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by Carl Group, LtCol. retired It is not about John Kerry's swift boat command, nor about his passionate indictment of atrocities committed by American troops...it is not about George Bush's skating out of harm's way into the Champaign Wing of the Texas Air National Guard, arranged by his father. It is not about any of those things. It is not even about Health Care, Education, Taxation, the Economy, gun control, gay marriage or stem cell research...these are issues peripheral to the one...overwhelming issue on which Americans of all political persuasions are focused. THE WAR IN IRAQ. Voter registration, not only in Colorado, but nationwide, is at historic highs. People are not turned off. They are mesmerized...polarized, and passionately interested in the outcome of this election. George Bush is intent...no, obsessed, with settling the mantle of democracy, freedom, the rule of law and individual rights, upon the people of Iraq...and eventually upon all the people in the Middle East. He is tilting at windmills. He is wrong. He is arrogant and ignorant. And in the meantime, Americans are being killed, in the words of one young marine officer, in "onesies and twosies," every day, week after week. Fanatic insurgents who control vast areas of Iraq, are kidnapping and beheading American civilians.
Why are these things happening? We were told that American troops
would be welcomed with flowers and cheers as we swept into Baghdad
and the repellent dictator went underground. George Bush would have
us believe, that Iraqis, all Arabs, all Muslims in fact, are deep
down, freedom loving, decent human beings who yearn for the freedoms
that only America can bring them. The reason that these things are
happening is that these people have no understanding of American, or
even Western values and culture.
Yes, they want to be free...free to either convert or kill the
infidels...to denigrate, defile and degrade women, whom they
consider equivalent to dogs, animals loved and cherished by Western
culture, but reviled in the Muslim world as filthy and depraved.
They want to be free to pillage and kill their own people for the
purpose of accruing power. Witness the case of the young 17 year old
boy, whose sister was raped by a gang of Iraqi thugs, which are now
roaming the cities and countryside. The boy shot and killed his
sister..."to reclaim the honor of the family." His act was
praised by his father and mother.
We have as little understanding of their culture as they do of
ours. They hate Americans with a searing black rage which stuns
and bewilders us. They UNDERSTAND Saddam Hussein. He is one of their
own. He has tortured, killed and brutalized them for decades,
and they have accepted it because it squares with their
own view of life. Democracy? Individual rights? The rule of
law? These concepts are as foreign to them as are the intricacies of
quantum physics.
George Bush will have American troops in Iraq in an open-ended war
which could last for decades. An election in January? Sure, they'll
have an election, and the Iraqi Shiites will win, and a religious
civil war will ensue. Our troops will be in the middle. We don't
need this. Over a thousand dead American soldiers didn't need it,
and they are never coming home.
When Saddam was in his palaces, nobody had guns but him and his
cohorts. Now EVERYBODY has guns. Hell, the National Rifle
Association thinks this is just great. Never mind that our troops
are getting killed. Iraqis have the kind of government they
deserve. We cannot impose democracy, our values, our culture, upon
them. It WILL NOT WORK!
It has been estimated that our military action in Iraq has killed
and wounded more Iraqis than Saddam would have had we not invaded. I
have little idea of what John Kerry will do when he is
president,,,but it sure as hell will be better than what is going on
now. My own personal opinion? Declare "Mission
Accomplished," and get out...NOW.
We stayed far too long in Vietnam...and lost. We have already
stayed too long in Iraq. It is already a tragedy, it doesn't
need to turn into a catastrophe.
My name is Carl A. Group carlgroup@msn.com
. I am a retired USAF LtCol, 79 years old, as well as a retired
financial advisor of 28 years experience. I am married to the same
woman for 51 years. We are both in robust health and travel widely,
mostly on cruises. We have four grown children and eight
grandchildren. I consider myself a raconteur, bon vivant, gourmand
and general all around renaissance man. political labels offend me.
I am an American. I respect critical thinking, intelligent discourse
and friendly disagreement. I suspect rigid ideology, religious
orthodoxy, governmental secrecy and oppression. I think George Bush
is a liar and a knave, a person who never had to strive to
accomplish anything. He does not deserve the office he holds and I
fervently hope he is voted out in November.
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