two years ago. Basayev also organized the 2002 takeover of a Moscow theater in which 129 hostages died after security forces used knockout gas to end the standoff. He was also responsible for the seizure of a hospital in the southern city of Budyonnovsk in 1995 in which more than 100 people were killed.
And before you claim that he does this strictly for Chechnya, here’s a little note he wrote regarding his “work.”
“Praise Allah, the Lord of the worlds, Who created us Muslims and Who blessed us with Jihad on His Straight Way. Peace and blessing of Almighty Allah be on Prophet Muhammad, his family, his disciples and all of those who follow the Straight Way until the Day of Judgment!
…I am hereby stating that whichever attempts the Kafirs would be making, nothing will stop this Jihad, which is becoming more and more active each day, because the dead and the wounded are being replaced by the new generation. Insha Allah (God Willing!), we have no problems with replenishing our forces. If Russia is degrading and dying out, the Chechen population is increasing in spite of the war, - and this is also a contribution of ordinary Chechens into the cause of Jihad. So, praise God (Alhamdulillah), we have no problems with our fighters.
…Praise God (Alhamdulillah!), we are dreaming of dying in Jihad, we are dreaming of dying on the way of Allah, so that we could earn Paradise and Mercy of Allah. Our dead are in Paradise, and your dead are in Hell. And our victors will also be in Paradise, and your losers will be humiliated and aggrieved.
By Mercy of Allah we have gone through another year of the war. I am calling on the Mujahideen to get even more consolidated and unite around our leadership even firmer, to strengthen the discipline, to strengthen the Nizam, to be steadfast and patient.
The victory is near! And may Allah help us on His Straight Way!
Allah Akbar! (God is Great!)
Abdallah Shamil Abu-Idris,
Amir of Brigade of Shaheeds Riyadus Salihiin
He wrote this in 2004 and was describing his recent Jihad “victories.” Of course, he really “consolidated and united” later that year by slaughtering elementary school children in the name of Allah. This is what Islamic fascists believe and this is the nature of our enemy.
Let me emphasize again I know perfectly well that this is not how most Muslim-Americans think nor is it the world they want.
But this is what those engaged against us in this war believe. The front lines of that war are in Afghanistan and Iraq - and London where in July 2005 our enemy killed 52 innocents during the rush hour subway bombings; and Madrid where our enemy, also in a coordinated railway bombing, in 2004 killed 191 and injured over 1700 people from 14 different countries; and Indonesia, where our enemy killed at least 20 people in as series of bombings in 2005, killed 12 people in 2003 and killed 202 in 2002 - instead of New York or Sacramento. In each case the enemy specifically targeted and slaughtered innocent civilians.
Do you honestly think that after 9/11 Islamic fascists just decided that they no longer wanted to kill Americans on American soil? Surely you can’t be that stupid. So the best “evidence” that this administration has prevented terrorist attacks is that we have not suffered a single life lost since 9/11. Or will you only be satisfied that al-Qaeda still has its murderous sights on us when there are smoldering bodies on some American street?
And, just in case you forgot, British and American authorities (in cooperation with Pakistan) recently (August 2006) prevented a plot to detonate liquid explosives on American bound airliners from Britain in what British authorities called an attempt to “commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale.”
Now, as part of this same war, we have a madman in Iran who denies that the holocaust ever occurred, declares that Israel must be “wiped off the map,” is convinced that the end of the world is near and is desperately trying to develop a nuclear weapon.
Here is what Mahmoud’s Ahmadinejad’s said regarding his speech before the UN:
“On the last day when I was speaking, one of our group told me that when I started to say ‘Bismillah Muhammad,’ he saw a green light come from around me, and I was placed inside this aura,” he says. “I felt it myself. I felt that the atmosphere suddenly changed, and for those 27 or 28 minutes, all the leaders of the world did not blink. When I say they didn’t move an eyelid, I’m not exaggerating. They were looking as if a hand was holding them there, and had just opened their eyes - Alhamdulillah!”
Ahmadinejad’s “vision” at the UN is strangely reminiscent and alarmingly similar to statements he has made about his personal role in ushering in the return of the Shiite Muslim messiah. He sees his main mission, as he recounted in a Nov. 16 2005 speech in Tehran, as to “pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi, may Allah hasten his reappearance.”
According to Shiites, the 12th imam disappeared as a child in the year 941. When he returns, they believe, he will reign on earth for seven years, before bringing about a final judgment and the end of the world.
This is what Ahmadinejad believes and this guy is doing all he can to obtain a nuclear weapon. Should he obtain one, he will undoubtedly use it by (either launching a missile or by passing it on to a terrorist organization) either against Israel or some other western target (preferably America) in an attempt to hasten the reappearance Mahdi.
These aren’t some neocon generated scare tactics. These are the actual words and actions of our enemy.
