A commenter to my post “A Voice of Reason” asks:
the end, if accomplished, will be great…but does it justify the means?
Comment by Anonymous — 26/December/2004 @ 9:26 am
A fair enough question. I take it to mean does the loss of life and destruction in Iraq outweigh the uncertain outcome of freedom and democracy. I think the answer is no, and here is why. To begin, it is not like people weren’t dying in Iraq before we came. Hundreds of thousands (including women and children) found in mass graves so far. I believe that even the innocents killed by our intervention pale in comparison to the systemic rape and murder perpetuated by Saddam and his sons and cronies. I also believe that we are fighting and killing terrorists on ground of our choosing. Someone likened it to the flypaper effect. With so-called insurgents coming in from Syria and Iran, we can and will kill them in the streets of Fallajuh or Mosul or wherever else they foolishly raise their heads. I say better on the streets of Baghdad than NYC.
Finally, I believe recent events demonstrate that what our enemies fear most is democracy gaining a foothold in the region. I remain confident that the Iraqi people will demonstrate their resolve, beginning with next months elections. Security will be gradually turned over to the Iraqi armed forces and they will once again assume responsibility for their future. Democracy has never come easy, and unfortunately the cost of freedom is often paid for in blood. But history has proven (see Germany and Japan) that even at that price it is worth the effort.
So yes, the long-term implications in this global war on terror do justify the means we have utilized. This article says it much better than I can.
The enemy in Iraq is brutal, ruthless and, yes, evil. There’s no other word for people who murder civilians organizing elections, bomb churches and mosques, and saw the heads off innocents while screaming slogans and making home videos.
But they are not stupid. They know that every time they stage a massacre, millions of people get angry – not at them, but at Don Rumsfeld and President Bush and Prime Minister Blair and the “neo-cons.”
“We have seen …the weakness of the American soldier who is … unprepared to fight long wars,” Osama bin Laden said in 1998, as he began contemplating his next attacks. “This was proven in Beirut when the Marines fled after two explosions. It also proves they can run in less than 24 hours, and this was also repeated in Somalia. We are ready for all occasions.”
Only when the kind of butchery we witnessed this week strengthens, rather than weakens our resolve, will the barbarians see that the road they have chosen is a dead end – figuratively and literally as well.
There are casualties in war. Let’s us pray that it is not our will and resolve to see this mission through to the end.
God bless you for saying that. Well-written and my sentiments also. Thanks.~Cao.
evolutionary formula of bioidentical hormones designed for natural anti aging therapy
secretion reaches its peak in the body during adolescence.
A lot of talented actors still have to pay their bills.
I had been approached by a couple of people as far as making movies because of my success in music, but it was always to play the white rapper in Sister Act 2, or something that would just kind of put the final nail into my coffin of my career.
I had had a troubled past, but like most rappers they go out and talk about it to kind of help their career.
I just realized that the whole point of doing interviews was to promote this movie, so see it three times.
I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect.
But it just so happens that when you re in the public eye, everything gets reported.
I love my H.R.H. character. But I never got it. Why do we pay these people millions of pounds to be better than us?
I used to dress up and impersonate our next-door neighbor, Miss Cox. She wore rubber boots, a wool hat, and her nose always dripped.
I like the idea of making big budget films with a heart. I like graphic novels more than comic books.
I think music is what takes the experience off the screen into your soul, into your head.
gold style
But I think that the most important thing was to really stop drinking.
An artist is a dreamer consenting to dream of the actual world.
I only drink to make other people seem more interesting.
Love is an emotion experienced by the many and enjoyed by the few.
Patriotism is a arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles.
A person who knows how to laugh at himself will never ceased to be amused.
Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends.
The person who knows how to laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.
A policy is a temporary creed liable to be changed, but while it holds good it has got to be pursued with apostolic zeal.
A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.
I have survived by representing these sufferings of mine in the form of the novel.
I too am living as a writer with this polarisation imprinted on me like a deep scar.
After the many rumours that we had heard about Hitler and the published criticisms we had read about him, we were pleasantly impressed.
I have always been interested in politics. I was in the student union before, very active.
As long as karma exists, the world changes. There will always be karma to be taken care of.
Do some selfless service for people who are in need. Consider the whole picture, not just our little selves.
I think it was that we were really seasoned musicians. We had serious roots that spanned different cultures, obviously the blues.
For a long time I just did theater and after many years I was ready to make a change.
A lot of poets carry a wee notebook in their pockets to jot down ideas and lines and even a verse or two. I never do that.
I was drunk for the second time in my life on junior high and that was a bad one!