e-mail, patriotism, war, etc...
Two wrongs...
I support our troops; I support them getting more than minimum wage. I support ALL of them getting decent medical care, and reasonable amenities given their current environment. Most of all, I support them not fighting in a war they cannot win and dying for a lie.
but for a serious injury my girlfriend would be over there right now, her brother is there already, along with several other friends. Let's talk about why we're there, why my girlfriend might still have to go to another country and fight, and why her brother is coming home with a purple heart and shrapnel in his knee, why her ex husband is losing the soldiers under him left and right, despite the fact that our "war president" (who opposes medical insurance for the army reserves and national guard that he's sending to fight in another country... regardless of the fact the national guard is for domestic defense.) ended the "hostilities" after the "Battle of Iraq" in 2003.
it has nothing to do with freedoms in Iraq. I'm inclined to believe it has more to do with a statment Bush made at the beginning of this war; "this is the man who threatened my dad."
but we'll not go into the accusations regarding who's doing what now, let's focus on why this Iraqi woman is in america;
perhaps it has something to do with the military dictator that we (covertly) installed and directly supported during a thing called the cold war. Apparently this homicidal maniac was good enough to use against the Russians (who cared about a couple million brown people dying as long as the ruskies are hindered in some way?)
but we aren't in Iraq because of the other militant nutcase we supported (also because he was figthing the red threat) who became embittered towards the people who used him (we all agree he's a nutcase and probably didn't really need reasons) and flew our commercial jets into our buildings when we stopped paying him to attack other people.
A friend of mine who's been around the military for years made a comment recently about hating the "fair weather patriots" who were complaining about the abuses of government a few short years ago... I'm just as annoyed by the fact that because patriotism is in vogue we'll blind ourselves to the excess that are causing our brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, and so many others to go overseas and fight in a war that...
well, let's just say I agree more with michael moore than you want to hear.
> A friend sent me this!!!!
> And I LOVE THIS COME BACK!!!
> As some of you may know, one of my sons serves in
> the military. He is still stateside, here in
> California. He called me yesterday to let me know
> how warm and welcoming people were to him, and his
> troops, everywhere he goes, telling me how people
> shake their hands, and thank them for being willing
> to serve, and fight, for not only our own freedoms
> but so that others may have them also.
>
> But he also told me about an incident in the grocery
> store he stopped at yesterday, on his way home from
> the base. He said that ahead of several people in
> front of him stood a woman dressed in a burkha. He
> said when she got to the cashier she loudly remarked
> about the US flag lapel pin the cashier wore on her
> smock.
>
> The cashier reached up and touched the pin, and said
> proudly, "Yes, I always wear it."
> The woman in the burkha then asked the cashier when
> she was going to stop bombing her countrymen,
> explaining that she was Iraqi.
>
> A gentleman standing behind my son stepped forward,
> putting his arm around my son's shoulders, and
> nodding towards my son, said in a calm and gentle
> voice to the Iraqi woman: "Lady, hundreds of
> thousands of men and women like this young man have
> fought and died so that you could stand here, in MY
> country and accuse a check-out cashier of bombing
> your Countrymen.
> It is my belief that had you been this outspoken in
> YOUR OWN country we wouldn't need to be there today.
> But, hey, if you have now learned how to speak out
> so loudly and clearly I'll gladly pay your way back
> to Iraq so you can straighten out the mess you are
> obviously here to avoid.
>
> Pass this on....
This war isn't about rights for Iraqi women. And for that matter, I'm pretty sure we have stopped bombing the woman's "countrymen." Of course, the sooner they stop the massacre on our troops, the sooner we can get the hell out. Lord knows our illustrious war-president won't pull out while we're being fired upon! Better to lose more troops than we can spare than to run the risk of looking like a "coward" or to be thought of as "running away." I don't know what we're trying to prove in Iraq. Why, precisely, is my brother over there? Why is it so damn important that we need to send broken soldiers just for the warm body count?? What is more important over there than looking after our own affairs ar home!?