Specter
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That is awesome.
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I was a naive fool to be a human shield for Saddam
By Daniel Pepper
(Filed: 23/03/2003)
I wanted to join the human shields in Baghdad because it was direct action which had a chance of bringing the anti-war movement to the forefront of world attention. It was inspiring: the human shield volunteers were making a sacrifice for their political views - much more of a personal investment than going to a demonstration in Washington or London. It was simple - you get on the bus and you represent yourself.
So that is exactly what I did on the morning of Saturday, January 25. I am a 23-year-old Jewish-American photographer living in Islington, north London. I had travelled in the Middle East before: as a student, I went to the Palestinian West Bank during the intifada. I also went to Afghanistan as a photographer for Newsweek.
The human shields appealed to my anti-war stance, but by the time I had left Baghdad five weeks later my views had changed drastically. I wouldn't say that I was exactly pro-war - no, I am ambivalent - but I have a strong desire to see Saddam removed.
We on the bus felt that we were sympathetic to the views of the Iraqi civilians, even though we didn't actually know any. The group was less interested in standing up for their rights than protesting against the US and UK governments.
I was shocked when I first met a pro-war Iraqi in Baghdad - a taxi driver taking me back to my hotel late at night. I explained that I was American and said, as we shields always did, "Bush bad, war bad, Iraq good". He looked at me with an expression of incredulity.
As he realised I was serious, he slowed down and started to speak in broken English about the evils of Saddam's regime. Until then I had only heard the President spoken of with respect, but now this guy was telling me how all of Iraq's oil money went into Saddam's pocket and that if you opposed him politically he would kill your whole family.
It scared the hell out of me. First I was thinking that maybe it was the secret police trying to trick me but later I got the impression that he wanted me to help him escape. I felt so bad. I told him: "Listen, I am just a schmuck from the United States, I am not with the UN, I'm not with the CIA - I just can't help you."
Of course I had read reports that Iraqis hated Saddam Hussein, but this was the real thing. Someone had explained it to me face to face. I told a few journalists who I knew. They said that this sort of thing often happened - spontaneous, emotional, and secretive outbursts imploring visitors to free them from Saddam's tyrannical Iraq.
I became increasingly concerned about the way the Iraqi regime was restricting the movement of the shields, so a few days later I left Baghdad for Jordan by taxi with five others. Once over the border we felt comfortable enough to ask our driver what he felt about the regime and the threat of an aerial bombardment.
"Don't you listen to Powell on Voice of America radio?" he said. "Of course the Americans don't want to bomb civilians. They want to bomb government and Saddam's palaces. We want America to bomb Saddam."
We just sat, listening, our mouths open wide. Jake, one of the others, just kept saying, "Oh my God" as the driver described the horrors of the regime. Jake was so shocked at how naive he had been. We all were. It hadn't occurred to anyone that the Iraqis might actually be pro-war.
The driver's most emphatic statement was: "All Iraqi people want this war." He seemed convinced that civilian casualties would be small; he had such enormous faith in the American war machine to follow through on its promises. Certainly more faith than any of us had.
Perhaps the most crushing thing we learned was that most ordinary Iraqis thought Saddam Hussein had paid us to come to protest in Iraq. Although we explained that this was categorically not the case, I don't think he believed us. Later he asked me: "Really, how much did Saddam pay you to come?"
It hit me on visceral and emotional levels: this was a real portrayal of Iraq life. After the first conversation, I completely rethought my view of the Iraqi situation. My understanding changed on intellectual, emotional, psychological levels. I remembered the experience of seeing Saddam's egomaniacal portraits everywhere for the past two weeks and tried to place myself in the shoes of someone who had been subjected to seeing them every day for the last 20 or so years.
Last Thursday night I went to photograph the anti-war rally in Parliament Square. Thousands of people were shouting "No war" but without thinking about the implications for Iraqis. Some of them were drinking, dancing to Samba music and sparring with the police. It was as if the protesters were talking about a different country where the ruling government is perfectly acceptable. It really upset me.
Anyone with half a brain must see that Saddam has to be taken out. It is extraordinarily ironic that the anti-war protesters are marching to defend a government which stops its people exercising that freedom.
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003. Terms & Conditions of reading.
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I thought this was pretty funny. Sorry about the caps. I copy and pasted because im a sorry excuse for a typist.
