I get the following e-mail from a friend of mine, who KNOWS how I feel about the current administration:
>
> —–Original Message—–
> Good Stuff!!!!!!
>
> JOHN GLENN SAID
>
> Things that make you think a little:
>
> There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq in January.
> In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the month of
> January.
> That's just one American city, about as deadly as the entire war-torn country of Iraq.
>
> When some claim that President Bush shouldn't have started this war,
> state the following:
>
> a. FDR led us into World War II.
>
> b. Germany never attacked us; Japan did.
> From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost..an average of 112,500 per year.
>
> c. Truman finished that war and started one in Korea.
> North Korea never attacked us..From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were
> lost…an average of 18,334 per year.
>
> d John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam never attacked us.
>
> e. Johnson turned Vietnam into a quagmire.
> From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost…an average of 5,800 per year.
>
> f. Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent. Bosnia never attacked us. He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing.
> Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.
>
> g. In the years since terrorists attacked us , President Bush has
> liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran, and, North Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own
>
people.
> The Democrats are complaining about how long the war is taking. But it
>
> took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno to take the Branch
>
> Davidian compound. That was a 51-day operation..
>
> We've been looking for evidence for chemical weapons in Iraq for less
> time than it took Hillary Clinton to find the Rose Law Firm billing records.
>
>
> It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to
> destroy the Medina Republican Guard than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick.
>
>
> It took less time to take Iraq than it took to count the votes in
> Florida!!!!
>
> Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB!
> The Military morale is high!
>
> The biased media hopes we are too ignorant to realize the facts
>
> But Wait.
>
> There's more!
>
> JOHN GLENN (ON THE SENATE FLOOR) Mon, 26 Jan 2004 11:13
>
> Some people still don't understand why military personnel do what they
> do for a living.
> This exchange between Senators John Glenn and Senator Howard Metzenbaum is worth reading.
> Not only is it a pretty impressive impromptu speech, but it's also a good example of one man's explanation of why men and women in the armed services do what they do
>
> for a living.
>
> This IS a typical, though sad, example of what some who have never
> served think of the military.
>
> Senator Metzenbaum (speaking to Senator Glenn):
> “How can you run for Senate when you've never held a real job?”
>
> Senator Glenn (D-Ohio):
> “I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps. I served
> through two wars. I flew 149 missions. My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different occasions. I was in the space program. It wasn't my checkbook, Howard; it was my life on the line.
>
> It was not a nine-to-five job, where I took time off to take the daily cash receipts to the bank.”
>
> “I ask you to go with me…as I went the other day…to a veteran's
> hospital and look those men…with their mangled bodies…look in the eye, and tell THEM they didn't hold
>
> a job! You go with me to the Space Program at NASA and go, as I have
> gone, to the widows and Orphans of Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee…and you look those kids in the eye and tell them that their DADS didn't hold a job.
>
> You go with me on Memorial Day and you stand in Arlington National
> Cemetery, where I have more friends buried than I'd like to remember, and you watch those waving flags.
>
> You stand there, and you think about this nation, and you tell ME that
> those people didn't have a job?
>
> What about you?”
>
> For those who don't remember… During W.W.II, Howard Metzenbaum was
> an attorney representing the Communist Party in the USA.
>
> Now he's a Senator!
>
> If you can read this, thank a teacher.
> If you are reading it in English thank a Veteran.
>
> It might not be a bad idea to keep this circulating.
My response was plain and simple…
And when are those Marines who murdered those women and children in Hadifa, Iraq going to face charges?
Based on the bad intelligence, we did the right thing going in there; but poor planning and even worse execution on bad plans are digging the hole even deeper. Abu Ghraib, Hadifa… Maybe there ARE bad eggs in the
military - I'd even say there probably are - but our reputation wouldn't
be on the chopping block if we hadn't had the bad intelligence to begin with.
As far as bringing “justice” to al-Zaqarwi is concerned… last I checked “justice” on the world stage has nothing to do with dropping 500-pound bombs on people.
Only I didn't just respond to my friend. I did a Reply-All to the e-mail. It incited another of her friends to write my back with this:
face charges. Believing they did so without actual proof is ludicrous.
