Sam sent my post, Iraq by The Numbers, to some friends. One of his friends
sent it to a friend currently serving in Iraq. That friend emailed a friend
back who emailed Sam back who then emailed me back:
Who cares? You can support any argument if you pick and choose what numbers
you use. The person who sent this has an OBVIOUS agenda, and it has nothing
to do with Iraq.Notice the numbers not present:
People murdered in Chicago in 2003? ( 599. )
UN Resolutions requiring the government of Iraq to DETAIL the exact status
of their weapons programs AFTER it became clear that Iraq had used those weapons
on its own people and invaded another country?Times Iraq threw weapons inspectors out?
Government sanctioned MURDERS, TORTURES, and RAPES prevented by the United
State’s toppling of a tyrant?Years that people have been living in the “Cradle of Civilization”
without a constitutional democracy? (Over 5,000.)Countries who helped the United States oust a murderous thug and attempt to
build a representative democracy in Iraq? ( 49 – of course France, Germany,
and Russia weren’t there, but then again neither were North Korea, Syria, or
Iran.)Countries who came to our aid after September, 11th? ( ZERO )
Times John Kerry, Teddy Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, and their ilk DECIDED to under-fund
and over-task the people (like the CIA and the military) charged with defending
and protecting the people of this country?US presidents who formally identified “regime change in Iraq” as
US policy?Times BILL CLINTON was told “We have Bin Laden in our sights” and
did not act decisively? ( 3 )USS COLE victims’ funerals BILL CLINTON attended? (I know this one – it was
ZERO. But it’s ok, he wouldn’t have been welcome.)How about the number of Soldiers Bush RISKED HIS LIFE to serve Thanksgiving
Dinner? Or the number of Members of the Military who understand that President
Bush landed on the USS LINCOLN to THANK THEM for their service, and who still
FEEL HONORED that he would do so. (Count me in this.)Or the number of ASSHOLES like the one who sent you this email who GIVE A SHIT
about any of the US Soldiers Killed in Iraq for any reason other than to try
to undermine the first President with the BALLS to do something to instill and
preserve NATIONAL SECURITY since Ronald Reagan? (I know this one too. I’ve seen
plenty of people like him over the last 20 years. And they’d all just as soon
spit on me as thank me for my service.)Imagine the gull of the person who drafted the original email you forwarded
me. That person IS ACTUALLY DOING that which is claimed of President Bush –
he is USING the Iraq war further his own private and selfish agenda. And is
doing so at the expense of all of those injured or killed – and all of those
who serve their country voluntarily and ask very little in return. To that person,
I am a caricature – a little bit like Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good Men”
ranting that, “I’d rather you just said THANK YOU and went on your way.”
That person has NO CONCEPT of what the Soldiers in Iraq are doing, or why they
are doing it. To that person, words like HONOR, COURAGE, and COMMITMENT; FIDELITY
and INTEGRITY; LOYALTY, DUTY and SELFLESS-SERVICE; — words like RESPECT —
are words of contempt that can only be uttered in disbelief and with an eye-rolling,
cynical smirk: those words have little or no real meaning. The truth is that
even a “THANK YOU” from that person would ring hollow, because those
words have that same value to him.The truth is that we who dedicate our lives to the service of our country do
so because those words DO have meaning. The truth is that the soldiers in Iraq
do what they do because it must be done. And the truth is that those soldiers
CAN HANDLE it, even if the anonymous author of your email can’t.That person actually BELIEVES that “Bush started this war to get re-elected!”
Think about that for a second … does it make ANY sense? George Bush made the
most controversial decision of his presidency for political reasons?George Bush NEVER said “Mission Accomplished.” Everyone in the military
knows it. The SAILORS on the USS LINCOLN said it because – at the end of their
historic, longest-ever deployment of an Aircraft Carrier during a time of War
– their mission WAS accomplished. With Pride.And I have one other number for you: 292,861,000. That is the number of Citizens
of the United States NOT killed by terrorists – or anybody else – since the
war began.Think about it.
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