I listened to Bush’s speech commemorating Independence Day. He compared the struggle for our nation’s independence to the War in Iraq by saying that Americans should be firm in their commitment to spreading freedom. After the speech, which I watched on MSNBC, the newscaster (Amy Robach) said that more than 1000 persons attended the president's speech in West Va. She added that most persons attending the event were patriotic, but that 100 or more persons carried anti-Bush policy signs. The labeling of the anti-Bush protesters as unpatriotic is a bit ironic given that NBC, which is owned by General Electric, stands to profit from Bush's pro-war policies.
Even though Bush was wrong in going to war with Iraq (no WMD or Iraq link to 9-11), if the war and the magical plan for democracy had progressed as fantasized, Bush wouldn’t be in trouble. But that isn’t the case. There is no apparent end in sight for the war, and people continue to die unnecessarily on both sides. Douglas MacGregor, a retired Army colonel, said “If you go to war, it’s important that you Kill the right people.” Not following this common sense rule has unfortunate consequences. Just this past week, 17 civilians, including women, children and elderly persons were killed by mistake by the US in Afghanistan. In another incident this past week, the UN Ambassador to Iraq said that the US killed his 21-year-old cousin.
In a statement released Friday, Ambassador Samir S.M. Sumaidaie said his cousin Mohammed Al-Sumaidaie had been killed when U.S. Marines and Iraqi army units were conducting joint raids in the town of Haditha.
According to a witness account compiled by the ambassador, 10 Marines searching for weapons knocked on the door of Mohammed's father's house at 10 a. m. Mohammed, described as a "relatively shy" engineering student, "greeted them pleasantly" and led them to his father's bedroom, where the family stored an old rifle filled with blanks, according to the account.
His relatives say they do not know exactly what happened next, but they say several family members, including Mohammad's mother, were gathered in the hallway and heard a thud in the bedroom. Meanwhile, according to Sumaidaie's account, one Marine dragged Mohammed's younger brother, Ali, through the house by his hair and beat him.
The family was asked to wait on the porch while the Marines continued searching the house for another hour, the account said. When they finished, an interpreter for the Marines asked Mohammed's mother in Arabic whether it was her son in the bedroom. The account said he told her, "They killed him!"
"In the bedroom, Mohammed was found dead and laying in a clotted pool of his blood," according to the account.
These tragic deaths are certainly not what comes to mind when I hear someone talk about freedom. In addition to the waste of life and treasure that these deaths cause, they also increase hostility toward the occupying US forces. The tribal peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan hold grudges and will seek revenge killings. If Bush wants to label these people “terrorists,” as he has done in the past, he should understand that his policies are increasing rather than decreasing the number of enemies of the US.
It’s no surprise given that the US entered Iraq unjustifiably and that the war isn’t going well that recruiting goals for the volunteer army are not being met this year. Poor persons, who make up the majority of the volunteer army, would rather work at Walmart than be killed or maimed in a senseless war. But don’t worry, Operation Yellow Elephant, begun by Jesus's General, will help the president’s cause by imploring college republicans to enlist. Regular readers know that the General is a proud heterosexual, Christian conservative. He is not trying to embarrass the College Republicans. Rather, he believes that by encouraging them to enlist, he is pushing them to be more vocal about the good work their doing to make our homeland safe--things like holding affirmative action bake sales, promoting operation Yellow Car Magnet, holding immigrant hunts, almost single-handedly funding Ann Coulter, David Horowitz, and Michelle Malkin, relieving the elderly of the burden of having money, and punching out Joan Jett.
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