Let me be serious for a moment.
http://www.consumptionjunction.com/content/downloader.asp?file=/downloadsnew/cj_43925.wmv
I would like everyone to take a moment to watch this, and listen to what is said.
I want you to think very, very carefully about it.
And about what you would be willing to do, for your country, for yourself, for your principles.
I'd like to remind you all that armed resistance to tyrrany is the heart of this nation, and it's foundation. People seem to forget that.
Think about what the word "terrorist" means, and how that meaning has changed since 9/11.
I think that sometimes it's easy to forget, even for those of us opposed to the action, that when we're bombing the hell out of some nation across the seas, we bomb not only military men, but also families, civilians, women and children.
It's easy to become inured. It's easy to become distracted in today's noisy, noisy society.
Do you ever wonder if, somewhere over there, there is someone just like you, or your friends...someone who has the same thoughts, emotions, fears? Someone who has hopes and dreams just like you, someone who's struggled with the same battles you have? Some 20-something kid just trying to get by, just trying to make his way in this world, like the rest of us.
And if sometime tonight, some anonymous plane is going to drop a fucking bomb on his or her house, or the house of his neighbors or loved ones?
Do you ever wonder that?
I think this is something important for all of us to keep in mind, whether opposed to the action, or in support, I think the consequences need be known, whether you think they are worth the supposed "goal" or not.
I know some people think this video, and the related letter are mere "propaganda"...do you ever wonder...what if it's not?
I think the term "propaganda" presents an oversimplified view, and even provides a bit of misdirection...
This is more than simply "us vs. them"
There is more than one group involved here. Not everyone who lives in Iraq is a terrorist. Not everyone who is not a terrorist in Iraq wishes to lie down whilst their home is attacked. To a small band of weak, cowardly zealots, terrorists, I say: "Fuck you.".
To the rest of Iraq, specifically to the armies in Iraq, fighting and dying for their home, to repel this invasion, to do what they think is right, for their country and their people, I say Godspeed. You who stand in the face of impossible odds, you who stand though loss is almost certain, you who resist with every breath, hope or none, I call you brother, and you have all the love I have to give, regardless of what your views may be, and how they may differ from my own.
I'm not in a moral position to say that this war is "right" or "wrong". I know we were attacked, and I don't have an answer as to what should be, or should have been, done.
I do know this:
Regardless of your views on whether or not this war was neccessary, regardless of your feelings on the bush administration, you should be able to appreciate that this is war, and war is hell. There is nothing pretty or cool, or fun about war.
People are dying. Every day. And I think that anyone, even those that think this action is neccessary, should be able to respect that. I hold respect for those whose views differ from my own on the neccessity of this war, I understand that not everyone feels the way that I do, and I can respect that.
It is the people who are gnashing their teeth in a sort of xenophobic glee, those who are enjoying this, that cry for more, that both frighten and infuriate me.
"Bomb the shit out of them!" "fuckin' sand monkies" "turn it into a parking lot"
How many times have you heard those phrases and phrases similar?. I encourage you to look very closely at these people, these people around you who espose these values, and truly wonder and examine what sort of men they are.
In war, there are always two sides.
But a true soldier always respects his adversary...always.
War should be a last resort, a product of irreconcilable differences, entered into with regret by both parties, for anyone who has any intellect and any knowledge of history knows that war is hell.
War is not a pissing match. Not a way to show off, not anything good. Not a fucking excuse for putting goddamn magnets on your gas guzzling SUV.
I'll repeat: War is not a pissing match.
Those who believe so are chaff, and I submit to you that they are the true terrorists of our age. The mindless arrogent, small men of inconcievable savagery and selfishness, greed, cowardice, and above all, dishonour. Not only those in office, but the zombie masses who crowd our streets, and choke our communities with their sickness.
I watch this administration, and I am wary. I see echoes of things past, and I am concerned.
I do not see that now is the time for action.
I do not believe that this country has yet crossed the fine and dangerous line into true eradication of the constitution and the values on which it was founded.
Yet.
I don't know what the future holds, I don't know where time will take us, or how our current situation will be resolved.
I cannot say that the future holds the end of America as we know it. It seems dangerously close to me.
I can say this:
I will be watching.
And should the time come, I will stand.
I will fight, regardless of death, chance or trial, for that is what is right.
Should the time come:
I will resist.
I will take arms, and I will stand, as a man, as a citizen of the United States of America. I will stand for my country, I will stand for my countrymen. I would fight for the values that this country was founded on. I would die for the values this country was founded on. They are more important than I am, they are more important than any one of us is, and they are more important than any specified number of us is.
It is those who think that they are more important than these values that are the enemy, and the poison that sickens our nation.
