While all I have is opinions, I’m honored that people value mine. With that, I have to admit, there are times I’m just flummoxed. This is one of those times.
Many of our politicians in Washington D.C. are demanding that the Iraqi Government get its act together and get control of their streets or we’ll pull out of Iraq. Many say the Iraqis are dragging their feet, not doing enough, etc.
Then, I saw this picture….
Last week, Vice President Dick Cheney made an unannounced visit to the soldiers in Iraq. He was wearing a flak jacket. This is an extraordinary photograph.
Think about it….
When Queen Elizabeth came to the United States last week, her visit was anticipated by the media, she made scheduled visits, a fancy-schmancy dinner at the White House, and moved about as freely as a Queen could… without a flak jacket.
But when he went to Iraq, the Vice President of the United States of America had to wear body armor. While we all know it’s not the safest place to be, that picture speaks volumes.
With that, I ask… who are American politicians to tell the Iraqis how to manage the situation on the ground? They assume the Iraqis aren’t trying. How can they relate to anything going on over there?
Our Congresspersons and Senators are living fairly spoiled lives here, while Iraqi politicians risk theirs everyday going to work.
We’ve heard and read about assassinations. We’ve heard about Iraqi government officials getting machine-gunned or blown up by roadside bombs. We hear about young men who volunteer to join their local police force to secure their own neighborhood. We hear of police stations being bombed and policemen being kidnapped and later executed. All this while our know-it-all elected officials gripe about how those lazy Iraqis need to do more to help themselves or we’ll just up and leave them to the wolves.
When was the last time we ever saw an American politician have to wear a flak jacket just to get to Capitol Hill? The only thing they have to worry about is getting special treatment on the roads to avoid traffic. When was the last time they had to worry if a bomb was placed under their car? When was the last time they had to be concerned about who may be waiting around the corner with a rocket-propelled grenade? Do any of our politicians, besides Miss Hillary and Obama, have bodyguards escort them whenever they go outside? Have any of our politicians had their family members kidnapped and murdered?
How many of our judges have been killed because they’ve sentenced terrorist murderers to death? Our powerful and privileged live a relatively docile life in comparison to the Iraqis who risk life and limb every damn day, yet they’re told by a bunch of pussies in Washington D.C. to hurry up and get things in order… or else.
The terrorist insurgency is killing hundreds of civilians every week. Their main goal is to create instability so when the United States eventually ramps things down there, it will be easier to seize control and implement Sharia Law throughout the nation. Should that day ever come, there will be executions and honor killings unlike the world has seen in decades, yet American politicians say the Iraqis need to pull their own weight sooner rather than later.
I contend the Iraqis are doing more than any of the limp-wristed, cowardly American politicians would ever do. Most of ours would resign from office in a heartbeat if it ever became so dangerous to be a politician in America that they’d need to wear a flak jacket and have 24-hour, armed security for their families.
While they are the latest, fashionable people to beat up on, I admire the Iraqi Government officials. While there are the typical Third World shenanigans going on as far as corruption and graft, there is a daily life and limb element that makes the wrongdoing almost justified.
Dick Cheney had to wear a flak jacket just getting around in Iraq. Some Iraqi politicians probably have to wear them. Risking their lives to secure their country is a reality they live with everyday. That shows guts.
Our politicians could learn a lot from the Iraqis.
Bob,
Not only do I value your opinions, but they are on the mark.
Even the politicians in Iraq have power to be gained from their risk. My thoughts go back to the millions of purple stained fingers being raised in the air. These are ordinary Joes tasting freedom for the first time. At many polling places the lines of people were bombarded with mortar attacks and yet the people stayed, smiled, joked, and voted. Men and women voted with great pride. The streets for blocks around polling centers had been barricaded to prevent car bombs from being run into the masses of people lined up to vote..and yet they voted in mass.
It is not just our politicians who take our country, our liberty for granted. We the people are fat and lazy from not having to fight on our land for freedom for so long. How many showed up at the last election? How many complained because a polling line was too long? How many did not vote because the weather was foul? At least it was not raining shrapnel.
