1:05 p.m. - 2003-03-27
Rhetoric, Hecka-style.
I heard a stat on the radio that claimed over 41% of those polled think that there is a direct connection between Saddam and the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. That is a lot of people who believe something that even our government doesn�t dare claim. I remember before the war started hearing statistics of large percentages of Americans opining that the U.S. need not wait for a new resolution from the U.N. in order to �take action�. I think that those questions should be prefaced with a request to define exactly what a U.N. resolution is, specifically the one that was being sought. It is not that I think the uninformed citizen has no right to an opinion on�anything; it is just a feeling that their opinion may very well be irrelevant except where political careers are concerned.

I have heard the horror that has been a very real part of people�s lives at the direct hand of Saddam and his regime. I can�t possibly begin to defend him, or his government, or the way it is run. I have seen the footage of villages with body after body laid out in front of their houses after they were attacked with chemical weapons. A man sobbing as he returned home to find everyone he knew and loved, babies, family, neighbors, all dead. I think that the end of the Hussein tyranny will be a good thing for the people of Iraq.

I also know, as it is common knowledge, that the U.S. gave these weapons that we are speaking of to Saddam. GAVE. I know that we were hoping that he would use them against Iranians, and that would have been okay with us. As far as our worries that Saddam might be affiliated with Bin Laden, did you not listen to the fucking tape? Bin Laden sees Saddam as an infidel in the same light he views the U.S. Bin Laden was a threat to Saddam. Why would the leader of a powerful regime seek to arm those who may very likely turn on him?

Why the fuck did we, is a better question. Providing weapons and aid to terrorists. WE ARMED BIN LADEN. WE ARMED SADDAM. WE GAVE HIM ANTHRAX. WE GAVE IT TO HIM.

I support our troops. You know what that means? I thank them for their honor and desire to protect. I want them to be safe.

I don�t support what they are being used for. Is that so fucking complicated to understand? I am glad that I have the freedom to sit here and write this. I do not, however, believe that this right is defacto being protected every time our government goes to war. It is not that fucking simple of an equation.

I don�t want anymore terrorist attacks on the U.S. I do not see, however, that war in Iraq has any potential to curb what motivates or enables these attacks. Inflame? Yes. Just look at Israel/Palestine.

I do not trust our government to create a grand new deal for the Iraqi people. We empowered Saddam in the first place for fucks sake. We backed him. Will our next choice be in the best interest of the Iraqi people or a potential American ally we can arm and point at our enemies and use to control oil interests?

I do not believe that this is �operation Iraqi Freedom�. If freedom from Saddam is achieved it will be a by-product, not a hindsight motivation. After the first gulf war Bush senior encouraged the people we care about so much to rise up and revolt against their oppressor, implying that we would help, only to watch as 500,000 citizens took him up on the calling and were slaughtered within eyesight of our tanks and troops.

If you care about the Iraqi people, if you care about the safety of our troops, if you care about stopping terrorism and think that this war is the solution to all of those problems, well you are entitled to that opinion. Please, though, ask yourself how it became the only solution, and what our part in that was, because worshiping a flag and an ideal is heart warming, but using it to justify any and every action is at best ignorant and at worst barbaric.

Please don�t disagree with me in silence. Tell me why I�m a tree hugging, ungrateful, communist, pinko, treasonous peace-nik. Or just tell me why I�m wrong. I am open to it, believe me.

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