OT - Long, But well worth the read!

[WeluvDisney2]

Don't Close Your Blinds


The other day, my nine year old son wanted to know why we were at war. My husband looked at our son and then looked at me. My husband and I were in the Army during the Gulf War and we would be honored to serve and defend our Country again today. I knew that my husband would give him a good explanation.


My husband thought for a few minutes and then told my son to go stand in our front living room window. He said "Son, stand there and tell me what you see?"


"I see trees and cars and our neighbor's houses." he replied.


"OK, now I want you to pretend that our house and our yard is the United States of America and you are President Bush."


Our son giggled and said "OK."


"Now son, I want you to look out the window and pretend that every house and yard on this block is a different country" my husband said.


"OK Dad, I'm pretending."


"Now I want you to stand there and look out the window and pretend you see Saddam come out of his house with his wife, he has her by the hair and is hitting her. You see her bleeding and crying. He hits her in the face, he throws her on the ground, then he starts to kick her to death. Their children run out and are afraid to stop him, they are screaming and crying, they are watching this but do nothing because they are kids and they are afraid of their father. You see all of this son.... what do you do?"


"Dad?"


"What do you do son?"


"I'd call the police, Dad."


"OK. Pretend that the police are the United Nations and they take your call, listen to what you know and saw but they refuse to help. What do you do then son?"


"Dad.......... but the police are supposed to help!" My son starts to whine.


"They don't want to son, because they say that it is not their place or your place to get involved and that you should stay out of it," my husband says.


"But Dad...he killed her!!" my son exclaims.


"I know he did...but the police tell you to stay out of it. Now I want you to look out that window and pretend you see our neighbor who you're pretending is Saddam turn around and do the same thing to his children."


"Daddy...he kills them?"


"Yes son, he does. What do you do?"


"Well, if the police don't want to help, I will go and ask my next door neighbor to help me stop him." our son says.


"Son, our next door neighbor sees what is happening and refuses to get involved as well. He refuses to open the door and help you stop him," my husband says.


"But Dad, I NEED help!!! I can't stop him by myself!!"


"WHAT DO YOU DO SON?" Our son starts to cry.


"OK, no one wants to help you, the man across the street saw you ask for help and saw that no one would help you stop him. He stands taller and puffs out his chest. Guess what he does next son?"



"What Daddy?"


"He walks across the street to the old ladies house and breaks down her door and drags her out, steals all her stuff and sets her house on fire and then...he kills her. He turns around and sees you standing in the window and laughs at you. WHAT DO YOU DO?"


"Daddy..."


"WHAT DO YOU DO?"


Our son is crying and he looks down and he whispers, "I'd close the blinds, Daddy."


My husband looks at our son with tears in his eyes and asks him..."Why?"


"Because Daddy.....the police are supposed to help people who needs them...and they won't help.... You always say that neighbors are supposed to HELP neighbors, but they won't help either...they won't help me stop him...I'm afraid....I can't do it by myself Daddy....I can't look out my window and just watch him do all these terrible things and...and.....do nothing...so....I'm just going to close the blinds... so I can't see what he's doing........and I'm going to pretend that it is not happening."


I start to cry.


My husband looks at our nine year old son standing in the window, looking pitiful and ashamed at his answers to my husbands questions and he says..."Son"


"Yes, Daddy."


"Open the blinds because that man.... he's at your front door..."WHAT DO YOU DO?"


My son looks at his father, anger and defiance in his eyes. He balls up his tiny fists and looks his father square in the eyes, without hesitation he says: "I'D DEFEND MY FAMILY DAD!! I'M NOT GONNA LET HIM HURT MOMMY OR MY SISTER, DAD!!! I'M GONNA FIGHT HIM, DAD, I'M GONNA FIGHT HIM!!!!!"


I see a tear roll down my husband's cheek and he grabs our son to his chest and hugs him tight, and says... "It's too late to fight him, he's too strong and he's already at YOUR front door son.....you should have stopped him BEFORE he killed his wife, and his children and the old lady across the way. You have to do what's right, even if you have to do it alone, before it's too late." my husband whispers.


THAT scenario I just gave you is WHY we are at war with Iraq. When good men stand by and let evil happen son, THAT is the greatest EVIL of all. Our President is doing what is right. We, as a free nation, must understand that this war is a war of humanity. WE must remove evil men from power so that we can continue to live in a free world where we are not afraid to look out our window so that my nine year old son won't grow up in a world where he feels that if he just "closes" that blinds the atrocities in the world won't affect him.


"YOU MUST NEVER BE AFRAID TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT! EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO DO IT ALONE!" BE PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN! BE PROUD OF OUR TROOPS!! SUPPORT THEM!!! SUPPORT AMERICA!! SO THAT IN THE FUTURE OUR CHILDREN WILL NEVER HAVE TO CLOSE THEIR BLINDS..."