HAVE YOU NOTICED ANYTHING FISHY ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAMS WHO HAVE
>ARRIVED IN IRAQ? THEY'RE ALL MEN! HOW IN THE NAME OF THE UNITED NATIONS
>DOES ANYONE EXPECT MEN TO FIND SADDAM'S STASH? WE ALL KNOW THAT MEN HAVE
>A BLIND SPOT WHEN IT COMES TO FINDING THINGS. FOR CRYING' OUT LOUD! THEY
>CAN'T FIND THE DIRTY CLOTHES HAMPER. THEY CAN'T FIND THE JAR OF JELLY
>UNTIL IT FALLS OUT OF THE CUPBOARD
>AND SPLATTERS ON THE FLOOR.... AND THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WE HAVE SENT
>INTO IRAQ TO SEARCH FOR HIDDEN WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION? THEY
>PROBABLY COULDN'T FIND THEM IF THEY WERE LYING IN THE MIDDLE OF A DUSTY
>STREET WITH A PICTURE OF SADDAM AIMING A RIFLE IN THE AIR TAPED ON THE
>SIDE.
>
>
>I KEEP WONDERING WHY GROUPS OF WOMEN WEREN'T SENT IN---PREFERABLY
>MOTHERS. AFTER ALL, MOTHERS KNOW THAT THEIR BOYS CAN'T FIND THEIR SOCKS
>OR UNDERWEAR WHEN THEY'RE NEATLY FOLDED IN THEIR
>DRESSER DRAWERS, SO HOW COULD THEY BE EXPECTED TO FIND HIDDEN BIOLOGICAL
>WEAPONS? ON THE OTHER
>HAND, MOTHERS CAN SNIFF OUT SECRETS QUICKER THAN A DRUG DOG CAN FIND A
>GRAM OF DOPE.
>
>
>WHAT WE NEED OVER THERE ARE WOMEN LIKE MY MOTHER. MY MOTHER COULD FIND
>THE OLD OLIVE BOTTLES
>FILLED WITH DIMES THAT DAD STASHED IN THE ATTIC BENEATH THE RAFTERS. SHE
>COULD SNIFF OUT A DIARY
>TWO ROOMS AND ONE FLOOR AWAY. SHE ALWAYS KNEW WHEN THE LID OF THE COOKIE
>JAR HAD BEEN DISTURBED, AND I SWEAR SHE MUST HAVE DUSTED FOR PRINTS ON
>THE ROLL OF SALAMI THAT WAS ALWAYS IN THE REFRIGERATOR. SHE KNEW IF A
>SLICE HAD BEEN REMOVED AND BY WHOM.
>
>
>I DEVELOPED HER ABILITY TO STALK OUT CRIMINAL ACTIVITY WHEN MY KIDS WERE
>AT HOME. THEY COULDN'T GET AWAY WITH MUCH THAT I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT. THEY
>STILL THINK THEY GOT AWAY WITH A LOT, BUT ACTUALLY I ALWAYS KNEW WHAT
>THEY WERE DOING, AND IF I DECIDED THAT WHAT THEY WERE DOING WAS NOT TOO
>IMPORTANT OR DANGEROUS, I ALLOWED THEM TO THINK THEY WERE GETTING AWAY
>WITH IT. IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR THEM TO THINK THEY HAVE AN UNCANNY ABILITY
>TO PULL THE WOOL OVER MOM'S EYES OCCASIONALLY.
>
>
>BUT MALE INSPECTORS? GOING AFTER SADDAM? NOW I KNOW THAT OUR COUNTRY HAS
>GONE MAD. THOSE INSPECTORS WILL RELY ON ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT TO SCOUT
>OUT HIDDEN THREATS. THEY WILL TRY TO USE
>SCIENCE TO FIND CHEMICALS. THESE MEN, DRESSED IN THEIR PRETENTIOUS
>JUMPSUITS, CARRYING THEIR BULGING BRIEFCASES, WILL BARGE INTO PALACES
>AND HOVELS, LOOK AROUND AND THEN OFFICIOUSLY ANNOUNCE, "ALL CLEAR".
>
>
>BUT IF MOTHERS WERE SENT IN THEY WOULDN'T NEED BODY SUITS, BRIEFCASES OR
>SCIENCE. MOTHERS WOULD GO IN, CHARGE UP TO SADDAM AND, WITH THEIR HANDS
>ON THEIR HIPS, DEMAND, "DO YOU HAVE ANY WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION?"