This is the war you ignorantly think we have the power to stop without victory. You foolishly hope that our enemy seeks peaceful coexistence. They do not. They seek either our total subjugation to Islam, (forced if necessary) conversion to Islam or our deaths.
So, my dear CD, while I certainly appreciate your prayers and of course want you to continue your vital work to stop the evil neocons, blah, blah, blah… please understand it’s people like you, head shoved deeply in the sand (or thereabouts…) and convinced that America is really the root of the world’s problems, that prevent Democrats from ever again winning a national election.
I’m sure you ladies (and liberals in general) do much better when you actually know what your talking about. Unfortunately for your argument, there is no evidence of that here…
C-ya…
BTW for Ursula - You’ll find the sexual favors for martyrdom references in Qur’an 38:51, 55:56; 55:76; 56:22. It is taught in Wahhabi Islam schools, primarily those in Saudi Arabia. These schools - which educate a significant percentage of Saudi (and other Muslim) children - are financed and approved by the government of Saudi Arabia. As you undoubtedly know, the bulk of the 9/11 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia.
You’re a fool.
Ooh… someone needs a nap. How predictable CD. When a liberal is confronted with the truth, they respond with name calling. Every time. Oh well, I guess if that’s all ya got… Now to complete your little tantrum, if we could only get you to hold your breath… say for about half an hour?
Of course I’m just kidding. But I can’t say I’m surprised that instead of factually addressing my points as I did yours, you just stomped your feet and called me names. Nice work!
There was neither foot-stomping, nor name calling. I merely stated a fact I deduced from the evidence - or lack thereof - you provided me in your epic commentary.
If you provide a reasoned argument, I’ll happily address it.
It may also be worth noting that while you decry my “name-calling,” you’re more than comfortable labeling me a liberal in a manner that suggests you’d spell it with four letters if you could.
Oh… come on now Christiana, you libs don’t do anything happily…
But now my dear, I must go, try not to cry. When someone writes, in a three word post, “You’re a fool” and then denies any name calling, not really much point in going on now is there.
Tell me, does that kind of brilliant logic work in court? Sure doesn’t say much for Hastings now does it.
And if it sounds like a lib, smells like a lib… I’m pretty confident it’s a lib… You’re just a bit too angry and condescending to be anything else. Of course, you’re also just a bit too wrong to be anything else.
Although I’ve enjoyed our little tryst, I’ve discovered Hell hath no fury like a liberal exposed (you know… that whole Deborah Frisch thang) and certainly I wouldn’t want to discover that you’ve done a Nexus search on my name while billing some disadvantaged - if your representing them that is - client. I’m sure the partners would agree.
So I leave you now, mi amor. The night calls and I… must… answer…
BTW - I love LA Observed too…
“Oh my… where to begin. This administration has made many mistakes with this war. War is an ugly, messy business for which it is impossible to predict short-term specifics. But, unlike the liberal, passive, defeatist policy that guarantees Jihad victory and one that you so enthusiastically embrace, Bush’s mistakes are those of prosecuting this war too timidly, not too vigorously.”
Blunter: Putting aside the semantic slanting and name calling (that you seem to so enthusiastically embrace) you, William, appear to almost have a case.
“One of those mistakes was calling this a “War on Terror.” That deceptive term goes only part of the way. What we really have is a clash of civilizations…”
Blunter: Nah! Just call it what it really is “War for Oil”, just like other ones you mentioned in your previous post (Kuwait, Somalia, Iraq, etc.)
“Part of the reasons, of course, is that he didn’t want to offend those Muslims not engaged in Jihad and I can certainly understand that.”
Blunter:All right…
“The problem is that those good Muslims are not the ones with the guns and bombs who think it’s perfectly acceptable to seize an elementary school and slaughter 331 hostages, most of whom were children…”
Blunter: But they, the “good Muslims” comprise the majority of the population in the Middle East and are part of your “clash of civilizations”, are they not. So which is it? Please, be consistent, William.
“…as Shamil Basayev did just two years ago. Basayev also organized the 2002 takeover of a Moscow theater in which 129 hostages died after security forces used knockout gas to end the standoff. He was also responsible for the seizure of a hospital in the southern city of Budyonnovsk in 1995 in which more than 100 people were killed.
And before you claim that he does this strictly for Chechnya, here’s a little note he wrote regarding his “work.”"
Blunter: What is the point in citing ravings of some religious fanatic? Is it here to provoke a certain emotional response, perhaps?
You know repeatedly typing the word Allah, Jihad, etc., has little effect on folks unless you are preaching to the choir, of course… And it is not the case here.
Give us some substance to work with, will you, William? Something that would make sense, you know, like: Chechen pipeline used to transit Caspian oil to the Russian mainland refineries… That could get us started.
Most wars have economic reasons behind them. Which ones are we talking about in this scenario?