Complaining about it and not mentioning the actual atrocities (remember
the beheadings of innocent civilians or the everyday occurrence of
innocent women and children being murdered by bombers?) committed by
terrorists and asking when they will be brought to justice is even more
disturbing though. It bothers me that people here are more worried about
prosecuting a very few bad apples than complaining about the atrocities
being committed on an everyday basis by Iraqi's on their own people.
Why do you believe the execution of the plan has been poor? Do you only
watch CBS and Dan Liberal Slather? Iraq and it's people are in FAR
better shape today than prior to the US backed invasion. Do you expect a
country where there are three competing factions and have been fighting
each other for hundreds of years to just suddenly be calm and without
issues because one genocidal dictator is gone from power? Recall that
our own country had a civil war and it didn't end overnight.
Believe me, I'm not happy that our troops are there (they should be here
in the USA guarding our borders from terrorists and illegals crossing
into the US) BUT THEY ARE THERE and need to be SUPPORTED because they or
their family/friends have been making the ultimate sacrifice in the name
of democracy. If you have a better plan or a real solution now that we
are there, please let the world know instead of just seeking to jump on
the bad wagon about Abu Ghraib and trying to make the USA look bad to
the rest of the world. BTW, Abu Ghraib could have been handled
internally to the military without pissing off the Muslim world and
those same bad apples would have been brought to justice WITHOUT stoking
the fire of extremist Muslims who would love to slit your throat for
being an infidel and especially more for being an American…
I take issue with your insinuation that I only pay attention to the liberal news media; I read news from the world over - not just from this country, not just liberal media, and not just in English. I can tell you that right now the United States stands alone on the issue of Iraq - where we once were revered the world over, we have replaced Australia's place as the world's largest island. That we made this mistake is evident in how we are presently approaching the situation in Iran. You'll note that while we are issuing the rhetoric that we're “not taking the military option off the table,” we're not rattling sabers as we did with Iraq. There's a simple reason why this is. We screwed the pooch in Iraq, and while Bush and company are not willing to admit it, they know it to be true. It probably is the main reason why Collin Powell no longer serves “at the pleasure of the President.”
I also take extremely strong issue with your outright statement that my lack of agreement for the policies of the regime currently in power here translates to lack of support for my friends and family who are currently fighting this war in Iraq. That you confuse my lack of support for the troops with my outright contempt for Bush's policies and attempts to institute a theocracy in our land shows how much you have bought in to the propaganda thrown about that it is unpatriotic to speak out against our leaders. Quite frankly, the current number one export of the US is its material culture - McDonalds, Coca Cola, WalMart… Our actions in Iraq have threatened this export to such an extent that we have yet to experience the total effects of the backlash - but don't worry - that part is coming - unless we find a way to cloak our culture in local clothing from around the world.
Finally, to your point about having a plan to deal with this: I don't need to have a plan or a real solution for how to deal with Iraq - I didn't support our entry into the venue to begin with. I didn't vote for George W. Bush; I don't support him. In fact, I actively, in fulfilling MY patriotic duty, have supported (and continue to actively support) his removal from office through legal means; however, since you have so graciously solicited my feedback on a plan, I do, in fact, have one. It has been offered before (by others), and was turned down without consideration by this administration. It's called “cooperation”. We could have done much more good for the Iraqi people by at the very least having a true coalition in place to deal with the aftermath of our bull going into the china shop; however, what we did was use a carrot-stick approach to rebuilding Iraq (rather than using an all-hands approach). The fact that we have repeatedly fallen on our faces there in trying to restore much-needed infrastructure (after three years, the average Baghdadi still only has six hours of power a day - in a land where 120-degree summer days are the norm) shows that we not only failed to provide security for the Iraqi people, but that also we have not been able to provide for their basic needs.
I think it's time that people who take the administration's message as gospel start opening their eyes to the truth that is “what really happened.” Perception, in this case, may be stronger than reality. As the lone superpower in the world, we have better things to be doing with our resources, like getting ready for the day when we face another superpower - China or India come to mind.
Incidentally, I notice you don't mention in your letter that people here should worry about atrocities being committed in other places, like Darfur. If you're so interested in my lack of complaint about atrocities abroad, why not ask about my interest there?
Anyhow… Hey - it's a post, right?
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