>
>
>AND THEY COULD TELL IN AN INSTANT WHETHER HE WAS LYING OR TELLING THE
>TRUTH. AND MOTHERS WOULD BE QUITE CAPABLE OF FINDING HIS CACHE NO MATTER
>HOW CLEVERLY HE THOUGHT IT WAS HIDDEN. GOD HELP HIM ONCE IT WAS FOUND;
>HE WOULD BE CHASTISED UNTIL HE BEGGED FOR MERCY. HE WOULDN'T BE GIVEN A
>"TIME-OUT"; HE WOULD GET AN OLD FASHIONED BUTT-KICKING BY WOMEN WHO ARE
>ADEPT AT BUTT- KICKING. AND BY
>THE TIME THESE WOMEN FINISHED WITH SADDAM, HE WOULD BE SITTING IN THE
>MIDDLE OF A DUSTY ROAD WITH A LIMP RIFLE AND A STUNNED LOOK ON HIS EVIL
>FACE.
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That's because they are over there, and can first hand what that animal is capable of, and what he has done, and they know that someone must stop him.
They believe in what they are doing, because it is a just cause, and there is no one else in the world who is capable of handling the task.
Boys, I SALUTE YOU ! ! GO GET 'EM ! ! OURAHHHH!!!!!!
Semper Fi, my friends. Via Condios!
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The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country.
He never really cared much for routine work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's; but he has never collected unemployment either.
He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away.
He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and 155mm Howitzers.
He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk.
He’s not the greatest as spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark.
He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.
He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional.
He can march until he is told to stop or stop until he is told to march.
He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity.
He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry.
He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle.
He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts.
If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food.
He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.
He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job.
He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay and still find ironic humor in it all. He has seen more suffering and death in his short lifetime then anyone should in a full one.
He has stood atop mountains of dead bodies, and helped to create them.
He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed.
He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away' those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful.
Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom.
Beardless or not, he is not a boy.
He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years.
He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding and a place to bury his fallen comrades.
Remember him, always, in your thoughts and well wishes for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood.
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If it had been me, I wouldnt have missed his head and chest and shot him in the leg, thats for sure.
He'd be a dead man.
Not liking the way the war is going is one thing. Being a concientious objector is one thing.
Fragging your own comrades is a death sentence.
They need to let his injured comrads mete out justice on this one.
Tie a phosphorous frag to his crotch with a 100 foot string, walk away and pull the pin.
###### traitor.
We have enough to worry about over there without worrying about our own.
You shouldnt have to worry about your own.
Had he done that to my comrades, he'd never see a courtroom.
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Here's an interesting tidbit about the economic impact of the war...
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I dont know. Is the cat thing a British thing? Come to think of it, you never see an eccentric American hero or villain stroking cats all the time> hmmmm.........LOL
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I hope your right, but lets face it, they arent the sharpest tool in the drawer, they've proved that very recently.
And we are just a tad tied up right now.
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Well, the only way to stop it, is to keep the refugees from going to Turkey. Whether we like it or not, Turkey has the right not to let them in, and we cant force them to let them in. The whole reason we are in Iraq is to stop that kind of treatment.
So, someone better turn the kurds around and head them somewhere else or get some troops up there to protect them, but i dont think we have enough for that since our coalition is a little short of what it was last time we were there.
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Yes, it is. Roger Moore is the head of that anti-terror group. Its also the only movie like this where I have seen the good guy carrying around puddy tats. Usually its the eccentric bad guy. In this one, it's the eccentric good guy.
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There are 2 older movies out that are very good. One is called "Ffolkes" with Roger Moore, and the other, which is about the SAS, is called "The Final Option", which is based on real events. Both made in the 80's.
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I know it isnt Christmas, and I hope you dont mind Traveler, but this is one of my favorites, for many, reasons.
This isn't a tribute to just the Marine Corps, but to all the Soldiers of the 40 countries who have joined with us for this.
This poem was written by a Marine stationed in Okinawa Japan.
>
> A little early for Christmas messages but this is very nice. I
> thought you might like to start the day on a nice note.
> > .
> > TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
> > IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.
> >
> > I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
> > AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.
> >
> > I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
> > NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE.
> >
> > NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
> > ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.
> >
> > WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
> > A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND.
> >
> > FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
> > I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER, ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.