On a lighter note. We don’t see it under the VP’s suit, but I think he wears body armor every time he sits at the front of Congress.
These democrats are the worst democrats this country has ever had. If they were any good, they would model themselves after FDR. I accuse the democrats of treason. Our country is in a state of war against terrorism and they are not granting the support needed for our men and women of the U.S military. Democrats use trickery to say that they support those serving in Iraq. They give the president a bill with a timetable and when he vetoes it, then he is accused for not supporting the soldiers in Iraq. This is the same doctrine that the terrorists use, which is to use trickery and lies to fight the infidels.
So, what do democrats say, “But the polls have said-” Oh shut up! If you believe everything that polls say then 75% of the country would vote democrat. So you could easily call these liberals “poll dancers” since their whole agenda is fueled by such innacuracies. Well how about this for a statistic: Congresses approval rationg is just as low, if not lower than the president’s.
Look, if we leave Iraq, We would be leaving the country in the hands of Iran and Syria who will wipe out the Kurds and many others, whom the U.S. had helped. If we leave, it will be our countrys largest shame since slavery. It will be their blood in our hands. If you look at the situation in Darfur, it would be a lot worse in Iraq if we leave, because the terrorists have taken over.
In Congress, democrats are looking at global warming as a bigger threat than terrorism and as far as I know, global warming has not killed thousands of people.
This is weird, I was thinking about this very issue last night. I guess some article I read yesterday spurred the thought, but it took the United States several hundred years to get our government set up right and we are STILL working on it. What do these people expect from a country that has spent several generations under the leadership of a BRUTAL dictator?
I am so sick of the congress”people” i could scream! I am acutally surprised that their numbers are at 29%. I think it should be at about 1% as far as I am concerned. We went over there to do a job and we have a long, long way to go yet. The Iraqis need us and we need for their government to be successful. It will mean a greater hope in in the middle east to set up a working democracy because it will be an example to other supressed countries over there that they too can have a democracy in lieu of theocracy or dictatorships. If we leave now, we not only do harm to Iraqis, but Iranians and Syrians, Saudis, Egyptians and others who are hoping that they too can have a better life, and that America might help them as well. If we quit, then several millions will suffer because of it. There will be more than Iraqi blood on our hands. Our soldiers would have died in vain.
We are a great people and we owe it to the rest of the world to let freedom be the norm, not to hide our heads in the sand and let others suffer. We sacrifice so that others might be free. It is the greatest gift our country could give.
Jacquot is correct… and I would like to add that the Iraqis would be more willing to cooperate with US coalition forces if they weren’t so afraid of what happened in Vietnam 30 years ago when **MILLIONS** were slaughtered when we bailed. I work with several Vietnamese and they tell me they were upset when we left, not when we were there defending them…. the liberals need to shove that fact up their tailpipe.
The liberals in this country are sending that same message to the Iraqis… don’t bother helping our troops identify the terrorists, because we plan on leaving and if you help us, you and your family will have to suffer the consequences when we bail out.
Bob
You are absolutely right in pointing out that the Iraqi politicians put their lives on the line every day in contrast to the American pampered politicos!
If the “Dumbocrats” accomplish what they have set out to do and American troops pull out before the job is done, then they may not be able to go about freely. The fight is taking place over in Iraq, I’m sure that if it’s not finished before the US pulls out then it will continue in the streets of America. They (the politicians) will then become prime targets!
This is not Vietnam where 2.5 to 3 million people were slaughtered in the area and the US was left alone. History will repeat itself, in Iraq, when the funding is pulled but we are now dealing with a religious group that want World control. Show them weakness and they will come knocking… Just look at how long Americans remembered 9/11 and it does not bode well for the future.
Tell it Bob. I agree wholeheartedly with you. It is true, most politicians here are a bunch of over-lobbied, self-absorbed, wealthy fat-cats whose only fear is not politicking enough to get re-elected. If they had to live under the conditions of the Iraqi lawmakers, most of them would tuck their tail between their legs and crawl back to momma. While we know the liberals have no gonads, except for pursuing President Bush, it’s disheartening to witness the apparent lack of intestinal fortitude on the Republican side.
Keep up the good work Bob.