The War
I promised myself to keep my big mouth shut, but as the days pass by and more and more people protest the war I just have to say something. And this little soap box of mine is as good a forum as any.
First of all, I think I'm in agreement with the people who hate war. I do too. I think it is an absolutely last resort. However, I differ with many folks in my subsequent views which are : War is sometimes necessary. If the US had helped the occupied European nations during WW2 just a few months sooner, many thousands would have survived. On the other hand, if the US had not helped those countries at all, I'd venture to say we would all be speaking German now. (I'm only half kidding with this)
I think that most of the protesters are responding to the call of their hearts, which is "war is wrong". That's a very human reaction. But ask anyone who has grown up in a totalitarian system and they will tell you that sometimes you have to fight evil in the only way that works - with force.
Anyways, I wish I could show the anti-war protesters what it was like to grow up in a totalitarian system, being groomed from the age of 7 to fight American Imperialism. Being indoctrinated on a daily basis. Having pre-military education at the age of 16 which included the firing of automatic rifles. I wish I could show these well meaning folks how much organized violence existed in my birth country. How an entire population of 17 million people was held hostage in a system run by few thousand and presided upon by a core of less than 100 people. Whenever I see a demonstration I can't help but to think that these folks are analogous to the three little pigs demonstrating in favor of the wolf.
While I understand that it is human nature to abhor war, I can't help but say that the folks who are protesting In the US should thank their lucky stars they live in a country were are not hung in the center of its capital city for having dissenting views (as happend in Iraq). By the way, some of the very same people who are demonstrating against this war in other countries are doing so on the basis of a dislike of the US. Thats why I want my comments to be taken within the context of US citizens protesting their government.
And before these good people pick up the anti war sign I wish they would think long and hard about the potential that a dictator like Saddam has to hurt each of us. And while I do have some twinges of concern about the concept of "Regime Change" as it is played out in this war, I have no doubt whatsoever that even if the inspectors had found something and even if the UN had gotten its act together, Saddam wasn't going to leave peacefully. It would have still required force, and who knows, with all the "under the table" commerce going on between Iraq and other countries, he could very well have had something more serious to threaten all of us. I know this is going to sound silly but whenever I see the dudes picture I think of Michael Bien in Terminator " It can't feel, it can't be reasoned with and it absolutely will not stop until its mission is completed" . Yeah, its dumb, but tell me that you don't think there is a bit of truth in the analogy.
And wether its a coalition of 2 or one of 200, I join many Iraqi expatriats as well as people in other former totalitarian regimes in supporting the troops over there. I hope its over quickly with minimum losses on either side but with Saddam out of the picture.
(Of course whoever comes after him might just be as bad, but thats another story for another day.)
1:43:02 PM 
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