> >
> > THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE,
> > CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.
> >
> > THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE, THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
> > NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.
> >
> > WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
> > CURLED UP ON A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED?
> >
> > I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
> > OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
> WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.
> >
> > SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
> > AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.
> >
> > THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
> > BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.
> >
> > I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
> > ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.
> >
> > THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
> > I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY.
> >
> > THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
> > "SANTA DON'T CRY, THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;
> >
> > I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
> > MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."
> >
> > THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
> > I COULDN'T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP.
> >
> > I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL
> > AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.
> >
> > I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
> > THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT.
> >
> > THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER, WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
> > WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA, IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."
> > ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
> > "MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."
This is from me.
Who knows? Maybe we will all get an early Christmas here in a couple months, and all our Fathers, brothers, friends, sisters, and wives will all return safely to us, and allow us to personally show our gratitude, for they have made the world a better place.
Just saying thank you doesnt seem like enough. But, what else is there that says it all? I'm no poet, so I'll say thank you, I wish I was back with all of you, and I'll never forget you or what you have done for all of us all over the world.
The world is truly a better place for having had all of you in it.
Semper Fi ! !
P.S. Sorry about the caps. I cut and pasted it becuase I'm a lousy typist, and an even worse typist when I haven't slept for 36 hours.. I'm really not screamin at all of ya. REALLY, I'M NOT ! !
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Now Turkey is totally denying that they have any Soldiers in Iraq, that they are camped 4 miles from the Northern Iraqi Border.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,81833,00.html
Also, Here is another Interesting tidbit.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,81845,00.html
It appears that 4 of our missiles missed their Iraqi Targets by 30-40 miles and landed in Iran. I wonder how that happened?
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Anyone notice also how quiet everything has been so far concerning Israel? Not like 91 where they were getting SCUD slammed the first day.
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,81868,00.html
It looks like I may not miss my guess that I made in some earlier posts...I had hoped I was wrong, and still do hope I'm wrong, but it doesnt look that way.
Have a look all. Lets see what comes of this.
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So far, havent we only sent in about 250,000 this time? In 91, it was over half a million.
What are they whining about? It's half the troops, plus France isnt there, and neither is Canada or Egypt or even Saudi Arabia this time either.
And I will be a good boy and refrain from my usual repatoire about those countries.
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Has anyone but me noticed that the anti-war protesters are causing more damage and causing more trouble than us so called 'War Mongers'?
They are a destructive bunch of buggers, aren't they? They are getting as much coverage in the media as the war, and appear to be doing as much damage to our cities as the bombing raids in Iraq. What a bunch of
I D I O T S ! !
So much for 'Give peace a Chance', eh, fellas?
ROFLMFAO
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Yeah......Imagine that.
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it just goes to show, that the countries not on board with this have their eyes closed and dont want to see the truth because its inconvenient. This Rabid animal has to be dealt with and dealt with now, once and for all.
Sadaam has not done one thing he was supposed to have done to meet conditions for the pull out in 91. Instead of destroying his weapons, he hid them.
What more proof does the UN, France and Canada need?
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I received this via email, and thought you all might like to read it.
It is a speech given by a british commander 20 miles North of the Iraqi Border.
The Brits, they have class.
This is a speech -
>
> Troops 'may not come home'
> (Filed: 20/03/2003)
>
>
> Sarah Oliver, in a pooled dispatch from Fort Blair Mayne on the Iraqi
> border, hears a British commander rally his men for the coming
>conflict.
>
> "A British commander last night warned his men that not all of them
> would come home alive. He instructed his soldiers to wrap their fallen
> comrades in a sleeping bag, fight on and grieve for them after the
> heat of the battle.
>
> Lt Col Tim Collins, who leads the battlegroup of the 1st Bn of the
> Royal Irish, told his troops: "It is my foremost intention to bring
> every single one of you out alive but there may be people among us who
> will not see the end of this campaign. We will put them in their
> sleeping bags and send them back. There will be no time for sorrow."
>
> In an emotionally charged rallying address that reduced many of
> Britain's toughest infantry troops to tears, the CO told his men he
> would tolerate neither cowardice nor a killing spree but that they
> should show no mercy to forces who remained loyal to Saddam Hussein.
>
> He also declared that any Iraqi troops who declared a truce in the
> face of the advancing Allies would be embraced by the coalition and
> permitted to fight for regime change in their own nation.
