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Nov 2, 2003 It’s time for a quick refresher today, class. By that I mean to all of you in the media and in the political spotlight that have this obsession of trying to compare the war in Iraq to Vietnam. First off, before I start on this weeks’ rant, I want to remind the rest of the class that WE WON THE WAR IN IRAQ ALREADY. Just in case all you have been watching is CNN (if that IS the case then I will excuse you of not actually knowing that we won) we won. Big time. Really. Sadly though, there are those out there that still try to fight the same fight of futility that Baghdad Bob tried. By outright lying. My misdirection. By misquoting. What first comes to mind are the accusations that those who donated to president Bush’s political campaign have the biased lead in any business dealings that are ongoing in Iraq. Duh. The people who donated to the presidents’ campaign are business owners and corporate leaders of multinational corporations. (They are not soccer moms or burned out hippies or tofu eating vegans.) Of course they are going to be going there because they are the best suited to do the job that needs done. They (the business leaders and owners) have the capital that is going to be required to be spent there to rebuild a nation devastated by corruption and greed. They have the manpower required to professionally staff the positions that need to be filled. With that behind them, they probably could (and did) under-bid any other business that also proposed to do the same work. It is laughable that they were awarded the contracts simply because they donated to the Republican Party. What good would Green peace or the ABA or the Labor Unions do over there if a democrat had won? How could those special interest groups, that the democrats love to pander to so much, have helped the people in Iraq? Would Gray Davis be handing out drivers’ licenses to the Iraqi people? How about Ebonics classes in Iraqi schools? Or would Ted Kennedy propose taxing the snot out of them? Maybe Hillary Clinton could have done something about the hemlines in women’s fashion over there but that would be about it. To use the same logic as the New York Times did to even make an accusation of malfeasance would be like stating, “All cats die. All people die. Therefore people are cats.” (Kudos’ to my old philosophy instructor in college, see, I was paying attention) Some other, more basic comparisons should also be made to clear up any thought that this is like Vietnam. In 1941, a sneak attack occurred on December seventh by the Japanese on the Naval Station at Pearl Harbor. In 2001, a sneak attack occurred on September eleventh by terrorists on the World Trade Towers in New York. Soon afterwards we also declared war on Germany because of the impending threat to Americans and American interests. Soon afterwards we also declared war on Iraq because of the impending threat to Americans and American interests. After several years and countless lives lost we won the war on both fronts. After several months and countless lives lost we won the war on both fronts. After several years and billions of dollars later, both Japan and Germany have become democratic nations and have become our allies. You can guess what I am going to write next, unfortunately I can’t because IT IS STILL THE SAME YEAR AS THE WAR! I guess in this age of microwave dinners and sound bites, some people expect their country’s’ wars to be as quickly resolved as pregnancy issues on TV sitcoms. Building nations out of the debris of terror and corruption takes time. Of course there are going to be groups of people that don’t want change. That still wants the status quo of terror and anarchy. Just look at Germany and see that even though Hitler was defeated nearly six decades ago, we still have idiots that spout Nazi trash. What’s going on over there will have positive repercussions throughout that region of the world for years, even decades. It will influence decisions made in all the countries that have interests over there. But in order to do that, and do it right, we need patience and the right people over there with vision who can see this through. About the author: Mike Russell is a writer who actually paid attention most of the time in history class. ------------ About the author: Mike Russell is a Ninja/fighter pilot/ astronaut with x-ray vision who likes to make up stuff about the author when his wife isn’t looking. Email Michael F Russell: mikerussellus@yahoo.com Comment on this column in the forum. Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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