An apology from an American (Congress, Iraq, Taliban, weapons)
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As a veteran and citizen of the USA, on this day of rememberance, I'd like make the following apologies:
To our cousins in Europe: I'm sorry we had a presidential administration that felt it necessary to antagonize, offend, and alienate you, our best friends and most reliable allies. My apologies also to the other nations that offered us compassion and assistance after 9/11, I wish we had been less arrogant towards you.
To the people of Afganistan: I'm sorry our troops were distracted from the job of exterminating the ignorant, flea-bitten savages that have been terrorizing you for the last few decades. If not for Iraq, we would have sent them all to hell within the first year or two. I hope we can see this through in a way that actually does some good for you.
To the people of Iraq: I'm sorry we broke your country, hopefully we'll be able to help you fix it. Maybe, just maybe, you'll end up with something better than the various dictatorships your neighbors are suffering under. I really hope so, because you deserve better than what we've thus far given you.
To our troops in Afganistan: I'm sorry we didn't insist that our government stay focused on the job at hand, and do everything possible to help you execute the mission of wiping out those Taliban vermin once and for all.
To our troops in Iraq: I'm sorry we let them get you into this mess. Hopefully we can get you back home as quickly as possible.
To fundamentalist Muslims and Christians: I'm sorry you're so utterly stupid and unable to think for yourselves, but would you please shut up already so the rest of us can concentrate on maybe making this a halfway decent world to live in?
To common-sensical people everywhere: I'm sorry you've had to witness the various attention whores that are making a mockery of this day by committing hateful, childish gestures like burning Qurons or American flags. As usual, we're surrounded by morons.
Finally, to the victims of 9/11: I'm sorry you died because we as a species still haven't figured out how to live in peace. I love each and every one of you, and I'll never forget you.
PEACE
Feel free to comment, of course.
PS: I volunteer to help my fellow vets whenever I can, and I hope you will, too. When you have time, please contact your local VA facility to find out how you can help the young men and women coming home from Iraq and Afganistan, the elderly veterans in nursing homes, or any vets that are unfortunate enough to be in a homelss shelter or psychiatric facility.
They served us with honor and gave the best of themselves, let's do the same for them.
Last edited by elcoyoteloco; 09-11-2010 at 09:50 PM..
As a veteran and citizen of the USA, on this day of rememberance, I'd like make the following apologies:
To our cousins in Europe: I'm sorry we had a presidential administration that felt it necessary to antagonize, offend, and alienate you, our best friends and most reliable allies. My apologies also to the other nations that offered us compassion and assistance after 9/11, I wish we had been less arrogant towards you.
To the people of Afganistan: I'm sorry our troops were distracted from the job of exterminating the ignorant, flea-bitten savages that have been terrorizing you for the last few decades. If not for Iraq, we would have sent them all to hell within the first year or two. I hope we can see this through in a way that actually does some good for you.
To the people of Iraq: I'm sorry we broke your country, hopefully we'll be able to help you fix it. Maybe, just maybe, you'll end up with something better than the various dictatorships your neighbors are suffering under. I really hope so, because you deserve better than what we've thus far given you.
To our troops in Afganistan: I'm sorry we didn't insist that our government stay focused on the job at hand, and do everything possible to help you execute the mission of wiping out those Taliban vermin once and for all.
To our troops in Iraq: I'm sorry we let them get you into this mess. Hopefully we can get you back home as quickly as possible.
To fundamentalist Muslims and Christians: I'm sorry you're so utterly stupid and unable to think for yourselves, but would you please shut up already so the rest of us can concentrate on maybe making this a halfway decent world to live in?
To common-sensical people everywhere: I'm sorry you've had to witness the various attention whores that are making a mockery of this day by committing hateful, childish gestures like burning Qurons or American flags. As usual, we're surrounded by morons.
Finally, to the victims of 9/11: I'm sorry you died because we as a species still haven't figured out how to live in peace. I love each and every one of you, and I'll never forget you.
PEACE
Feel free to comment, of course.
PS: I volunteer to help my fellow vets whenever I can, and I hope you will, too. When you have time, please contact your local VA facility to find out how you can help the young men and women coming home from Iraq and Afganistan, the elderly veterans in nursing homes, or any vets that are unfortunate enough to be in a homelss shelter or psychiatric facility.
They served us with honor and gave the best of themselves, let's do the same for them.
As a fellow vet, please don't assume you speak for anywhere near a majority of fellow vets. Apologizing for offending weak and obsequious allies does nothing, as Obammy is finding out. What you define as arrogance, a great many others would define as doing what needs to be done, and taking the fight to the fanatics who would love to kill millions of innocents.
I love you how lump in fundamentalist Christians with fundamentalist Muslims, as if those that believe in a strict bible interpretation are on par with mass murderers and vermin who strap bombs to teenagers.
As to Iraq, Bush signed a withdrawal agreement in 2007 that was sped up by Obammy by 6 months. Not much of a mess there in military terms, and I think very few Iraqis want Sadam back. No apology needed, except to those who may take what you are saying as meaning their efforts were worthless.
For your efforts at helping fellow vets, I applaud you. For the rest of your musings, they play well to the numerous lefties on CD, but are completely useless in real life.
I liked some of it, but the part about Iraq and Europe did rub me the wrong way a fair amount.
We don't need to apologize to Europe for not voting the way Europeans think we should. I hated that whole "We're sorry" campaign after Bush was re-elected and I didn't even vote for him in 2004. We're our own country, we had a fair election that time, and the person you preferred happened to lose. (I wrote in an American Indian Republican that election) There was nothing to apologize to Europe or anyone about. Internationally sophisticated people aren't always going to win here and anti-Americans are sometimes going to win in your lands. That's life.
And if we "broke Iraq" what we broke was a tyrannical nation that was suffering under a sanctions regime that existed in large part because their idiotic regime wouldn't do what was needed to stop it. I actually think the Iraq war was maybe a mistake, but the tone at first bothered me. Toward the end of that section it might be more mixed.
It isn't our place to step in and "fix" what we feel is broken. There is no constitutional justification for preemptive war (Iraq). I disagree that "there was nothing to apologize to Europe or anyone about". Our Congress gave the president a blank check to declare war on Iraq with very little evidence or proof. Our allies and friends abroad asked us to wait. The European media was accurately reporting that there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. By this point, we're all privy to the facts. We have killed Saddam and "liberated" the country. Why do more or less 50,000 troops remain in Iraq? That's not a withdrawl; that's an occupation.
There is no moral justification for the killing of innocent men and women. Hiding behind "Iraqis don't want Saddam back" is a weak argument and trivializes the personal, financial, and emotional losses of the Iraqis. We are not making ourselves safer by waging wars in Muslim countries or by occupying them. We are uniting Muslims against us.
My father, a Vietnam vet, said from the beginning that Iraq was another Vietnam. I didn't know what to make of it 7 years ago. I thought that I didn't have enough information to decide. Now I know. My dad was right - the war is about power and greed, not altruism and hope.
I appreciate your sentiments, elcoyoteloco.
Aside:
Before the chest thumping conservatives start hollering that I'm another liberal, I'll state straight up that I am a libertarian/constitutionalist or a constitutionalist/libertarian. I'm not pleased with either political party in this country.
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