There are a lot of Americans who want to take the easy way out of Iraq. Maybe they are lazy. Or it’s possible they are scared. Maybe they truly think we’re just here for the oil. Some of them blindly hate the President and would campaign against him even if he suddenly did a 360 degree spin and ordered all American troops home immediately.
You can find these folks ranting regularly at places like the Daily Kos or Huffington Post.
What none of these people ever seem to address is the root of the problem that modern America faces in the Middle East and worldwide – the threat from Islamic fundamentalists who want to kill us (including Ariana Huffington), destroy our way of life (regardless of whether your are liberal or conservative) and establish an Islamic Caliphate that covers the face of the globe. I can’t find any evidence of a progressive author with anything approaching common sense when it comes to addressing the reality of what Islamic fundmentalists want to achieve. Let me lay that out again for those of you who have let your minds get muddled by the cacophony of confusion being spewed by all the talking heads:
” . . . For the American forces to expect anything from me personally reflects a very narrow perception. Thousands of millions of Muslims are angry. The Americans should expect reactions from the Muslim world that are proportionate to the injustice they inflict.” Osama bin Laden to Time Magazine Dec 1998
Obviously, thousands of millions of angry Muslims is an optimistic number on the part of bin Laden. It’s probably only in the tens of millions. Nevertheless, if my neighbor announces that he intends to kill me because of some sort of “injustice” that I have perpetrated on him, then certainly, it makes sense to consider taking action to ensure he doesn’t succeed. Many self-labeled Progressives want you to wait until the knife is already in your chest before you defend yourself. I’m unwilling to wait. September 11, 2001 was quite enough of a wake up call. A few million angry Muslims who want to kill all Americans, Europeans, Jews and anyone else who disagrees with them on any point seems more realistic. But Islam is just being used as an excuse to justify evil when it comes to these people. Every religion has been perverted by men throughout history to justify unacceptable and unforgivable behavior.
If you don’t believe there is a threat from our current batch of fundamentalist Muslims worldwide, just criticize them instead of President Bush and watch how fast you find your life in danger or snuffed out. Wikipedia has chronicled just a few of the more famous fatwas issued against those who have “offended” Islamic fascists by daring to question their worldview. If you are Muslim, and you have never issued or supported a fatwa that supports killing those who do not practice or mock Islam, then good for you. I’m not worried about you fine people and might actually enjoy your company. I’m worried about the guys who think like Theo Van Gogh’s murderer.
Back to the crux of the matter – what are we doing in Iraq? Well the answer is simple, we’re trying to spread something most Iraqis had never even contemplated as a possible reality – the ability to choose. Instead of being forced by those around you to be whatever it is they want you to be, we’re trying to build an Iraq that allows its citizens to choose for themselves who or what they want to become in life (and perhaps in death).
None of us is perfect, and none of us has all the answers to life’s problems. What we say is important. What we do is even more important. You can ignore the problem. You can criticize what other people are trying to do to fix the problem without offering your own alternative and hopefully better solutions. You can misintrepret the problem. In doing any of these things, you are part of the problem.
You cannot force freedom on people who do not want it. But Iraqis want freedom. They want television, Internet, electricity and running water. They want choices in supermarkets, reading material, leaders, cars, spouses, hairstyles, business opportunities and health care. They want to be able to travel. They want to be able to go out at night. They want to live in secure communities. They want the things most Americans have most of the time.
Now ask yourself who is keeping them from having those things. It certainly isn’t George W. Bush, the man so virulently hated by self-righteous armchair quarterbacks everywhere. No, George W. Bush would be very pleased if Iraqis had all the things I just mentioned above. Would Ariana Huffington? Would Ted Kennedy? Would Osama bin Laden? Would Musab al-Zarqawi? Would Moqtada al-Sadr? These people all share something in common – they want us to fail in Iraq. They need us to fail in Iraq.
If we do fail in Iraq, it will be because of all of them; unconsciously or purposefully working together to ensure that Iraqis never have the things we all take for granted so much of the time. Iraq is in the center of a worldwide maelstrom whose outcome will determine whether we allow violent fundamentalism to breed and reproduce because that is easier in the short term, or whether we’re willing to buckle down now and ensure that future generations won’t have to live under tyrants. I think the latter benefits all those of us willing to stand up to those who want to make our choices for us, no matter who they are or what sort of justification they use for their demands.
This philosophy applies just as much to present day Americans as it does to present day Iraqis. Who are you allowing proxy rights to make your choices for you?