THE US, THE UN AND THE IRAQIS THEMSELVES, V. 7.0

Cyclop, please re-read the history behind the first invasion and then the second/current invasion. Expansionist? Please name one country in the last 100 years that the U.S. has invaded and appropriated as U.S. territory. Name one country in peacetime that has told us to get out that we didn't pack up and leave.

Did you miss the part where we asked the Iraqi government if they wished us to go or stay? And those in charge were unanimous in wanting us to stay?

Are you aware that it only those Iraqis with little or no contact with Americans and who get all their information from Al Jazeer or European press who are resentful of us?

Do you understand that those who have received direct U.S. aid and/or are working side by side with us to make a free and democratic Iraq are appreciative of our effort? Don't you think most of the negativity is from negative propaganda with no basis in fact?

Did you listen at all to the Iraqi president when he spoke to the UN this past week?

Did you read any of those links I gave you regarding how the Iraqi people feel and what they think about all this?

...Whereas in Iraq, WE are seen as the aggressive parties. We were not provoked into attacking. WE are the expansionist nation in the eyes of the people.

Removing Saddam was also necessary to stop him from sheltering al Qaeda

Stopping Iraq from sheltering al Qaeda was an act of self-defense.

Your use of the term 'culture of life' to describe us and 'culture of death' to describe Iraq shows your inability to have a non-biased discussion about our actions there.

Your cultural bigotry robs validity from your arguments.

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Quote:

Removing Saddam was also necessary to stop him from sheltering al Qaeda

This is an opinion, that I have told you many times, unsupported by facts; there is no conclusive evidence that Saddam was doing what you said, no matter how much you'd like to believe it.

I have to keep working for a living in the real world here, Cyclop, but if you'll just read how the current interim president came to power in Iraq, you'll find that he was NOT the U.S. choice for that position. Appointed by the U.S.? No. Has he turned out to be a better choice than our pick? Probably. He seems to be up for the job.

The stuff you keep saying is from the Democrat playbook designed to undermine a sitting president who actually wants us and the Iraqis to win as that will be good for the U.S., good for the Middle East, good for the Iraqis, and a severe blow against terrorism. The stuff you are saying is partial truth that creates a wrong conclusion, half truths designed to subterfuge any positive accomplishments, and flat out lies designed to bring down George Bush.

I don't presume to know what the Iraqi people think, believe, or want. I look to see what THEY say they think, believe, or want.

Now I've given you the links you refuse to look at.

Until you read them and declare them all lies or accept that there may be some merit to my point of view, we don't really have anything else to talk about here. It's non productive for each of us to keep stating the same position.

even the other conservatives don't agree with you...

2. Do Aussies get to vote in that election?

1. Does anyone have a real shot at defeating Tony Blair?

Two quick questions.

1. Does anyone have a real shot at defeating Tony Blair?

2. Do Aussies get to vote in that election?

1. Dunno - but he is pretty unpopular right now - and there is mounting pressure - including from within his own party - to get Britain out of Iraq.

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Tuesday, September 28, 2004
In The Service Of The Queen
Here is an e-mail I recieved from my B.C.:

CBFTW,
Yours is a voice that many have heard. We have not simply heard what you have said; we have, and continue to, listen to what you are saying. Far too often we simply carry on an inner dialogue when someone else speaks tore hearse what we will say when they finish. This war on terrorism will be with us for some time, so I offer an open letter to the generation I will pass this burden on to.

I believe that we are making progress in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Despite the ravings of pundits and uninformed ambulance chasers, this fight doesn't' hinge on oil or payback. It isn't about religion or race. And it damn sure is not about any innate desire to rule the world. These people will succeed or fail on their own merits. The task is daunting. You can release a person from bondage. You can remove a tyrant from power. You can create the conditions for liberty. But, you cannot simply grant or proclaim freedom. Freedom without honest action is a whisper in a storm just as change withoutvision and purpose is the illusion of progress. For ages these people wereliterally beaten to the point of submission by oppression, censure, murder,torture, and rape - regardless of age or gender. I have asked myself whythey let it happen. The only answer I can fathom is that evil flourished because good people refused to pay the price required to oppose it. Sure, it's easy now to pontificate and blame the poor and down trodden for theircollective indifference, but forgive my sarcasm - I think we owe them morethan a couple of days to realize that their hopes and dreams have a chanceto grow and one day flourish. No amount of rhetoric and no pressing agendawill change the fact that time is required to help heal these people andthat ancient grievances require redress. Make no mistake: I'm no crusader -I do what I do because I am a professional soldier. For me it's been simple:protect the innocent, punish the deserving, accomplish my mission and bringmy men home, period. As Sting said "Poets, Priests, and Politicians havewords to thank for their positions." For a soldier it is black and white:deeds not words. If you need words to better illustrate, the Latin mottos oftwo Infantry Regiments I have served in will suffice: "Sua Sponte" and "NeDesit Virtus": Of their own accord and Let Valor not fail. Or in true cowboy fashion: Saddle your own horse, cull your own herd, and bury yourown dead.