>
> He said: "The enemy should be in no doubt that we are his nemesis and
> that we are bringing about his rightful destruction. There are many
> regional commanders who have stains on their souls and they are
> stoking the fires of hell for Saddam. He and his forces will be
> destroyed by this coalition for what they have done. As they die they
> will know their deeds have brought them to this place. Show them no
> pity."
>
> Wearing his Kukri, the Gurkha blade he is entitled to carry as a
> Gurkha commander, he spoke to his 800 men, an arm of Britain's 16 Air
> Assault Brigade, at Fort Blair Mayne, their desert camp just 20 miles
> from the Iraqi border.
>
> He said: "We go to liberate not to conquer. We will not fly our flags
> in their country. We are entering Iraq to free a people and the only
> flag which will be flown in that ancient land is their own. Show
> respect for them.
>
> "There are some who are alive at this moment who will not be alive
> shortly. Those who do not wish to go on that journey, we will not
> send. As for the others I expect you to rock their world. Wipe them
> out if that is what they choose. But if you are ferocious in battle
>remember to be magnanimous in victory.
>
> "If someone surrenders, ensure that one day they go home to their
> family. The ones who wish to fight, well, we aim to please."
>
> As the men listened in silence, the dying minutes of a day-long dust
> storm giving added drama to his address, Lt Col Collins reminded them
> they were a band of brothers. He said: "If you harm the regiment or
> its history by over-enthusiasm in killing or in cowardice, know it is
> your family who will suffer. You will be shunned unless your conduct is
>of the highest, for your deeds will follow you
> down through history. We will bring shame on neither our uniform or our
>nation."
>
> And he warned them that they would certainly face Saddam's chemical
> and biological arsenal. He said: "It is not a question of if, it's a
> question of when. We know he has already devolved the decision to
> commanders, and that means he has taken the decision himself. If we
> survive the first strike we will survive the attack."
>
> Lt Col Collins made it clear that his men were to respect Iraqi
> culture and religion.
>
> He said: "Iraq is steeped in history. It is the site of the Garden of
> Eden, of the Great Flood and the birthplace of Abraham. Tread lightly
> there. You will see things that no man could pay to see and you will
> have to go a long way to find a more decent, generous and upright
> people than the Iraqis. You will be embarrassed by their hospitality
> even though they have nothing.
>
> "Don't treat them as refugees, for they are in their own country.
> Their children will be poor, in years to come they will know that the
> light of liberation in their lives was brought by you. If there are
> casualties of war then remember that when they woke up and got dressed
> in the morning they did not plan to die this day. Allow them dignity in
>death. Bury them properly and mark their graves."
>
> His closing words were resolute: "As for ourselves, let's bring
> everyone home and leave Iraq a better place for us having been there.
> Our business now is north."
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Its all tied together Budgie, but that's alright. Everytime I ask that question, and challenge all the nay sayers to come up with a better plan, no one can.
France, Canada, everyone agree there is a problem, and that it needs to be dealt with but dont want to help with the only solution. But thats alright. We are no strangers to going it alone. Neither is England.
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Fehyd,
You make some extremely good points, and you are absolutely right on all counts.
I just want to say to you, that my prayers are with you and your wife, and I dearly hope she returns to you safe and unharmed.
God Bless.
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Why We Must Fight — and Now!
Wednesday, March 19, 2003
By William J. Bennett
Three weekends ago, millions of demonstrators across the globe protested on behalf of "human rights." Their marches, slogans, placards and speeches did not declaim against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, did not cite the human rights reports detailing his tyranny and torture, did not take account the plaints of Iraqis fortunate enough to live in exile.
Rather, they protested the U.S. and the U.K. and their efforts to topple Saddam and liberate Iraq. Now, we are seeing more television advertisements along these lines, and even a "virtual march on Washington."
Just after the celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, it is appropriate to remember his lament: "The world has never had a good definition of the word ‘liberty.’" With Saddam flouting international law, and President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair attempting to enforce it, portrayals of Bush as Adolf Hitler — as we saw and heard in the "human rights" protests — betray an ignorance of liberty, an ignorance of right and wrong, an ignorance of commonsense. Because Bush and Blair are putting together a coalition of countries to oust Saddam, they are labeled the warmongers and tyrants. We live in a confusing time indeed.
