Tuesday, October 05, 2004

 

Bombing the Living Daylights


Media Matters (2)

This post is an attempt by a "primitive" person from a "pre-historic" country to understand 25 years of international politics regarding Iraq.

I intended to dedicate it to Bill O'Reilly of Fox news who is so mad at the ungrateful Iraqis that he wants to "bomb the living daylights out of them". However, a comment poster tells me that the man is insane. So, instead, I am dedicating it to his sane employer, Fox News.

Players:
Saddam: Bad - An evil tyrant who oppressed his own people.
Khomeini: Bad - A clergyman who wanted religion to reign over state.
Kuwaiti regime: Bad - Undemocratic lot who do not give women equal rights.
Osama Bin Laden: Bad - An international terrorist and mass murderer.
American administrations: Good - Democratically elected governments!
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Saddam went to war against Khomeini.
Kuwaitis helped Saddam.
America helped Saddam.
It was a long, ugly war that lasted 8 years.
For 8 years, Iran bombed the living daylights out of Iraqis.

During and after the war some Iraqis gave Saddam trouble.
Saddam avenged himself and bombed the living daylights out of Iraqis.

Saddam turned against Kuwait.
Saddam invaded Kuwait.
America helped Kuwait.
America attacked Saddam.
To liberate Kuwait, America bombed the living daylights out of Iraqis.

Iraqis revolted against Saddam.
America gave Saddam permission to fly planes.
America gave Saddam license to bomb the living daylights out of Iraqis.

America helped Osama fight the Soviets.
Osama beat the Soviets.
Osama turned against America.
Osama attacked America.
America declared war on terrorism.
America turned against Saddam.
To depose Saddam, America bombed the living daylights out of Iraqis.

America occupied Iraq.
Terrorists poured into Iraq.
They hid in towns amid the population.
America had to fight them.
It was a war on terror. America bombed the living daylights out of Iraqis.
Osama attacked America in Iraq.
He has no planes but still he bombed the living daylights out of Iraqis.

With Iraqis now free, they needed democracy.
Democracy meant elections.
US elections are coming up too.
But there was too much violence.
The administrations had to do something.
To prepare for elections, they are bombing the living daylights out of Iraqis.
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Players - current status:
Saddam is alive in a prison cell, writing poetry and tending some trees.
Khomeini died of old age peacefully in bed. His theocracy in Iran is flourishing.
Kuwaiti regime is back in power, undemocratic as ever.
Osama is alive and free, living the life of his choosing.
America: Lost 8000 dead and injured and some 130 billion dollars in tax money.
Iraqis: Lost millions of dead and injured; their country in chaos and in ruins.

But the fools are ungrateful for all their freedom and democracy.
They are ungrateful for all the good things America did for them.




Comments:

Abu,

I just ran across your blog from another. I am intrigued by your thoughts. You do not seem to be quite as vitriolic as some such as folks on the Abbas Khadim site, nor as willingly accepting of the "occupation" of other sites.

I guess I really have nothing worthwhile to add other than I am sorry for the suffering of the Iraqi people and I hope that in the future you may have peace, prosperity, and stability. As an American I am currently soo confused by all of the reporting coming from Iraq. It is soooo hard to differentiate the truth from the propoganda. I was, and still am, a supporter of the war and though I don't implicity trust the current administration I absolutely do NOT trust Kerry to do the right things either so I am at a stalemate and don't know how to help the situation so I am forced to be an idle spectator..

Anyway, keep up the good work, good luck, and stay safe.

BTW, that was an extremely ignorant statement made by Bill O'Reilly but don't judge him on one statement, he can be a fair guy. Hell, I even have days like that, I am sorry to admit..
 
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Just a few comments.

First, I don't think you can divide those people into purely "good" and "bad" categories. There are shades of grey between them.

I would list them rather more like this....

Osama bin Laden: Pure evil - nihilistic madman
Saddam Hussein: Only slightly less evil - sadistic madman
Khomeni: Fairly evil - theocratic totalitarian
Kuwaiti Regime: Somewhat evil - undemocratic social conservatives.
American Administrations: Somewhat good - usually trying to do the right thing, but are only human.

Second, there are degrees of helping and not helping as well.

Saddam went to war Against Khomeni.
USSR sold him tanks and aircraft.
France sold him weapons.
America gave him agricultural loans.

America gave Saddam license to fly helicopters.
American didn't realize that he was going to use the helicopters to bomb the living daylights out of Iraqis.
America instituted two no-fly zones to prevent him from doing so.
 
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It's all true; including the 2 comments preceding this one. I have sincere compassion for the Iraqis and we need to get it right this time. Iraqis need to control their own destiny. Most Americans and democratic countries defend this right for Iraqis. American troops will stay the course and in the future we hope too consider Iraq an American friend and democratic ally. I remain positive.
 
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America never wanted to "bomb the living daylights" out of innocent Afghannis or Iraqis. If Saddam's armed men had fought the US forces away from cities and civilian areas, then there would have been far fewer innocents killed. Instead, the enemy despicably attacks US forces in densely populated urban areas, using innocents as human shields.

