Re: Do Not Hate

Submitted by Jeanne (United States), Apr 10, 2006 at 13:23

And how many Muslims do you know, personally, who want to kill you? How do you know which ones they are? My point is, in a war, you can't really know who's against you and who's not...and you can't distinguish between the guilty and the innocent. You kill indiscriminately, until more innocent people are dead...and then, surprise, more people want to kill you...more people hate you.

Maybe Julie was naive...but that doesn't change the fact that this conflict in Iraq is more of a hindrance to us than a help. The situation on the ground for our soldiers is difficult and the enemies are hidden. These Iraqi gorilla fighters were never the terrorists who flew airplanes into the World Trade Center on 9/11...those men were largely Saudi Arabian and and Afghani, not Iraqi. So, it made perfect sense that we went into Iraq, yeah? If anything, we should have invaded Saudi Arabia...but that would have been harder, and oh yeah, the House of Saud are good friends with our President. So, it would be very difficult diplomatically for us to take that route, wouldn't it? But it would have been better than taking the easy route in Iraq...which has turned out not to be so easy after all.

So, how is it wrong for me to criticize this war, given what we all know about how we got into it and how we might not get out. Everything President Bush has said as reasoning for invading Iraq has since been proven false. No weapons of mass destruction and papers proving the President had wanted to invade earlier than 9/11. How does this war help us Americans in any way? Our soldiers are protecting us and dying over there, for what? It just gets to the point where being critical of this war seems more and more sensible and better for America.

So, is it accurate to say that those who criticize this war hate America? No...if anything, we love America just as much as you. We want it to flourish and we want the world to love it too. Too bad this war has tarnished that. In the end, we can blame others for hating us...but maybe we'll only reach progress when we stop and review our own missdeeds as well. Something has to change and it doesn't have to be huge...we just have to confront our actions as well as the actions of others. That just seems practical. Besides, just because you love a place, doesn't mean it has to be perfect. You can love it in all its flawed glory, and attempt to fix the flaws just as lovingly. One thing does not inherently supercede the other.

Right?

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