The threat we face is like nothing we've seen before. I've been in the streets with this enemy, fought him face to face, and have been lucky enough to kill him and come out alive. I have seen what he is capable of doing and the zeal with which he will do it. This threat won't fit neatly into "the box" or be governed by any paradigm. It is a cancer within our collectivebody as the human race. We are all threatened by this evil, and evil it is. This enemy has twisted and distorted things both sacred and profane to guideas well as justify its means and its stated end. Nothing is beyond the realm of the possible when it comes to the depths to which it will sink, the horror it is willing to commit, or the suffering it is willing to inflict. This enemy has no concept of mercy nor does it recognize combatants. Innocence is not a factor. You need only look at the headlines of the day to confirm that children, teachers, and doctors are murdered everyday by these villains. What makes them evil? I submit that it is not the act that earns them the epithet of evil - it is the intent to commit and the pride theydraw from the act. These animals revel in the post act announcements that they are responsible. They feel vindicated by the proclamations that they perpetrated these horrors in the name of God and that having committed the seacts some how elevates them. Make no mistake, this enemy is formidable but by no means invincible. To defeat this cancer requires the one thing thatcivilized people all over the world possess in absolute abundance - The will. The will to be free can only be surrendered by the person that has it - it cannot be murdered, raped, tortured, or stolen. It's not about being a martyr or a saint, it's about being a decent human being. And, the unvarnished truth is that the killing and the horror will continue until those with the will to endure prevail.

I am a simple soldier, proud to serve, but my days in the service of the Queen are drawing to a close. Soon all of the cold war junkies will also begone and you my friends and your band of X generation anti-heroes will have the reigns. Like it or not, you are now the fulcrum upon which the balance beam rests. I will tell you that the outlook is damn good. I am absolutely humbled every day to have the rare privilege to march among the young menand women who chose to give soldiering a try. None finer have ever serve dunder the colors.

Beware the onslaught of false prophets who preach the one size fits allsolution. Look beneath the facade of their self proclaimed patriotism, peelback the shield of their dogma, and you are likely to find a charlatanmalcontent who was passed over for some accolade he feels he richly deservedor a flim-flam artist who knows a chance to make a buck when he sees it.They don't have the will to endure. The will to be free comes at a heavy price. For some it is more than they can bear. Divorce, estrangement, financial burdens, health problems, depression, and even suicide are very real costs. Sacrifice is rarely recognized for what it truly is because theprice of recognition is guilt. Parades, giving medals, issuing promotions,and rousing speeches are simply the thin veneer that masks the desperateneed of those who are kept free by our endeavors for absolution from thisguilt. Adam Duritz wrote in the song Mrs. Potter's Lullaby that "the priceof a memory is the memory of the sorrow it brings."

I submit that it is our love of freedom, the embrace of our wives or sweethearts, the love of our children or family, and the earned respect ofour brothers in arms that cast the walls that make the will to endure afortress that can never be taken. I will be proud to stand the watch untilmy time is at an end, but soon you will mount the ramparts and stand thewatch alone.In closing, I leave you with the words of Marcus Aurelius "Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what's left and live it properly. What doesn't transmit light creates its own darkness."

Respectfully,
"Knute Lombatton"

posted by CBFTW at 7:37 PM 106 comments


SOURCE

What it is............

Quote:

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Tuesday, September 28, 2004
In The Service Of The Queen
Here is an e-mail I recieved from my B.C.:

CBFTW,