Disagree? if you would like to read an opposing viewpoint, you can find one here.
I would like everyone to take a moment to watch this, and listen to what is said.
I want you to think very, very carefully about it.
And about what you would be willing to do, for your country, for yourself, for your principles.
I'd like to remind you all that armed resistance to tyrrany is the heart of this nation, and it's foundation. People seem to forget that.
Think about what the word "terrorist" means, and how that meaning has changed since 9/11.
I think that sometimes it's easy to forget, even for those of us opposed to the action, that when we're bombing the hell out of some nation across the seas, we bomb not only military men, but also families, civilians, women and children.
It's easy to become inured. It's easy to become distracted in today's noisy, noisy society.
Do you ever wonder if, somewhere over there, there is someone just like you, or your friends...someone who has the same thoughts, emotions, fears? Someone who has hopes and dreams just like you, someone who's struggled with the same battles you have? Some 20-something kid just trying to get by, just trying to make his way in this world, like the rest of us.
And if sometime tonight, some anonymous plane is going to drop a fucking bomb on his or her house, or the house of his neighbors or loved ones?
Do you ever wonder that?
I think this is something important for all of us to keep in mind, whether opposed to the action, or in support, I think the consequences need be known, whether you think they are worth the supposed "goal" or not.
I know some people think this video, and the related letter are mere "propaganda"...do you ever wonder...what if it's not?
I think the term "propaganda" presents an oversimplified view, and even provides a bit of misdirection...
This is more than simply "us vs. them"
There is more than one group involved here. Not everyone who lives in Iraq is a terrorist. Not everyone who is not a terrorist in Iraq wishes to lie down whilst their home is attacked. To a small band of weak, cowardly zealots, terrorists, I say: "Fuck you.".
To the rest of Iraq, specifically to the armies in Iraq, fighting and dying for their home, to repel this invasion, to do what they think is right, for their country and their people, I say Godspeed. You who stand in the face of impossible odds, you who stand though loss is almost certain, you who resist with every breath, hope or none, I call you brother, and you have all the love I have to give, regardless of what your views may be, and how they may differ from my own.
I'm not in a moral position to say that this war is "right" or "wrong". I know we were attacked, and I don't have an answer as to what should be, or should have been, done.
I do know this:
Regardless of your views on whether or not this war was neccessary, regardless of your feelings on the bush administration, you should be able to appreciate that this is war, and war is hell. There is nothing pretty or cool, or fun about war.
People are dying. Every day. And I think that anyone, even those that think this action is neccessary, should be able to respect that. I hold respect for those whose views differ from my own on the neccessity of this war, I understand that not everyone feels the way that I do, and I can respect that.
It is the people who are gnashing their teeth in a sort of xenophobic glee, those who are enjoying this, that cry for more, that both frighten and infuriate me.
"Bomb the shit out of them!" "fuckin' sand monkies" "turn it into a parking lot"
How many times have you heard those phrases and phrases similar?. I encourage you to look very closely at these people, these people around you who espose these values, and truly wonder and examine what sort of men they are.
In war, there are always two sides.
But a true soldier always respects his adversary...always.
War should be a last resort, a product of irreconcilable differences, entered into with regret by both parties, for anyone who has any intellect and any knowledge of history knows that war is hell.
War is not a pissing match. Not a way to show off, not anything good. Not a fucking excuse for putting goddamn magnets on your gas guzzling SUV.
I'll repeat: War is not a pissing match.
Those who believe so are chaff, and I submit to you that they are the true terrorists of our age. The mindless arrogent, small men of inconcievable savagery and selfishness, greed, cowardice, and above all, dishonour. Not only those in office, but the zombie masses who crowd our streets, and choke our communities with their sickness.
I watch this administration, and I am wary. I see echoes of things past, and I am concerned.
I do not see that now is the time for action.
I do not believe that this country has yet crossed the fine and dangerous line into true eradication of the constitution and the values on which it was founded.
Yet.
I don't know what the future holds, I don't know where time will take us, or how our current situation will be resolved.
I cannot say that the future holds the end of America as we know it. It seems dangerously close to me.
I can say this:
I will be watching.
And should the time come, I will stand.
I will fight, regardless of death, chance or trial, for that is what is right.
Should the time come:
I will resist.
I will take arms, and I will stand, as a man, as a citizen of the United States of America. I will stand for my country, I will stand for my countrymen. I would fight for the values that this country was founded on. I would die for the values this country was founded on. They are more important than I am, they are more important than any one of us is, and they are more important than any specified number of us is.
It is those who think that they are more important than these values that are the enemy, and the poison that sickens our nation.
Disagree? if you would like to read an opposing viewpoint, you can find one here.