Blogging for Freedom

Sunday, August 13, 2006 - on this day, Israel and Lebanon are still trying to destroy each other.  Iraq is in a civil war with civilian deaths in the thousands.  The Taliban have made a resurgence in Afghanistan and the fighting is escalating.  Protests against American-Israeli offensives were held in cities and towns all over the world yesterday. Tens of thousands circled the White House to let the Administration know that war-mongering will only increase terrorism against us.

We are almost three and half years into the Iraq War and we are losing. Even stalwart supporters of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld have come to the conclusion that we are not winning. Our military is stretched thin, necessary material and equipment is underfunded, medical care for our war wounded is being reduced, billions and billions of our tax dollars have been spent, a significant amount of that wasted or lost or misplaced.  Our national defcit is outrageous, our debt may very well bankrupt our children and their children and their children.  The environment is degrading, natural disasters due to global warming are looming and we're running out of energy sources. The poor are getting poorer. The middle-class is getting poorer.  Poverty, homelessness and hunger are rising, as are bankruptcies and suicides.

We are almost five years beyond September 11.  This past week, big story about another airline terrorist plot foiled by UK intelligence.  US politicians and talking heads on Fox News are saying this proves we need a president "tough on terrorists" like Bush.  They say something like "See, we are still at risk from an attack so we need to do more of the same of what we've been doing."

Like bombing and invading a country that didn't attack us instead of concentrating on capturing the one person who did attack us.... Osama bin Laden.  Or Osama bin Forgotten as he's now called.  Don't know the date or context of this Bush quote but he actually said sometime last year when asked about bin Laden, "I don't know where he is.  I don't really think that much about him."  This after his famous stand in the Twin Tower ruins when he promised to "get the people who did this to us." 

Five years later and he hasn't got him "dead or alive".  Bin Laden and Al Qauda are still plotting attacks against the United States.  Iraq has become a training ground for insurgency and rebellion and terrorism.  Instead of reducing the threat and making us safer, and the world a more peaceful place, Bush and his Neo-Constitutionalists have created enemies everywhere they go. 

Bush himself said a few days ago that this latest plot shows "there are still people in this world who want to hurt us because of what we believe."  Bull shit!  They don't hate us because of what we believe - they hate us because of what we do.  Our behavior, our actions, our eagerness to use military might and intimidation, our arrogance that we know what's best for other countries and other cultures.  Torture, rendition, detention without charges, spying on Americans, and on and on and on.

We cannot make peace by waging war.  We cannot "love our neighbors as ourselves" if we threaten them with death and destruction.  I know for a fact that if a foreign military was occupying our country we would be up in arms fighting them. How much you wanna bet we'd be using terrorist tactics, too, but we'd be called Freedom Fighters, Patriots, American Heros.  Why is it so hard for us to understand that they are defending their homeland from a foreign occupation.

3600 homes were searched in Baghdad this past week in the latest campaign by US troops and Iraqi police to stop the violence.  Can you imagine the fear and horror these Iraqi women and children and old people felt having their homes entered in the night by men with guns?  How would you feel having strange men in full-military gear go through you private belongings in your own home?  (Of course, a lot of Americans have experienced this exact thing in the War on Drugs....)  Why is it so hard to understand that if we treat people like shit they get angry and resentful and, yes, they will vow revenge. It may take decades until the bad blood is completely spilled.   Instead of getting better, with more world unity and understanding, it is getting exponentially worse, with more and more people hating us every day.

Have we become a war-loving nation?  Is that how we solve problems in the rest of the world?  Or, is it because we can, because we think we are so strong and righteous we can now do anything we want.  Pat Robertson visited Israel recently and he claimed that "God is fighting for Israel. God will defend Israel from evil."  More bullshit!  We scorn fanatical Muslims for their belief that Allah is on their side but we believe the same thing.  Has anyone in our government even looked at a map?  Syria is surrounded by US to the East (in Iraq) and Israel to the West.  Iran sits between Afghanistan and Iraq. Ya think they might feel threatened?  We certainly would if we had Iraqi troops occupying Canada and Mexico, and they were publicly threatening to invade our own country. 

It's all about understanding, tolerance, respect, acceptance and the Golden Rule.  War and difficult times are no excuse for encouraging the worst in us. These are times when we must be who we really are.