Explaining War

[The Ranger]

A LESSON TO MY SON
by A PROUD AMERICAN Irma S. Chambers

The other day, my nine year old son wanted to know why we were at war.
My husband looked at our son and then looked at me. My husband and I
were in the Army during the Gulf War and we would be honored to serve and
defend our country again today. I knew that my husband would give him a
good explanation.

My husband thought for a few minutes and then told my son to go stand in
our front living room window. He told him:
"Son, stand there and tell me what you see?"
"I see trees and cars and our neighbors houses." he replied.
"OK, now I want you to pretend that our house and our yard is the United
States of America and you are President Bush."

Our son giggled and said "OK."

"Now son, I want you to look out the window and pretend that every house
and yard on this block is a different country." my husband said.

"OK Dad, I'm pretending."

"Now I want you to stand there and look out the window and see that man
come out of his house with his wife and he has her by the hair and is
hitting her. You see her bleeding and crying. He hits her in the face,
he throws her on the ground, then he starts to kick her to death. Their
children run out and are afraid to stop him, they are crying, they are
watching this but do nothing because they are kids and afraid of their
father. You see all of this son....what do you do?"

"Dad?"

"What do you do son?!"

"I call the police, Dad."

"OK. Pretend that the police are the United Nations and they take your
call, listen to what you know and saw but they refuse to help. What do
you do then son?!"

"Dad, but the police are supposed to help!" My son starts to whine.

"They don't want to son, because they say that it is not their place or
your place to get involved and that you should stay out of it," my
husband says.

"But Dad...he killed her!!" my son exclaims.

"I know he did...but the police tell you to stay out of it. Now I want
you to look out that window and pretend you see our neighbor who you're
pretending is Saddam turn around and do the same thing to his children."

"Daddy...he kills them?"

"Yes son, he does. What do you do?"

"Well, if the police don't want to help, I will go and ask my next door
neighbor to help me stop him." our son says.

"Son, our next door neighbor sees what is happening and refuses to get
involved as well. He refuses to open the door and help you stop him," my
husband says.

"But Dad, I NEED help!!! I can't stop him by myself!!"

"WHAT DO YOU DO SON?"

Our son starts to cry.

"OK, no one wants to help you, the man across the street saw you ask for
help and saw that no one would help you stop him. He stands taller and
puffs out his chest. Guess what he does next son?"

"What Daddy?"

"He walks across the street to the old ladies house and breaks down her
door and drags her out, steals all her stuff and sets her house on fire
and then...he kills her. He turns around and sees you standing in he
window and laughs at you. WHAT DO YOU DO?!!!"

"Daddy..."

"WHAT DO YOU DO?!!!"
Our son is crying and he looks down and he whispers, "I close the blinds,
Daddy."

My husband looks at our son with tears in his eyes and asks him... "Why?"

"Because Daddy.....the police are supposed to help...people who needs
it....and they won't help....You always say that neighbors are supposed
to HELP neighbors, but they won't help either...they won't help me stop
him...I'm afraid....I can't do it by myself...Daddy.....I can't look out
my window and just watch him do all these terrible things
and...and.....do nothing...so....I'm just going to close the blinds....so
I can't see what he's doing........and I'm going to pretend that it is
not happening."

I start to cry.

My husband looks at our nine year old son standing in the window, looking
pitiful and ashamed at his answers to my husbands questions and he tells
him...."Son"

"Yes, Daddy."

"Open the blinds because that man....he's at your front door..."WHAT DO
YOU DO?!!!!"

My son looks at his father, anger and defiance in his eyes. He balls up
this tiny fists and looks his father square in the eyes, without
hesitation he says: "I DEFEND MY FAMILY DAD!! I'M NOT GONNA LET HIM
HURT MOMMY OR MY SISTER, DAD!!! I'M GONNA FIGHT HIM, DAD, I'M GONNA
FIGHT HIM!!!!!"

I see a tear roll down my husband's cheek and he grabs my son to his
chest and hugs him tight, and cries..."It's too late to fight him, he's
too strong and he's already at YOUR front door son.....you should have
stopped him BEFORE he killed his wife. You have to do what's right, even
if you have to do it alone, before......it's too late." my husband
whispers.

