Dave sent Spot an email and directed his attention to the last sentence. First of all, let Spot observe that if he had gotten into the Strib as often as Dave does, Spot would not have had to start this @#$%^&* blog.The Star Tribune's Aug. 24 editorial ("Peace's face / Lourey makes a powerful witness") glosses over a few important points. First, Cindy Sheehan certainly has the right to protest the war, as do all Americans. But Sheehan is not opposed to just the war in Iraq; she is opposed to all war. There is a huge difference.
Second, the editorial seems to suggest that war protesters do not hurt the morale of our troops. This is flat-out wrong. Not only do they hurt the morale of some of the troops in Iraq now, but they are hurting the morale of some of the 2,600 Minnesota National Guard members and their families who are getting ready for deployment. Deploying to a combat zone is hard enough without having people telling you and your family that you are leaving for a hopeless mission and that sacrifices made on it will be in vain. Just because we have a right to protest does not mean that we are right to protest.
Dave Thul, Chaska.
Is Spotty aware that he may be having a negative effect on the morale of American soldiers in Iraq? Yes. Does he care? Yes. Will it make him stop his criticism of that fool George Bush and his idiotic Iraq policy? Not for a moment. Here's a fairly succinct statement of why:
"The U.S. now has to recognize that [it] overthrew Saddam Hussein to replace him with a pro-Iranian state," said regional expert Peter W. Galbraith, the former U.S. ambassador to Croatia and an advisor to the Iraqi Kurds. And, he could have added, a pro-Iranian state that will be repressive and unstable.This is from an article called Iraq's Fig Leaf Constitution by Robert Scheer, reprinted by Common Dreams from the LA Times.
Think this is an exaggeration? Consider that arguably the most powerful Shiite political party and militia in today's Iraq, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and its affiliated paramilitary force, the Badr Brigade, was not only based in Iran but was set up by Washington's old arch-foe, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. It also fought on the side of Iran in the Iran-Iraq war and was recognized by Tehran as the government in exile of Iraq.
Or that former exile Ahmad Chalabi is now one of Iraq's deputy prime ministers. The consummate political operator managed to maintain ties to Iran while gaining the devoted support of Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon, charming and manipulating Beltway policymakers and leading U.S. journalists into believing that Iraq was armed with weapons of mass destruction.
Chalabi is thrilled with the draft constitution, which, if passed, will probably exponentially increase tension and violence between Sunnis and Shiites. "It is an excellent document," said Chalabi, who has been accused by U.S. intelligence of being a spy for Iran, where he keeps a vacation home.
What an absurd outcome for a war designed to create a compliant, unified and stable client state that would be pro-American, laissez-faire capitalist and unallied with the hated Iran. Of course, Bush tells us again, this is "progress" and "an inspiration." Yet his relentless spinning of manure into silk has worn thin on the American public and sent his approval ratings tumbling.
George Bush and the gang are increasingly divorced from reality. And it is hard-working civic-minded people like the Minnesota National Guard who are paying the price. It is an outrage and would not be less of one if Spotty remained silent.
Cindy's Sheehan question for the president is what is the noble cause in Iraq? Democracy? Clearly not: we don't have a snowball's chance in hell of pulling it off.
When Spot was youngster, there was much anger over the old sending the young to war. It's funny, but it doesn't feel any different to Spotty today.
Tags: National Guard Iraq war protest
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