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<DIV> Hmmm.... this debate kinda
caught me by surprise. But I have a few things I'd like to throw into the
mix.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> 1. People with a history of
being on the wrong end of oppression cannot be expected to behave rationally.
The Jews were on that wrong end for millennia, and only began escaping it in
the last half century. The Muslims have been there for over a century, first
at the hands of British/French/Dutch imperialism, and later at the hands of
blundering US Cold War "We'll support anyone, no matter how despotic, as long
as he's anti-communist" policy. Of course many of them have attitude problems
concerning "Western Civilization". What would you expect?</DIV>
<DIV> I believe it is made much
worse by two factors: First, the comparatively low literacy rate, which means
many people have to be told what the Qu'ran says, instead of being able to
read it for themselves and make their own decisions. This concentrates power
in the hands of a comparative few Muslim clerics, so of course the extremists
have a power out of proportion to their numbers. </DIV>
<DIV> Second, both Jews and Muslims
the world over have a tendency to think of themselves as exiled or
transplanted Israelis or Arabs. While that may be a *little bit* of an
exaggeration, it is true that both groups have religious pressure to stick
their noses into the problems of complete strangers half a world away. Because
of that, we have fundraising organizations to funnel money to the Middle East
(both sides), political pressure groups, lobbyists, and terrorist sleeper
cells.</DIV>
<DIV> If enough of the American
people insist on making the problems of the Middle East their
business, the President really doesn't have the option of simply ignoring it,
especially when the backlash costs lives. He's stuck in the middle, without
any truly *good* choices, trying to muddle through as best he can.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> 2. Islam, as a religion,
espouses peace. So does Christianity, but that doesn't stop those who bomb
abortion clinics, nor those who kill others because "God told them to." I
guess the bottom line for me is that it is never safe to judge ANY group
by the actions of those few members who end up on the front page.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> 3. Do I *like* Bush's
decisions? Well... for a lot of them, no. Not really. But when I look at the
alternatives, I don't gripe. It's better than being at the mercy of those who
did nothing for over a decade (and thought nothing should be done this
time either), who put Saddam Hussein's Iraqi government in charge of
the Committee on Human Rights and Muammar Ghadafi's Libyan government in
charge of the Committee on Terrorism. That's who Bush's detractors seem to
think we should listen to, the good old UN.</DIV>
<DIV> The same UN that wanted to
block action this time because it threatened France, Russia and Germany's
sweetheart deals for Iraqi oil. Remember the phrase "No blood for oil"? Seems
like the UN doesn't mind, as long as it's OUR blood for THEIR oil. The same UN
that has *for decades* steadfastly ignored the pleas of many, many groups all
over the world petitioning for political autonomy and self-government, and has
paid attention and given credence to only ONE of those groups: The PLO. Which
just happens to be the only one of those groups that has conducted terrorist
attacks against one of the UN's member nations. Can you say, "Sending a
message"?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> 4. No one in their right mind
wants a war, LEAST of all a front line military man. Being shot at is pretty
rough. I know from experience. But it's nowhere near as hard as trying to
stand at perfect attention, completely expressionless, while your best friend
goes by in a box with a flag draped over it. Again, I know from
experience.</DIV>
<DIV> Do those men and women *want*
to be there? Of course not, they are basically sane people. And yet, they are
all volunteers, they all chose willingly to answer that call. So why did they
go? Simple. The same reason a man will risk being run over, rushing out into a
busy street to save a stranger's child who wandered into the roadway. Just
because they don't want to be shot at, don't want to see their friends die,
doesn't mean they don't think what they are doing is worth the price. But just
because it's worth it doesn't make it easy, nor does it make them immune to
depression when they see a planeload of caskets leaving the airstrip week
after week.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> 5. Given #4 above, knowing
that for every person that blesses their presence there is another who curses
it, for every person who would bring them food and flowers, and introduce
their children, their is another who would capture them, torture them and
behead them if they got the chance.... given that, what keeps them going?
Pride. Pride in knowing that, maybe they aren't perfect, but they are the best
there is by a good long way. There is no such thing as a war in which only the
bad guys die, with no casualties on your side, no innocent civilians caught in
the meat grinder. And yet, every line trooper I've ever known has had inside
him an attitude I thought was best expressed by Robert Heinlein in the book
'Starship Troopers' (very little relation to the movie):</DIV>
<DIV> "We are the guys who make war
as personal as a punch in the nose. We've never been told to go into a certain
area and capture or kill all left handed redheads, while leaving everyone else
alone. But if we ever are told to do so, we can. We will."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
In Joyful Service,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
Iain
MacCrimmon</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Banish to silence the four letter words, whose
meaning is never unsure.<BR>The Angles and Saxons, those hardy old souls, were
vulgar, obscene and impure.<BR>But cherish forever the weaseling phrase that
never quite says what you mean.<BR>You'd rather be known for your hypocrite ways
than as vulgar, impure and obscene.<BR></BODY></HTML>