All that religious rhetoric and hysteria is nothing more than an attempt to divert the attention from the issue at hand (i.e. red herring fallacy) and a classic example of appeal to fear (yet another fallacy).
We could bring up Hitler’s speeches (with the bible god and Jesus “leading” the way), or how about blessings to holy crusaders? Would it mean we need to go up in arms against Christianity now? Nonsense, right?
“”Praise Allah, the Lord of the worlds, Who created us Muslims and Who blessed us with Jihad on His Straight Way. Peace and blessing of Almighty Allah be on Prophet Muhammad, his family, his disciples and all of those who follow the Straight Way until the Day of Judgment!
…I am hereby ……………. And may Allah help us on His Straight Way!
Allah Akbar! (God is Great!)
Abdallah Shamil Abu-Idris,
Amir of Brigade of Shaheeds Riyadus Salihiin
He wrote this in 2004 and was describing his recent Jihad “victories.” Of course, he really “consolidated and united” later that year by slaughtering elementary school children in the name of Allah. This is what Islamic fascists believe and this is the nature of our enemy.”
Blunter: I have trouble understanding your usage of the word fascism.
Fascism is just a radical political ideology. How does it apply to those extremists you appear to be talking about.
Besides since anti-liberalism, anti-communism, nationalism, militarism and corporatism are among its essential components, wouldn’t you agree that recent (and not so recent) changes in the U.S. could be seen as pre-fascist …?
“Let me emphasize again I know perfectly well that this is not how most Muslim-Americans think nor is it the world they want.”
Blunter: It is rather arrogant to claim to “know perfectly” what or how most ‘insert a large group of population here’ thinks. Why don’t we leave it at that, William, to avoid further confusion…?
And even if what you say is true, perhaps, it wasn’t a clash of civilizations after all. And apparently it has nothing to do with one being a Muslim/adherent of Islam either. Okely dokely.
“But this is what those engaged against us in this war believe.”
Blunter: “Against us”? Who are “us”? Lumping us together will not earn your argument any extra points… Speak for your self, o.k.
And also how do you know what those elusive “they” believe while being at war against the undefined “us”?
What are your sources, William? Would you describe them as “fair and balanced”? Or are they of a more impartial type?
“The front lines of that war are in Afghanistan and Iraq - and London where in July 2005 our enemy killed 52 innocents during the rush hour subway bombings; and Madrid where our enemy, also in a coordinated railway bombing, in 2004 killed 191 and injured over 1700 people from 14 different countries; and Indonesia, where our enemy killed at least 20 people in as series of bombings in 2005, killed 12 people in 2003 and killed 202 in 2002 - instead of New York or Sacramento. In each case the enemy specifically targeted and slaughtered innocent civilians.”
Blunter: “Our” enemy?! Again - who are “us”?
Russians were “our enemy” just a decade or so ago…
Oh, you mean military industrialists are low on contracts once more? Hmmm…, then… we certainly need an enemy… Who is it again this time? :)
“Do you honestly think that after 9/11 Islamic fascists just decided that they no longer wanted to kill Americans on American soil? Surely you can’t be that stupid. So the best “evidence” that this administration has prevented terrorist attacks is that we have not suffered a single life lost since 9/11. Or will you only be satisfied that al-Qaeda still has its murderous sights on us when there are smoldering bodies on some American street?”
Blunter: Who orchestrated the 911 slaughter is a good question. A question that we won’t receive an answer to for a very long time…until the secret documents are declassified. Just like with Gehlen Org related CIA documentation wasn’t available until 2003, and the lies they fed the U.S. officials that jump started the Cold War.
So, I guess the only honest answer is - we don’t know.
“And, just in case you forgot, British and American authorities (in cooperation with Pakistan) recently (August 2006) prevented a plot to detonate liquid explosives on American bound airliners from Britain in what British authorities called an attempt to “commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale.”"
Blunter: Sure they’ll call it whatever they need to call it, they are in it up to their neck anyway. Even if they are lying there is no way to tell. We simply don’t know. You choose to believe and that’s your prerogative, William. I am sure you’ve got your reasons and based on the “evidence” you are presenting those reasons have little to do with facts.
“Now, as part of this same war, we have a madman in Iran who denies that the holocaust ever occurred, declares that Israel must be “wiped off the map,” is convinced that the end of the world is near and is desperately trying to develop a nuclear weapon.”
Blunter: Pakistan has nukes, India too… And your point is?… that we will be “forced” to listen to Iran once in a while and reflect on their perspective more seriously than before they got some nuclear leverage?
“Here is what Mahmoud’s Ahmadinejad’s said regarding his speech before the UN:…..
…They were looking as if a hand was holding them there, and had just opened their eyes - Alhamdulillah!”"