There really is nothing wrong with Iraq that cannot be fixed by exchanging Iraq's population with normal decent people. For example, if you swapped the population of Canada and Iraq, my guess is that Iraq would suddenly become a peaceful country. In other words, the problem is Iraqis and only Iraqis. You cannot and will not blame you deficiencies on Americans. Just think about it--if Iraq was populated by 25 million Canadians, do you really think you'd have these problems? Get a grip. Iraq's problems are caused by its people. Without changing or killing its people, you have no hope. With luck, we're killing the right people in sufficient quantities to give Iraq a new start.
 
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Hello Abu Khaleel,
So O'Reilly 'understood' the basic lesson-- "bomb the living daylights out of them[Iraqi people]".
I am so sick of such rightist shits using 'their' mouth-freedom to put the curse of war on
innocent people. Like Bush, they imagine war will cleanse Iraq and consume the Islamists. How poorly they understand war! They never met a[precision] war they didn't like! Let them admit that war is a political crime [come to think of it, it was for Saddam(Kuwait,Iran)], including the collateral damage. Now that there are officially no justifications (no Al-Qaeda Saddam links , no WMD) let's ponder what that means. We've ended up killing 20000 Iraqis, for what? When Bush is gone, they[neo-cons] will go back to hiding under rocks. And the world will move forward.
 
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There is no logic on this blog. Every post shows an ever increasing degree of absurd associations and accusations.

I suppose all of this 'history' is Bush's fault too eh?

You just hate America and want to blame it for everything. You live in your little world listening to every conspiracy theory presented to you. You wouldn't know truth if it hit you over the head.

I can only guess what you'd do if you had all the bombs!

Pete
 
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Instead of thinking of dedicating your words to Bill O'Reilly, you should write him at: billoreily@foxnews.com

Let him hear the voice of the Iraq people!!
 
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Gentelmen (For some that term is used loosly!) We must look at where these people have been and what they have had to endure all these years.Or as my people use to say, "Don't judga a man till you have walked a day in his shoes!" It will take time to win their trust,and we will never have the chance if they keep getting insulted by the people who could help them the most!
To the authors of this blog: I salute you! Continue to exercise your right to speak your mind. It makes no difference if every one agrees with you or not!
 
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Dear sir,

It is very true that here in the US it is difficult to find news reported from another viewpoint. In some places it is possible to see the BBC news on television, and some places are close enough to Canada to see the Canadian nightly news, but for the most part, Americans see American news. And most of us don't think to look for anyone else's viewpoint, and even if we do, if it isn't written in English chances are we won't understand it, because here everybody learns English. I know that Al-Jazeera often tells a very different story and that other news sources probably would too. But it's hard to find information from other sources here. My husband spent over a year in Iraq and Kuwait attempting to "win the hearts and minds" and he made some Arab friends. Their opinions of the situation are valuable to us. I wish you well and hope that the Iraqi people will soon be able to build an independent country. What some people seem to have a hard time understanding is that all governments need not be "democracies" to be "good" or right for their people. Good luck, and keep writing. Your voice is heard and appreciated.
 
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Thank you for writing your true feelings on Bill O'Reilly. Most Americans pretty much view him as a jerk. And if you were able to watch the protest marches in New York City during the Republican National Convention you will have noticed the protestors yelled "Fox News Sucks" as they walked by the cameras. 500,000 Americans marched in objection to George W. Bush, his administration and his foreign polices. We Americans understand your pain. We are doing our best in this democracy to vote Bush out of office and with God's help we will.

As a single American I can only offer my condolences and prayers for a brighter future in Iraq. Stay safe and God's speed be with you.

best wishes marie
 
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I fear we bomb because we are good at -- it in the sense that we are hellishly good at making bombs and exploding them on top of other people. "If you only have a hammer every problem looks like a nail."

Bill O'Rielly and Fox News are shills for Bush. They are not a news organization. Sadly only 15% of Americans even have a passport and fewer still have traveled much beyond European capitals. As a people, we have little first hand experience of other people and other cultures. Fox News just feeds on that, too many simply believe what they are told.

Some of us want to change the current adminstration.

Andy
USA
 
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we give these terrorists the incorrect name!they should be called(white liverd)COWARDS because they hide behind women and children and do not care about killing innocence lives.
 
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I was glad to see the world Islam leaders get together in Dakar, Senegal for a Muslim religious meeting.
But what fail to impress me was the lead focus of the meeting…cartoons aimed at the Islam religion.
I thought that they would address the horrendous murders and atrocities their own precious religion is committing around the world, and mostly at their own kind. I thought they would get together to ‘Condemn’ the suicide bombers commanders using mentally handicapped people, children, women, and so forth. And the places that are being targeted, shopping centers restaurants, churches, and schools, where ‘innocent’ children, women and men are been slaughtered by the numbers. If Mohammad truly taught the love for people, peace, and humanity, these atrocities should have been the main focus of the meeting.
In my book, ‘not condemning’ is ‘condoning’.
My God gave me the sense of humor when I was born. If He is going to strike me down for referring to Jesus as the late JC in a humorous conversation, I would have died thirty years ago.
Bill, perhaps you can masticate this subject a little before spitting it out.
M. Longoria
 
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