The people Iraq today are outside, standing free in their own country. Their dictator is defeated, thier children free from tyranny for tomorrow. They set out to destroy the images that remind them of Saddam Hussein.
As the Iraqi people rejoice, I wonder if they will cherish a freedom that was handed to them. A freedom that foreigners shed their blood for. A freedom that their own people opposed. How precious is freedom when it is handed to you freely? No toil or sacrifice to make freedom more precious. Will the blood of Americans we spilt on foreign soil be as precious to them as it is to us. Will they remember the names and sing songs of the saviors who lost their lives in freeing them? Is it possible for us to instill in them this preciousness?
We at home mourn the loss of every life lost. Some of us wonder if this conflict was necessary, if truly righteous. Most celebrate our show of might, the strength of our steel and conviction. I can only hope that our quick success in Iraq doesn’t make us thirsty for more foreign blood.
UPDATE: Damn, we even took down the statue for them. We even managed to insult the Arab world by putting the US flag over the face of Saddam. That Marine was quickly reminded ours was a liberation force, not an invasion force and a pre-Gulf War flag was put up in its place.
UPDATE 2: Hume An drops some knowledge in the comments section. Take a peek, then you’ll know why Hah-vad wants him. Here’s his website. Be sure to read his thoughts page, it’s well written.
April 9th, 2003 at 11:23 pm
I’m glad to conflict was relatively quick and bloodless–although I should add that the death of one innocent is one too many.
I’m not sure if we’ve ushered in freedom. I’m a bit skeptical of whether the Bush administration is all that interested in investing a lot into rebuilding Iraq–I sure hope so, but some of the people in his cabinet (Wolfowitz and Rumsfield) are of the “bomb and abandon” school.
I hope Bush works collaboratively with the U.N. I know the Security Council pissed him off, but now is a good time to mend some fences, and improve world public opinion of the U.S.
I’m really scared about the economic picture. The Republicans are trying to push through these massive (and unsupportable) tax and budget cuts, and they denounce anyone who opposes such cuts as unpatriotic, even treacherous. It angers me that the Republicans are so cravenly and unfairly shrouding their ill-conceived initiatives in the flag. When Sen. Kerry called for a regime change in the U.S. several Republican leaders wanted his head on a platter–it’s absurd and angering: dissent is American; demagoguery is despotic.
I hope a miracle happens in the next elections, and there’s a regime change in the U.S.; the world would be a better place . . . and this coming from a former Bush supporter.
May 3rd, 2003 at 1:17 am
Here’s the thing.
There weren’t that many people who were watching that statue w tumble.
And they for the most part were imported as part of Chalabi’s team of propaganda rabble rousers.
Score 1 for the US Propaganda machine!