THAT scenario I just gave you is WHY we are at war with Iraq. When good
men stand by and let evil happen is the greatest EVIL of all. Our
President is doing what is right. We, as a free nation, must understand
that this war is a war of humanity. WE must remove this evil man from
power so that we can continue to live in a free world where we are not
afraid to look out our window and see crimes on humanity.
So that my nine year old son won't grow up in a world where he feels that
if he just "closes" that blinds the atrocities in the world won't affect
him. Today the second day of "WAR on IRAQ" I felt compelled to write
this and pass it along. Hopefully, you will understand the lesson my
husband tried to teach our son.

"YOU MUST NEVER BE AFRAID TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT! EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO DO IT
ALONE!" BE PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN! BE PROUD OF OUR PRESIDENT! BE PROUD OF
OUR TROOPS!! SUPPORT THEM!!! SUPPORT AMERICA!! SO THAT IN THE FUTURE OUR
CHILDREN WILL NEVER HAVE TO CLOSE THEIR BLINDS...."


Ranger

 

[Fast Twitch Fiber]

This is a ridiculous comparison written by a fool that thinks we are actually in this war to "liberate" the poor folks of Iraq. Face it, the truth is Bush wants Saddam out of power and all this crap about liberating Iraq and WMD is just a way to try to win support.

 

[SUST-MAN]

If we actually gave a shit about the iraqis....we wouldnt have put the civilians through sanctions for the last 12 years. We could have done something to effect Saddam....instead of the people.

 

[The Ranger]

And how would we do that Sust-Man?? Just curious is all....

Ranger

 

[The Ranger]

And how would we do that Sust-Man?? Just curious is all....

Ranger

 

[Frackal]

Hey Ranger... I honestly don't feel that was a realistic piece of writing... I can show you a pic in wan amusement of Rumsfeld shaking Saddam's hand trying to work out an oil deal back around '82, a few days after Saddam gassed a few thousand people...Our Govt's motives are sadly not that noble.

 

[SUST-MAN]

Ranger...

I dont know. Maybe we should have attacked him before? Maybe we could have armed the inspectors with millitary assistance back in 92?

All i know is, what we did in iraq over the past 12 years was horrible. You can say that Saddam did it to his own people.....but we know what kind of man Saddam Was...and we knew what he was doing with the money....yet we still continued the sanctions which in turn killed millions of iraqis, and kept them in a horrible situation.

These civilians that we are trying to "liberate", are the same ones that we screwed over for the past 12 years.

 

[Bikini Mod]

I can not believe that ANY PARENT would explain war to their child LIKE THAT.... Talk about hypocracy! Is the US ALL OVER THE WORLD "KEEPING BAD MEN FROM RAPING, MURDERING, LOOTING, KILLING?!"

You MUST BE JOKING!!!

And just what is the criteria that the US uses to decide WHICH BAD MEN NEED TO BE BEATEN DOWN AND WHICH DO NOT? IT COULDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH WHETHER OR NOT THE US'S RELATIONSHIP IS MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL OR NOT AT THE GIVEN TIME WHEN ALL THE LOOTING/RAPING/MURDERING WAS GOING ON..... DOES IT?!

Please spare me the silly story of the teary-eyed parents and child. It makes me sick to my stomach.

War unfortunately is a necessary evil. As long as there are two people on this planet. If one is an agressive ASSHOLE that will fuck with the other NO MATTER WHAT (you all remember about the concept of "appeasement" - Yea, Hitler was REALLY EASILY satisfied) then there will be war.

Sad, but true.

We are SUPPOSED TO BE CIVILIZED. But the truth is that WE ARE NOT.

I think it is better to teach our children the concept of understanding the difference between what we can change and can not change. We need COURAGE, WISDOM and ACCEPTANCE in order to dedipher the difference... not some silly analogy about your next door neighboor beating and killing his wife.

HOW MANY OF YOU RIGHT NOW KNOW FOR A FACT OF ANY OF YOUR FRIENDS THAT IS PUTTING HIS/HER HANDS ON THEIR S/O YET YOU DO FUCKING NOT A GODDAMNED THING!? WHY DO YOU DO NOTHING? BECAUSE THEN IT *MIGHT* FUCK UP YOUR FRIENDSHIP AND HELL, THE FRIENDSHIP WAS MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL BEFORE YOU KNEW, RIGHT? FUCK, YOU NEVER SAW HIM OR HER PUT THEIR HANDS ON THEIR S/O RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM DID YOU? SO THEN THAT MUST MEAN THAT IT ISN'T REALLY HAPPENING .... RIGHT?!?!