Blunter: Ah, all right, he is a believer, and…
Oh, you mean if one believes in Allah and claims to have visions that makes him a madman, but when it concerns people like George W. Bush and his “relationship” with bible god it is okay, gotcha…
umm… double standard, William, double standard…
“Ahmadinejad’s “vision” at the UN is strangely reminiscent and alarmingly similar to statements he has made about his personal role in ushering in the return of the Shiite Muslim messiah. He sees his main mission, as he recounted in a Nov. 16 2005 speech in Tehran, as to “pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi, may Allah hasten his reappearance.”
According to Shiites, the 12th imam disappeared as a child in the year 941. When he returns, they believe, he will reign on earth for seven years, before bringing about a final judgment and the end of the world.
This is what Ahmadinejad believes and this guy is doing all he can to obtain a nuclear weapon. Should he obtain one, he will undoubtedly use it by (either launching a missile or by passing it on to a terrorist organization) either against Israel or some other western target (preferably America) in an attempt to hasten the reappearance Mahdi.
These aren’t some neocon generated scare tactics. These are the actual words and actions of our enemy.”
Blunter: Well, they were scary enough for you… Besides what is so special about his “actual words”?… If we listen to some of conservative Christians here in the U.S. we will hear the same mumbo-jumbo about the end times… Are they “our enemy” too now? Should we, by the same logic, consider their speeches as evidence of their “treason”?
“This is the war you ignorantly think we have the power to stop without victory. You foolishly hope that our enemy seeks peaceful coexistence. They do not. They seek either our total subjugation to Islam, (forced if necessary) conversion to Islam or our deaths.”
Where are you getting all this stuff, William?
And who are “they”, “us”? And who is “our enemy”? And what evidence do you have to substantiate any of the multiple claims you’ve made here?
“So, my dear CD, while I certainly appreciate your prayers and of course want you to continue your vital work to stop the evil neocons, blah, blah, blah… please understand it’s people like you, head shoved deeply in the sand (or thereabouts…) and convinced that America is really the root of the world’s problems, that prevent Democrats from ever again winning a national election.”
Blunter: Democrats and Republicans are two heads of the same monster…
Not much of a choice, really…
“I’m sure you ladies (and liberals in general) do much better when you actually know what your talking about. Unfortunately for your argument, there is no evidence of that here.”
Blunter: Well, William, I wish you presented a solid argument to support your case. Alas, you resort to sweeping generalizations, vague inferences, semantic slanting and name calling instead.
I sure hope, my dear sir, you will try to do better next time.
“BTW for Ursula - You’ll find the sexual favors for martyrdom references in Qur’an 38:51, 55:56; 55:76; 56:22. It is taught in Wahhabi Islam schools, primarily those in Saudi Arabia. These schools - which educate a significant percentage of Saudi (and other Muslim) children - are financed and approved by the government of Saudi Arabia. As you undoubtedly know, the bulk of the 9/11 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia.”
Blunter: Yes, our trusted ally, Saudi Arabia. Bush family seem to be good friends with their elite and rulers…
It’s interesting, William, we have the same/similar information about this one but draw diametrically different conclusions. Why is that?
About Qur’an/Koran:
from http://www.hti.umich.edu/k/koran/browse.html
[38.49] This is a reminder; and most surely there is an excellent resort for those who guard (against evil),
[38.50] The gardens of perpetuity, the doors are opened for them.
[38.51] Reclining therein, calling therein for many fruits and drink.
[55.55] Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?
[55.56] In them shall be those who restrained their eyes; before them neither man nor jinni shall have touched them.
[55.75] Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?
[55.76] Reclining on green cushions and beautiful carpets.
[56.20] And fruits such as they choose,
[56.21] And the flesh of fowl such as they desire.
[56.22] And pure, beautiful ones
Unfortunately none of the verses you provided here have any reference to sexual favors for martyrdom, whatsoever.
In short, your presentation doesn’t look good, William… not good at all…
But I will reserve my judgment, there is always a chance you’ve made a mistake and misquoted (or may be I made a mistake)… :)
- BLUNTER -
What is up with the uber-long comments?
William - you’re cute, really, you’re a grand google-master. Hastings has a lot of problems - I’m the least of them.
Back to the point: George Bush is a liar. This war was predicated on lies and on the cruel manipulation of American’s fears and insecurities, not to mention, our less admirable religious tendencies.
Equally troubling, now, is that we, as a country, choose to ignore - or worse, mock - the wisdom, opinion, and experience of war veterans. The treatment of decorated veterans such as Max Cleland by Republicans makes me ill. Somehow, even those who know from whence they speak, such as Ursula, get labeled as “liberals” (with all the charming connotations we Democrats have allowed to become part of the word’s conventional meaning) and their opinions dismissed as the alarmist rantings of would-be traitors - or worse, cited as the cause for future acts of terror.