Lincoln described liberty by a useful analogy: "The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as a liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty." Lincoln made it clear who the sheep was and who the wolf was. It is equally important to recognize who the liberator is.
Those who march against the U.S. and the U.K. today, those who condemn Bush and Blair and remain silent when it comes to Saddam, are in league with the wolf’s view that the shepherds are destroying liberty. The people of Iraq will soon know what Afghanis know. The true wolf was devouring Afghanis, the true shepherd saved them.
It is worth remembering what those in the former Soviet republics know and what the anti-American Western street has forgotten: It was, and is, U.S. and British resolve that truly liberates the oppressed and that defends the lives and liberties of the free against the appetites and ill-will of the world’s dictators.
In 1998 then-President Bill Clinton stated: "What if he [saddam] fails to comply [with disarmament] and we fail to act? He will conclude that the international community has lost its will. He will then go right on building up his arsenal. Someday, someway, I guarantee you, he'll use that arsenal." Last year, former Vice President Al Gore stated, "[W]e know that he [saddam] has stored away secret supplies of biological weapons and chemical weapons throughout his country."
It is not President Bush who woke up one day to discover that Saddam was making and harvesting weapons of mass destruction. Yet it is Bush who is blamed for doing something about it. Saddam may be mad, but he is not a scientist. He does not collect chemical and biological weapons for mere pleasure and intrigue. Just ask the survivors of Halabja. So when Saddam acts, it will be Bush and America who are blamed for inaction, for appeasement. We will be liable for such blame because we are the only ones who can do something about it.
We are not at war with Muslims or Arabs around the world; we are at war with some Muslim and Arab leaders who misinterpret their religion and put a primacy on war over peace and slavery over freedom. But among the leadership in the world’s moral democracies there is no misinterpretation, and nowhere is that more true than in the case of the U.S.
This is not a new role for us, but is a unique role we proudly inherit as the world’s liberator. As Wolf Blitzer pointed out: "Over the past two decades, almost every time U.S. military forces have been called into action to risk their lives and limbs, it's been on behalf of Muslims. ... [T]o assist the Afghan mujahadin … during the Soviet invasion in the 1980s, to liberate Kuwait following the Iraqi invasion of 1990, to help Somali Muslims suffering at the hands of a warlord in Mogadishu, to help Muslims first in Bosnia and then in Kosovo who faced a Serb onslaught, and more recently to liberate Afghanistan from its Taliban and Al Qaeda rulers."
Those who protest against the U.S. just now are legatees of those who protested against the U.S. in the 1980s, when we fought the focus of evil then, the Soviet Union. But ask a former Soviet, or East Berliner, if he is better off now than he was, say, 15 years ago. Ask a Nicaraguan. Ask a Bosnian Muslim. U.S. resolve can be thanked for all that, even as those who protested our defense and military postures marched in favor of appeasement.
Indeed, we live in a strange time when the anti-nuclear movement and its leaders of yesterday can today suggest a course of inaction such that Saddam will be able to join North Korea in becoming a nuclear power. The only logical conclusion one can reach is that for the protesters today, weapons in the hands of the U.S. are to be met with outrage while weapons in the hands of Saddam are to be met with silence.
We seek to liberate Iraq today, not only because for Saddam "[t]orture is not a method of last resort in Iraq, it is often the method of first resort," according to Kenneth Pollack, President Clinton’s director of Gulf Affairs at the NSC. We seek to liberate Iraq because after Sept. 11, 2001, we were put on notice. We were put on notice that civilized people can no longer live in a bubble and hope for the best. We were put on notice that there are fanatics and tyrants who want nothing from us but our death. And this notice requires action: the action of the brave, the action of the unthanked, the action of the free.
In Iraq as in other contemporary situations, the responsibility to act has been ours because the ability has been ours. The responsibility has been ours because oppressed people look to us for their deliverance. There is a duty in being the nation that Abraham Lincoln, speaking of our Declaration of Independence, called "a rebuke and a stumbling-block to the very harbingers of re-appearing tyranny and oppression." That is who we happen to be. And it is an honor.
William J. Bennett, chairman of Americans for Victory Over Terrorism, is a former secretary of Education and the author of Why We Fight: Moral Clarity and the War on Terrorism, re-released and updated in paperback (Regnery, 2003).
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Also, it could be because Sadaam is dressing his troops like ours and the woodland helps distinguish us from them.