(I say his or her because believe it or not women can be just as violent and abusive as men and the men are even MORE ashamed than the women to admit it happens.)

Please spare me this nonsense.

I am VERY SUPPORTIVE of your servicemen and women. It is because of them that I can sit here safely and not have to worry about tanks rolling down my street - BUT I also believe that such a story is HIGHLY IRRESPONSIBLE and HYPOCRITICAL.

 

[muscle_geek]

Hey Ranger... I honestly don't feel that was a realistic piece of writing... I can show you a pic in wan amusement of Rumsfeld shaking Saddam's hand trying to work out an oil deal back around '82, a few days after Saddam gassed a few thousand people...Our Govt's motives are sadly not that noble.

Our motives are never really noble. We simply try to do what's best for our country. America has made foreign policy blunders all throughout history. Its not an exact science. But what separates us from many other nations is that we've shown an incredible ability to learn from our mistakes. This is why we have become the only true superpower. There will be no more Vietnam's and in this war we are doing the work ourselves instead of strengthening an uprising behind the scenes. It really doesn't matter that we helped strengthen Iraq in the past. That point is no longer important. It was a mistake. But we are doing the right thing now. I believe that the reasons we are doing this are valid and as follows:

1. Saddam's regime does pose a threat to the US. The country is wealthy and shows a clear inclination to support terrorism. They also have a desire to destroy the US. That's a problem in my book. He has a stockpile of weapons that terrorists could use. Another problem. After 9/11, we can't turn our back on this anymore.

2. Stability of the middle east. I believe that after we insert a more democratic regime and a less terroristic regime that a solid peace plan for Israel and Palestine will occur. All the naysayers will say that this won't happen, but I believe we are on the verge of something here. This could be a historical turning point in the middle east. Remember that peace is only earned through strength. History has shown us that.

3. Liberation of Iraq. This is a lower priority than the other two. Its more effectual, than motive, but Iraqi people will have more opportunities for education, self sustainment, than they have had in the last thirty years. This is good for the US. Iraq could be another ally of ours if we play our cards right.

I believe that this war has been waged for very good and valid reasons. I do not think they are noble, or that it matters that they're noble.

 

[SUST-MAN]

Our motives are never really noble. We simply try to do what's best for our country. America has made foreign policy blunders all throughout history. Its not an exact science. But what separates us from many other nations is that we've shown an incredible ability to learn from our mistakes. This is why we have become the only true superpower. There will be no more Vietnam's and in this war we are doing the work ourselves instead of strengthening an uprising behind the scenes. It really doesn't matter that we helped strengthen Iraq in the past. That point is no longer important. It was a mistake. But we are doing the right thing now. I believe that the reasons we are doing this are valid and as follows:

1. Saddam's regime does pose a threat to the US. The country is wealthy and shows a clear inclination to support terrorism. They also have a desire to destroy the US. That's a problem in my book. He has a stockpile of weapons that terrorists could use. Another problem. After 9/11, we can't turn our back on this anymore.

2. Stability of the middle east. I believe that after we insert a more democratic regime and a less terroristic regime that a solid peace plan for Israel and Palestine will occur. All the naysayers will say that this won't happen, but I believe we are on the verge of something here. This could be a historical turning point in the middle east. Remember that peace is only earned through strength. History has shown us that.

3. Liberation of Iraq. This is a lower priority than the other two. Its more effectual, than motive, but Iraqi people will have more opportunities for education, self sustainment, than they have had in the last thirty years. This is good for the US. Iraq could be another ally of ours if we play our cards right.

I believe that this war has been waged for very good and valid reasons. I do not think they are noble, or that it matters that they're noble.

For your 1st comment....can you please tell me how Saddam shows clear inclination to support terrorism....other than by words? Do you people really think that if you say something enough times...then it becomes true? The truth is....no links have been made between Saddam Hussein and terrorism (other than the palestinians...but if you think they are the same as al qaueda...your nuts)

For your 2nd comment. Israel is a mess because of the israeli settlements in the West bank and the way the the palestinians are treated. How do you think a democratic iraq can assist in this situation unless the israelis leave the settlements?

And for your 3rd comment...."LIBERATION" of iraq. With a democracy, a Shite president will be elected due to the overwhelming SHia population in iraq. The SHia are fundamentalist muslims. DO you think that the Kurds and the Sunni will be happy living under a fundamentalist regime? DEMOCRACY DOES NOT WORK IN IRAQ. its a very complicated issue.