ksna
"I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing." ~Socrates
The Problems With Iraq And How It Affects American Society
iraqThis post is for my friend, the Captain:
It was so nice to hear from you. I'm sure that after coming home from countries that end in "stan" you were happy to cozy up with your wonderful wife and beautiful daughter (is another one on the way, yet?)
I'm sure they are just as happy to have you back.
I haven't ranted on the state of Iraq in a while, and I was a little excited for the opportunity...
You know, of course, that I have issues and, just a little bit, of self-righteousness scrambling around in my brain. They both stem from the forming of this democratic government, and I hope that you may concede some of my points...though I'm not counting on it.
You see, I said from the beginning, that this was not going to be a quick and easy, in and out, situation and when President Bush declared victory, I nearly urinated myself from the hysterical laughing fit (I have to be descriptive for my readers...). I stopped laughing as the number of dead troops started to rise after the declaration, cried a little when they reported more men and women had died since victory was declared than during the entire war.
When is the cost too much? When will people compare the lives lost for a cause to the cause itself?
Democracy in Iraq? A beautiful dream, but hard to realize when you hear the accounts of progress. For example today's story from the Associated Press which brings to light the unbalanced government currently in place. How can you have a true democracy without people of all of Iraq's different cultures involved? Just because Hussein was a Sunni, doesn't mean the whole lot of them are bad seeds. Guilt by association doesn't work here (if so, the entire Republican party would be in Tom DeLay's boat), so I don't see why it does there. The Sunni's are a decently sized portion of Iraq's population and (if a true democracy) they deserve equal ground in the framing of it's government. Instead, they are being offered one position (an important position, but still just one) in an act meant only to appease the disgruntled people of the Sunni population.
Disgruntlement = Anger = Insurgency = Dead Americans
Do you think I'm off mark here? I can't see it, but if you were to point it out I would look a little deeper into my reasoning. I just don't see where we've actually taught them much about the intricate details of a democracy.
Not that I would expect an overnight turnaround, but I'm not seeing even a step to the side . We've spent millions training their forces, and still they can not properly police their country. Eight bombings today...eight (!), and yet it was a success.
Over a hundred men went back home to Guernsey (Readers: this is another small village in Wyoming that is home to a National Guard camp) a couple weeks ago, thinking there would not be another deployment...there is already a rumor circulating the base that close to 100 are going to possibly be shipped out within the next few weeks. This, of course, is standard military life and I understand this. I understand when you, Chad Sears, Jeremy Fitzwater, and Brian Wherl ship out for duty that you are out to protect the people like me...but as the dead count continues to rise I see that it's impossible as they can't even protect themselves there. For what? For what, I say?
Ok, enough for tonight, my friend, as I grow weary from the sadness of the state of the world. Rest and enjoy your family, know that there are people like me worried about all of you in the military, and be sure to take a day off in a nice park (I hear the Carolina's are beautiful!) with the family and the dog (if you have one, if not maybe you can - at least - pet one of the other patron's).
Maybe the next post will be Social Security, you've got to know that I'm full of opinions on that one (did I tell you the AARP is one of our clients?)
Talk to you later, my friend from yester-year, days of yore, of the good ol' days...
Let me close with our agency motto, "Drink up my friends, for tomorrow we ride at dawn!"
It was so nice to hear from you. I'm sure that after coming home from countries that end in "stan" you were happy to cozy up with your wonderful wife and beautiful daughter (is another one on the way, yet?)
I'm sure they are just as happy to have you back.
I haven't ranted on the state of Iraq in a while, and I was a little excited for the opportunity...
You know, of course, that I have issues and, just a little bit, of self-righteousness scrambling around in my brain. They both stem from the forming of this democratic government, and I hope that you may concede some of my points...though I'm not counting on it.
You see, I said from the beginning, that this was not going to be a quick and easy, in and out, situation and when President Bush declared victory, I nearly urinated myself from the hysterical laughing fit (I have to be descriptive for my readers...). I stopped laughing as the number of dead troops started to rise after the declaration, cried a little when they reported more men and women had died since victory was declared than during the entire war.
When is the cost too much? When will people compare the lives lost for a cause to the cause itself?
Democracy in Iraq? A beautiful dream, but hard to realize when you hear the accounts of progress. For example today's story from the Associated Press which brings to light the unbalanced government currently in place. How can you have a true democracy without people of all of Iraq's different cultures involved? Just because Hussein was a Sunni, doesn't mean the whole lot of them are bad seeds. Guilt by association doesn't work here (if so, the entire Republican party would be in Tom DeLay's boat), so I don't see why it does there. The Sunni's are a decently sized portion of Iraq's population and (if a true democracy) they deserve equal ground in the framing of it's government. Instead, they are being offered one position (an important position, but still just one) in an act meant only to appease the disgruntled people of the Sunni population.
Disgruntlement = Anger = Insurgency = Dead Americans
Do you think I'm off mark here? I can't see it, but if you were to point it out I would look a little deeper into my reasoning. I just don't see where we've actually taught them much about the intricate details of a democracy.
Not that I would expect an overnight turnaround, but I'm not seeing even a step to the side . We've spent millions training their forces, and still they can not properly police their country. Eight bombings today...eight (!), and yet it was a success.
Over a hundred men went back home to Guernsey (Readers: this is another small village in Wyoming that is home to a National Guard camp) a couple weeks ago, thinking there would not be another deployment...there is already a rumor circulating the base that close to 100 are going to possibly be shipped out within the next few weeks. This, of course, is standard military life and I understand this. I understand when you, Chad Sears, Jeremy Fitzwater, and Brian Wherl ship out for duty that you are out to protect the people like me...but as the dead count continues to rise I see that it's impossible as they can't even protect themselves there. For what? For what, I say?
Ok, enough for tonight, my friend, as I grow weary from the sadness of the state of the world. Rest and enjoy your family, know that there are people like me worried about all of you in the military, and be sure to take a day off in a nice park (I hear the Carolina's are beautiful!) with the family and the dog (if you have one, if not maybe you can - at least - pet one of the other patron's).
Maybe the next post will be Social Security, you've got to know that I'm full of opinions on that one (did I tell you the AARP is one of our clients?)
Talk to you later, my friend from yester-year, days of yore, of the good ol' days...
Let me close with our agency motto, "Drink up my friends, for tomorrow we ride at dawn!"
No acknowledgements - acknowledge
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Life Voyeurs
