JimB.
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
- Messages
- 4,415
I just finished reading an e-mail I received from a friend of mine in Iraq. Nothing earth shattering, mind you, just a "how's it going" note.
My friend Wayne, whom I have known since 1st grade, and was best man at my wedding, is a C-130 pilot. He's doing fine, in good spirits, and hopes to be home soon. He is the "official adoptee" of my wife's Girl Scout Troop.
Why am I writing this? Heck, I don't even know WHAT I'm writing. There are just some thoughts I finally felt like putting down on "paper" (for lack of a better term)..............
Freedom is great!! War is Bad!! I think we ALL agree on these basic principles.
1. Peace without freedom from tyranny, persecution & torture; without liberty, justice, a moral code & laws, a basic ability to provide a reasonable standard of living is not peace.
It is slavery & oppression. Until 2 weeks ago there was no CHANCE of justice in Iraq. Don't preach to me about an "unjust war". Instead try and justify an "unjust peace" to me with a straight face.
2. The world opinion is overwhelmingly against us. Big Deal. There are times when one must LEAD, and not just flap in the breeze.
3. Iraqi civilians are dying. That's a shame. Really. Hopefully that will end soon & be an absolute minimum. Oh, BTW, Iraqi civilians are now dying at a slower rate than they were 6 months ago under the reign of terror of saddan hussein.
4. Evidence of Al Queda camps and chemical weapons has been found in Norther Iraq. OK. So there's no link between hussein & al-queda. Really. Sure.
5. We are not the aggressors. We are not the bad guys.
We have been under attack since at least 1983. Americans (and other citizens of the world) have been killed by the Libyans, Palestinians, osama bin laden, abu nidal, red brigade, etc., and the list goes on.
Too often we have sat back & not responded. Ever. Remember Leon Klinghoffer & the Achille Lauro? Micheal Stedem (sp)? Beirut Marine Barracks?? Pan Am flight 103??
Remember the Iran Hostage Crisis?? Perhaps if we had responded more appropriately THEN (& note I place no particular fault with any specific administration), we would not be in Iraq NOW.
6. We should not have to be doing this almost alone (Thanks to those nations helping). The rest of the "civilized" world should be ashamed.
Sometimes I think the curse of being Americans is that we (at times) get stuck doing the dirty work for the rest of the world. They secretly want us to do it, but are too cowardly to say so in public.
7. IMHO, the French, Germans & Russians have been trying to keep us out of Iraq because they will be mightily embarrassed by what the world will find they have been doing there since 1990.
And the russians don't want they rest of the world to find out how badly their military hardware they are selling world wide really sucks eggs. Bad for them. Good for us.
Hmmmmmmmmm. I seem to have rambled on about a lot of nothing in particular.
Hope no one gets too bored with all of this.
G'night Wayne. Stay Safe. Fly Low.
You are my hero.......................
My friend Wayne, whom I have known since 1st grade, and was best man at my wedding, is a C-130 pilot. He's doing fine, in good spirits, and hopes to be home soon. He is the "official adoptee" of my wife's Girl Scout Troop.
Why am I writing this? Heck, I don't even know WHAT I'm writing. There are just some thoughts I finally felt like putting down on "paper" (for lack of a better term)..............
Freedom is great!! War is Bad!! I think we ALL agree on these basic principles.
1. Peace without freedom from tyranny, persecution & torture; without liberty, justice, a moral code & laws, a basic ability to provide a reasonable standard of living is not peace.
It is slavery & oppression. Until 2 weeks ago there was no CHANCE of justice in Iraq. Don't preach to me about an "unjust war". Instead try and justify an "unjust peace" to me with a straight face.
2. The world opinion is overwhelmingly against us. Big Deal. There are times when one must LEAD, and not just flap in the breeze.
3. Iraqi civilians are dying. That's a shame. Really. Hopefully that will end soon & be an absolute minimum. Oh, BTW, Iraqi civilians are now dying at a slower rate than they were 6 months ago under the reign of terror of saddan hussein.
4. Evidence of Al Queda camps and chemical weapons has been found in Norther Iraq. OK. So there's no link between hussein & al-queda. Really. Sure.
5. We are not the aggressors. We are not the bad guys.
We have been under attack since at least 1983. Americans (and other citizens of the world) have been killed by the Libyans, Palestinians, osama bin laden, abu nidal, red brigade, etc., and the list goes on.
Too often we have sat back & not responded. Ever. Remember Leon Klinghoffer & the Achille Lauro? Micheal Stedem (sp)? Beirut Marine Barracks?? Pan Am flight 103??
Remember the Iran Hostage Crisis?? Perhaps if we had responded more appropriately THEN (& note I place no particular fault with any specific administration), we would not be in Iraq NOW.
6. We should not have to be doing this almost alone (Thanks to those nations helping). The rest of the "civilized" world should be ashamed.
Sometimes I think the curse of being Americans is that we (at times) get stuck doing the dirty work for the rest of the world. They secretly want us to do it, but are too cowardly to say so in public.
7. IMHO, the French, Germans & Russians have been trying to keep us out of Iraq because they will be mightily embarrassed by what the world will find they have been doing there since 1990.
And the russians don't want they rest of the world to find out how badly their military hardware they are selling world wide really sucks eggs. Bad for them. Good for us.
Hmmmmmmmmm. I seem to have rambled on about a lot of nothing in particular.
Hope no one gets too bored with all of this.
G'night Wayne. Stay Safe. Fly Low.
You are my hero.......................