 

[laurie31]

What a great way to explain the war...and so true.

All evil needs is for good men to do nothing.

I think it's so tragic how many of our brave soldiers have died in the war, but we are there for a reason.

Laurie

 

[Alice28]

I agree.

 

[JetMom]

How about if the "police" investigate what you thought you saw and found absolutely no evidence that it happened? Would you storm your neighbors house with no evidence to back up what you claim has happened?

 

[Kendra17]

Thank you for posting this beautiful story. It completely encapsulates a world situation in a way that anybody who is reasonable can understand.

You and your husband are brave Americans. My family and I salute you and appreciate your service in the first Gulf War.

This may be the best explanation of the current situation I've seen. If only folks on the left could understand the truth, the country would be unified and all the despots in the middle east and n. korea would be quaking in their boots at the awesome power of a Unified United States.

I read this to my husband from across the room, and had to stop a few times to compose myself. . .it really brought me to tears.

I'd like to send this to others. Thank you for sharing this. Really.

 

[Disney Doll]

I don't whether Saddam ever had WMDs. I don't know if Saddam had the capability to produce WMDs. I do know that the man was a dictator, responsible for hundreds upon thousands of deaths of innocent people in his country, because they didn't follow his dictates. We have more than enough proof of that, judging by the mass graves that have been uncovered. I don't feel that anyone, in any country, should have to live in fear that if they state their opinion out loud, they are going to "disappear" in the middle of the night.

I would have preferred it if the President had said "we don't know what WMD capability Saddam has, but we know he is evil and must be removed". Because he was evil and had to be removed. Why does the USA have to be the one to fix it? Because if we don't, who will? The analogy of a neighborhood to a war is perfect...stop the nut before he's at your front door, and somebody has to have the guts to do it.

Obviously the situation over there is far less than ideal, but is it really very unusual for a country that is going through a major political upheaval to have happen the things that are happening there? I mean, after our Civil War was declared over, do you think the next day everyone just got up and went about their business as if nothing had ever happened? I am sure that there were still Southern secessionists who were doing "terroristic" type activites even after the Civil War was declared over. Heck, I've been in some areas of the South in modern times (within the last 10 years) where people have been less than warm and welcoming to me because I'm a "Yankee"...and that wasn't a presumption on my part, that was a statement that has been made to me, and more than once...."we don't trust you Yankees much around here". Change raises a lot of dust, and it takes time for that dust to settle.

I have relatives in the military, and more than one. Cousins, uncles etc. All of them have been or are in Iraq since this war started. All of them say we need to be there. All of them say we are not getting the total picture over there. I believe them.

 

[H&Hmommy]

Your story made me cry. I am going to print it to read to my DD and DS. Thank you so much for sharing.
Kim

 

[WeluvDisney2]

Kendra,
I did not write that story myself, but I thought it was well worth sharing.
Monique

 

[Carl]

And to continue the analogy - after you go and capture your neighbor that was going to kill his wife and children, they come set fire to your house for taking away their husband and father.

 

[robinb]

What a bunch of absolute clap-trap.

 

[mickyzzzzz05]

Excellent story! Thank you so much for posting this.

 

[TandJ61574]

WeluvDisney2 Bravo! (clap- clap standing and applauding your post)

What a beautiful and simplistic analogy.

I have come to the conclusion that anyone that reads this and is still against us being in Iraq just doesn't get it or doesn't want to.

I feel that most likely they have always had it in their heads that they were going to vote democratic all along ( they prob. voted for Gore) and they are just looking for an excuse to say that they don't want Bush in office because of Iraq.

Sigh..wish they would use just a little bit of intelligence (it's really not rocket science) and if they can't do that then at least vote their conscience.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

 

[goofy4tink]

Isn't it wonderful to live in a country where we can disagree with the 'powers that be' and not get shot?! We can disagree with each other and still be friendly? Mutual respect is a great thing. You know, there are days that I think we should absolutely be in the Middle East and other days I can't for the life of me understand why we're there. Talk about a confused state of mind. But, I will always support our troops over there. They are doing their jobs.

 

[miche61]

Thank you for posting that. I appreciate the story. Doesn't matter if I support the war, or if I don't. That story puts into perspective of why people stand up for themselves and others.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by miche61
Thank you for posting that. I appreciate the story. Doesn't matter if I support the war, or if I don't. That story puts into perspective of why people stand up for themselves and others.

Well put.

 

[luvthatduke]

Just a simple "thank you" for this story.


And to the post'r of this remark:
"How about if the "police" investigate what you thought you saw and found absolutely no evidence that it happened? Would you storm your neighbors house with no evidence to back up what you claim has happened?"


The ranks of those same police were made up of some of the neighbors, and THEY were the ones who for years insisted the evil man was up to no good and that he needed watching.

