False Compassion

Submitted by Robert D. Klimek (United States), Apr 15, 2006 at 12:13

Unbiased,

Holding a passionate opinion about something is not the same as knowing the truth. It is clear that you are biased against the United States, since you seize on every error, incident, or misstep as an excuse to self-righteously vilify my country. And you instantly take as truth every rumor, slander, or lie you hear that reinforces your prejudice. I object to your carelessly throwing around words like empire, dictator, torture camps, etc. Yes, I am from the United States. I will assume you are European, though I cannot know that for certain from your commentary.

It is hard to take your sudden compassion for the 50,000 dead (your number) Iraqis seriously. I take it you believe that they would be better off being fed, alive, 70 per day, by Saddam into the wood chipping machines for his personal amusement. That behavior was okay by you, apparently, since the nasty United States was not involved. And it was no sweat off your nose, since Saddam was not disturbing your European slumber.

There were dozens of reasons--any one of which carried unambiguous legal force--to remove Saddam from power. Among these were treaty violations and the flaunting of 16 resolutions of the United Nations. That the United States, for reasons of multi-lateral comity, used the ONE JUSTIFICATION THAT ALL NATIONS INVOLVED AGREED UPON, the WMD issue, as the lead public selling point for military action does not invalidate the decision to invade. The President, whom you unjustifiably vilify as a lying dictator, had to spell out all the reasons and legal justifications in formal legislation which was duly passed by the Senate of the United States. The military action was subsequently fully funded, and continues to be funded, by both houses of Congress.

On humanitarian grounds alone, Europe should have been standing shoulder to shoulder with the United States to confront Saddam at every step. European troops should have been the first into the battle to remove that beastly person from power. Indeed, Europe should have had the largest military force there, since Iraq is in their "back yard," within range of Saddam's missiles.

The insurgency we are seeing in Iraq is not a reaction to the invasion. It is a reaction of the international religious cult called Islam to the threat of democracy, which, by countless Muslims' own declarations, is Islam's mortal enemy. Islam is submission to their Allah, not freedom under secular democratic government. So, I happen to agree with you that democracy is likely to fail in Iraq, or anywhere else that Islam dominates. And from your commentary, it appears that you will be shouting with glee when the Iraqi political collapse occurs, because the United States will then be humiliated. Sorry, I do not see any compassion for Iraqis, or for anyone else, motivating such an attitude.

If the Europeans, who love to bash the United States for being unsophisticated and culturally insensitive, really believe that democracy must fail in Iraq, then they should be prepared for the end of democracy in Europe itself. In recent decades, the Europeans have accepted tens of millions of Muslim immigrants into their midst, with no plan or visible program for assimilating them into democratic ways.

It seems, from your own assertions, you believe that the Iraqi project proves that Muslims cannot be so tamed. Indeed, your comments illustrate to me that Europeans generally (and many Americans seem hold the same view) don't even believe assimilation is a worthy undertaking! The Muslims see this cowering European attitude as proof that Islam is winning their classic domination game, and these Muslims are emboldened to push harder: in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Asia, in Europe, and even in the United States. In my view, it is a moribund and soulless Europe--through their collective pusillanimous behavior toward an obvious threat to the world, and through their failure to respect their own civilizational norms--who provide abundant emotional support (and hence, fuel) for insurgencies in Iraq and elsewhere around the globe.

In my view, the "anarchy, death, and disruption" you attribute to the United States' intervention in Iraq are actually the fruits of unrestrained Islam, which is flexing its muscles once again. The Islamic propensity for relentless mayhem against the "other" is copiously documented with blood curdling consistency across 1400 years of violent Mohammedan history. So this nasty state of affairs in Iraq should not be a surprise to anyone. The question "really" is (to use your construct), do we accede to this barbarity as an acceptable societal norm, or stand up to it? We in the West, all of us, stubbornly ignore Islamic fascist tendencies, wishing instead for some other, more pleasant, reality. But we do this wishful daydreaming at our own peril.

Therefore I say, wake up Europeans! The Islamic "anarchy, death, and disruption" is on its way to a street near you. When you look at Iraq today, you are looking at the future of Europe. And I will be weeping, not cheering at the sad fate of my European friends.

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