As I sit reading the news (no, I don’t watch cable news, I read reliable blogs), there were quite a few things I thought to write about, but, the one thing that captured my mind is the whole GOP mindset of, “they are TERRORISTS, how can you defend them!”
There are many myths out there in the world. There are some people who still believe that the world is actually flat. Others still believe that Saddam Hussein and Iraq had ties to Al-Qaeda and 9/11. But, the one that really sets me off is the whole “they are all terrorists who wish to kill us” myth.
Unlike some who opine on this, I have been to Iraq. Twice.
I have sat and talked, in a tent, in the mountains, with Kurdish folks who were living in a tent camp. We had lunch which compromised of fresh goat milk (yes, freshly milked), grape leaves wrapped around rice and meat (no, we didn’t ask and didn’t want to know), and sat listening to tales of Hussein’s campaign against the Kurds (with the help of the only Kurdish man who spoke English and acted as translator for us). The Kurdish, as a rule, were very friendly to us troops. They acted as guides, translators, and, no matter where we went, no matter how few troops there were (and at times, it was a two-man humvee), we never feared for our safety. That was in 1991, my first trip to Iraq.
The second time I went to Iraq was a bit different. We couldn’t travel without armed escort. We convoyed everywhere, and, I sat in the armored truck, or, armored vehicle, watching brass fall around me as the gunner open-fired on citizens in their cars with their wives and kids. We surely didn’t feel the “love” of the Iraqi’s around us. What we did feel was their simple need to be treated with respect. It was their country, not ours. It was their world that we had invaded. Unlike many, I decided to educate myself a bit, and, I always treated the Iraqi workers with respect, per their own cultural rules, as it should have been done.
Every one of them only want to see us Americans killed.
Wrong.
The vast majority of Iraqi’s only wish that our occupation ends, that, they be allowed to rebuild their country without our interference. Nothing more, nothing less. I know this from talking with average Iraqi’s firsthand. Shi’ite, Sunni, or Kurdish, they all have their political differences, and, to a lesser degree, religious differences. What they cannot do, and they all know it, is rule their country as long as a foreign power continues to occupy them, continues to try and direct its Parliament, and frankly, continues to meddle.
But, every one of them wishes to kill us Americans.
As a bomb disposal technician, I can tell you that a bomb is a bomb. A bomb detonating that kills innocent people is a bomb set designed to kill innocent people.
Remember the abortion clinic bombings?
Abortion clinic bombings went from the late 1970’s into the 1990’s. Innocent people died. These bombs were set, this violence was initiated, by radical Christians who thought violence would solve their ills. Even today, GOP politicians cannot bring themselves to declare these acts “terrorism”. The first act of terrorism against U.S. combat troops by a Muslim contingent occurred in 1983. The next act? 10 years later in 1993 with the first WTC bombing attempt.
Not every Iraqi wants to kill Americans just like every Christian doesn’t want to bomb an abortion clinic. Radical extremists permeate both religions. But, there is a difference… While Americans have the attention span of 30 seconds, those who follow Islam in the Middle East still remember the Crusades.
So, the next time you have a GOP apologist whisper to you about those “Muslims” simply ask them, “so, you condoned the bombing of innocents in abortion clinics?”
When the person gets offended, scoffs at how its different, ask them, “how is setting a bomb that kills innocent people different? Is it because you condone terrorism done in your religion’s name while screaming when others do the same? Doesn’t that make you hypocrite? Will Jesus let a hypocrite into heaven? Don’t you think you should donate more of the money you don’t have to your church so you can try to buy your way into heaven? Oh wait… Jesus didn’t like people in the church who did that… or… haven’t you read your Bible”
This is why I am an Independent. Ideology that trumps truth, justice and, dare I say, the American way, whether it be the GOP or any other, never seems to include those concepts.
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