The setup: On an alumni website, a former classmate shared one of those uplifting messages occasionally printed by the foreign press about America and Americans. Gee, somebody out there gets it! Reproduced herein, my rambling reply: a call to arms....
Thanks for sharing this, Randi. What is so obvious as to be evident to those half a world away is often missed by those closer to home. Every time I hear some undereducated blivet-skull yammer on about how "the Gulf War was just about oil" or how we should "control Israel and keep them from killing those poor Arabs," I just want to weep with frustration. We didn't fly airliners loaded with defenseless passengers into buildings filled with innocent civilians, and we didn't start this little fight, but we should by God finish it. As for those ever-so-charming Palestinians in Gaza currently being punished for their role in launching weapons of mass destruction against innocent Israeli civilians, has everybody else forgotten how they danced in the streets on September 11th, while 4,000 of our friends and neighbors lay dying in the rubble of those destroyed buildings? For that, dear friends, they deserve anything the Israelis want to do to them. Forget holding hands and singing "Kumbayah," kiddies. This is to the death, something we seem to have missed, what with living here in peace and freedom, but a simple fact any Israeli can tell you with the simple conviction of truth. It's time to do what the ancient Roman legions used to -- fill in the wells, plow the soil with salt, and tell them, "We didn't do this, YOU did." Vegetus said it best: "Se vis pacem, para bellum" (If you wish for peace, prepare for war). This isn't about religion (Muslims, Jews, and Christians all worship the same God, only the prophets vary), this is about culture. Civilization first blossomed in the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers over 5,000 years ago, but theirs really hasn't progressed since then. They don't understand peace and love, they understand only war and destruction. Let us give them what they seek. Have we forgotten that one of these charming countries is attempting to develop nuclear weapons, or that they freely pass missiles purchased from China to their proxies in southern Lebanon? Imagine what they would do with nuclear weapons. And have we all forgotten that one of their allies is working on ballistic missiles that can strike America's west coast? The possible uses of a combination of these technologies is left as an exercise for the student. Conservative pundits have already pronounced that we are in the beginning stages of World War III. It's time to decide which side you're on. Better make up your mind soon, as history tends to overtake those not actively creating it. Who knows, perhaps a "nuclear winter" will offset "global warming" (both are as ridiculous a fantasy as the folk taxonomy of "race," but I digress). It's time to decide whether we live on our feet or die on our knees. One hint: I'm an American, and I don't bend my knee to anybody. Neither should you.
(The preceding was not only tasteless, it was downright rude)
Thanks for sharing this, Randi. What is so obvious as to be evident to those half a world away is often missed by those closer to home. Every time I hear some undereducated blivet-skull yammer on about how "the Gulf War was just about oil" or how we should "control Israel and keep them from killing those poor Arabs," I just want to weep with frustration. We didn't fly airliners loaded with defenseless passengers into buildings filled with innocent civilians, and we didn't start this little fight, but we should by God finish it. As for those ever-so-charming Palestinians in Gaza currently being punished for their role in launching weapons of mass destruction against innocent Israeli civilians, has everybody else forgotten how they danced in the streets on September 11th, while 4,000 of our friends and neighbors lay dying in the rubble of those destroyed buildings? For that, dear friends, they deserve anything the Israelis want to do to them. Forget holding hands and singing "Kumbayah," kiddies. This is to the death, something we seem to have missed, what with living here in peace and freedom, but a simple fact any Israeli can tell you with the simple conviction of truth. It's time to do what the ancient Roman legions used to -- fill in the wells, plow the soil with salt, and tell them, "We didn't do this, YOU did." Vegetus said it best: "Se vis pacem, para bellum" (If you wish for peace, prepare for war). This isn't about religion (Muslims, Jews, and Christians all worship the same God, only the prophets vary), this is about culture. Civilization first blossomed in the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers over 5,000 years ago, but theirs really hasn't progressed since then. They don't understand peace and love, they understand only war and destruction. Let us give them what they seek. Have we forgotten that one of these charming countries is attempting to develop nuclear weapons, or that they freely pass missiles purchased from China to their proxies in southern Lebanon? Imagine what they would do with nuclear weapons. And have we all forgotten that one of their allies is working on ballistic missiles that can strike America's west coast? The possible uses of a combination of these technologies is left as an exercise for the student. Conservative pundits have already pronounced that we are in the beginning stages of World War III. It's time to decide which side you're on. Better make up your mind soon, as history tends to overtake those not actively creating it. Who knows, perhaps a "nuclear winter" will offset "global warming" (both are as ridiculous a fantasy as the folk taxonomy of "race," but I digress). It's time to decide whether we live on our feet or die on our knees. One hint: I'm an American, and I don't bend my knee to anybody. Neither should you.
(The preceding was not only tasteless, it was downright rude)