Then, those same police & neighbors, after years of watching,
said that the evil man most certainly was thinking up and developing even worse things.

Then, some of the neighbors called the son DIRECTLY and informed him that they had CERTAIN PROOF that the evil man was developing worse things, but that they were not willing to help take care of it.

Then, some of the ORIGINAL NEIGHBORS WHO STILL WORKED WITHIN THE RANKS OF THE POLICE FORCE agreed with the son that the evil man was still up to no good, but that they were not willing to help.

So, the son was left with one, large neighbor, and several small neighbors - all of whom were willing to help the son fight the evil man if only the son would stick his neck out first. So, the son did, and went to the evil man's house and took him away and in the process the son found people there who were just as evil, and he took care of them so that they couldn't hurt anyone else.

But, the son found out that now HE was viewed as the evil one by the VERY SAME NEIGHBORS WHO AGREED THE 'ORIGINAL' EVIL MAN NEEDED TO BE STOPPED FROM DEVELOPING WORSE THINGS.

So now the son was mocked by the SAME PEOPLE WHO AGREED THE EVIL MAN WOULD BECOME EVEN MORE EVIL IF NO ONE STOPPED HIM, and furthermore, the son found that HIS OWN FAMILY was now divided on whether or not he should have knocked the evil man's door down.

And because the son knew that the neighborhood was much better off without the evil man, and even more importantly his OWN FAMILY WOULD NOT HAVE TO FIGHT THE EVIL MAN'S FRIENDS ON THEIR OWN PROPERTY, the son did what any good son would do - he continued with the mission he had started, because he knew that it was needed, and he knew that it was based on information that OTHERS HAD AGREED WAS ACCURATE.


Blessings...

 

[mickyzzzzz05]

luvthatduke - excellent points - you put into words my thoughts - thank you

 

[Hagred]

Originally posted by TandJ61574
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

But what does the bible say about the man who lays down other people's lives for his friends?

I figure the OP's story (wherever he/she got it from) is nothing but glurge that was written to provoke an emotional response. It has absolutely nothing to do with world affairs because world affairs are much more complicated than neighbours on a street.

 

[mickyzzzzz05]

I view the story as a thought provoking anaolgy - in some ways I feel we were at the point of watching another Hitler get stronger and stronger with other countries unwilling (or unable) to stop the situation.
I find it interesting that many people (including Kerry) felt the same way until recently.



“While we should always seek to take significant international actions on a multilateral rather than a unilateral basis whenever that is possible, it in the final analysis we face what we truly believe to be a grave threat to the well-being of our Nation or the entire world and it cannot be removed peacefully, we must have the courage to do what we believe is right and wise. I believe this is such a situation, Mr. President, it is a time for resolve.” - Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record 110997

“So we have an obligation of enormous consequence, an obligation to guarantee that Saddam Hussein cannot ignore the United Nations. He cannot be permitted to go unobserved and unimpeded toward his horrific objective of amassing a stockpile of weapons of mass destruction… If he remains obdurate, I believe that the United Nations must take, and should authorize immediately, whatever steps are necessary to force him to relent—and that the United States should support and participate in those steps.” - Sen. John Kerry Congressional Record 110997

"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs." - Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998


“I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force-- if necessary-- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security.” - Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002

Q&A Tony Snow: “Senator Kerry, should it be official US policy that we want to see Saddam Hussein removed from power, not necessarily assassinated, but removed from power?”
Senator John Kerry: “I believe yes. I believe I’ve been arguing that for some time within the Intelligence Committee and elsewhere.” - Fox News Sunday 111598

Kerry: “Oh, I think we clearly have to keep the pressure on terrorism globally. This doesn’t end with Afghanistan by any imagination. And I think the President has made that clear. I think we have made that clear. Terrorism is a global menace. It’s a scourge. And it is absolutely vital that we continue, for instance, Saddam Hussein.” - CNN’s Larry King Live 121401

Kerry: “The Iraqi regime’s record over the decade leaves little doubt that Saddam Hussein wants to retain his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and to expand it to include nuclear weapons. We cannot allow him to prevail in that quest. The weapons are an unacceptable threat.” - US Senate, Remarks of Sen. John Kerry on Iraq 100902

“Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real...” - Sen. John F. Kerry, Jan. 23. 2003

Sen. John Kerry: “I said at the time I would have preferred if we had given diplomacy a great opportunity, but I think it was the right decision to disarm Saddam Hussein, and when the President made the decision, I supported him, and I support the fact that we did disarm him.” - ABC News, Democrat Presidential Candidate Debate, 050303

Now the Senator wants Americans to believe that the War on Terrorism in Iraq is the: “wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time.” - 090604

 

[mom23boys]

Thank you for posting this story, I too will print it out and share with my 10 year old son who is asking alot of questions about the war.