Blogging for Freedom

We pray for all souls who suffered on that terrible day five years ago.  We still remember.  We still have not caught the man who did it. The War on Terrorism has taken a new direction. Not a good direction.  Too many people are still dying to avenge that day, but now the violence has spread to innocents.  It is the children - all the children - that we must remember.  Those who lost moms and dads and sisters and brothers and who will never be the same because of it.  The children in Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and everywhere else war and turmoil exist, are our responsibility, too. They are as much future citizens of the planet as American children are.

September 11 was terrifying, horrifying, unspeakable. We were all Americans, united in sorrow. Now, five years on, politicians are using that national tragedy to gain votes.  Republicans say Democrats are "cut & runners", appeasers, lazy, unpatriotic, enemy sympathizers because we are opposed to the Iraq war in particular and war in general.  Call us "peaceniks" or liberal bleeding hearts, whatever. I still believe that Christ is the Prince of Peace and a step toward peace and justice and plenty for everyone is to talk to each other, remembering that we are more alike than we are different. We have more in common than we realize. We all love our country, don't we? Even more, we need to love the world and the planet.  Sappy thinking?  Maybe, but what else do we have?

Gaza has become a closed refugee camp and it appears Palestinians are suffering a collective punishment. Their electrical plant was bombed in June by IDF so they have no water and sewage treatment. Israeli bulldozers have flattened a significant amount of agricultural land.

35,000 fishermen cannot fish because Israeli gunboats will fire on them if they wander too far from shore. (** dc note: Wasn't Christ the "Fisher of men"? The Christ's symbol is the fish. Isn't this rather ironic?)

They are under siege. Read the entire article "Palestinians forced to scavenge for food on rubbish dumps" by Patrick Cockburn for a very disturbing look at what's really fueling terrorism in the Middle East. If we really want to defeat terrorism we shouldn't be spending billions of $ destroying their homeland. 

As we head into the 5th anniversary of September 11, we must remember our troops and their families are sacrificing all. 

My message to you, Cheney, Gonzalez, Rumsfeld, the CIA, the FBI, the DEA, DHS, and all the rest of you Neo-Constitutionalists.

I believe it is our obligation as American citizens and taxpayers to inform ourselves about national and local candidates and how they view the issues.  It's not enough anymore to vote the party line or go all apathetic and not bother to vote at all. As we saw in the last two presidential elections the number of votes do matter.

We all have a choice come this November. We can continue to helplessly live in fear of terrorism or we can actually do something constructive about it.  The war in Iraq has definitely diverted resources from the hunt for Bin Laden, indeed the Taliban are making a comeback in Afghanistan.

How many more patriotic Americans have to die or suffer debilitating wounds for life before we take back our government?

In his weekly radio address President Bush said, "We're approaching the fifth anniversary of the September the 11th attacks -- and since that day, we have taken the fight to the enemy. Yet this war is more than a military conflict; it is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century. ... The path to victory will be uphill and uneven, and it will require more patience and sacrifice from our Nation. Yet we can be confident of the outcome, because America will not waver -- and because the direction of history leads toward freedom."

Probably the most important thing we can do between now and November is register to vote and make sure everyone you know is also registered.  The war in Iraq, health care, the economy, energy, immigration, border security, protecting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are just some of the looming issues that face us all.  It doesn't matter if we're Democrats, Republicans, Greens, Libertarians - liberals, conservatives or somewhare in the middle.  We're all American, and what's more, we're all citizens of the world.  What happens in other countries does affect us - and rightly so if we consider ourselves all one people.  When children starve to death in Darfur we better damn well pay attention.  When our brothers and sisters are sent to war - over and over again - we need to ask why. 

GW, Cheney and Rumsfeld have been on a political blitz this past week, repeating the same line, "Iraq is the central baltleground of the war on terrorism. If we lose the war in Iraq we lose the war on terrorism". Rumsfeld smugly exclaimed that those who opposed the Iraq war were like Nazi appeasers in the 1930's.  All three claim that the United States is in a batle for its national soul.  We are at war, we are in danger, etc., etc.  I find it amazingly hypocritical for these three stooges to defend their actions and the way they have conducted the war - in Iraq and "on terrorism".  

I've been reading Cobra II by Michael R. Gordon and General Bernard E. Trainor which chronicles the inside story of the invasion and occupation of Iraq.  Anyone who wants to know the truth about the invasion should read this book.  What is truly amazing is the depth of the incompetence of the war planning and the intelligence the invasion was based on.  Thank the Good Lord there were no WMDs in Iraq because if there had been we'd all be contaminated by now.  Not because Saddam would have used them but because our forces would have stumbled upon them, or lost them in the chaos or didn't have the manpower to secure sensitive sites from looting. 

If GW Bush and Company are running the country the way they're running the war we are in deep trouble. These people really have no concept that what they're doing is leading us into our own destruction.  

I'm beginning to understand how much Evangelical Christian doctrine influences the world views of Bush, Cheney and the foreign and domestic policies of the neo-Constitutionalists.

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Bush got a bump in the polls today because of the UK airline bombing plot and (finally) the unanimous UN Security Council vote on a cease-fire in the Israeli-Hezbollah war.  Read that again.  According to Newsweek, 55% of respondents said they approved of the way Bush handles terrorism and national security.  Only 34% or so approved of his general job performance, but for the majority of Americans to STILL believe that Bush's policies (or lack thereof) are tough on terrorism and good for our national interests and safety, they must be out of their freaking minds. I'm convinced it's because they have absolutely no idea what's factually going on in the world, in our government, and what these people are really doing to our beloved country.  Without making sweeping criticisms, it's obvious millions of Americans do not have the historical perspective or even the geographical knowledge to understand anything beyond sound bites and propaganda. Same goes for our newscasters, governmental agents and my brother.  We are in big trouble.

"Congress appears ready to slash funding for the research and treatment of brain injuries caused by bomb blasts, an injury that military scientists describe as a signature wound of the Iraq war.

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