A response...

Recently in my e-mail group of buddies (that I have known for 20+ years) the proverbial hornets nest was kicked over the issue of the war in Iraq. Most of us being from Berkeley, you can guess where the majority firmly sits. Here is my response to the question "Was the invasion of Iraq worth it?" I held off from responding to them directly, it pains my heart too much to get them angry at me. Maybe they'll stumble across this in a few months when passions have cooled.

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As Winona Ryder said in "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut"

"Wow...war man...wow."

Things do indeed look bleak. I concur with Allen that it will be up to the Iraqis to take it from here, at a certain point they're going to have to be willing to fight and die for freedom, if they are to have any chance at a future.

The liberation of Iraq. Was it worth it? Who knows...only time will tell.

But I fear that history has already shown what needs to happen for a lasting peace. In the big picture, Iraq is only the beginning.

This will not end with negotiation, diplomacy, etc. These islamo-facists, like the nazi's before them, want all Jews dead. Period. Plus as an extra bonus, with an equal passion, they also want all Americans dead. Dead, dead, dead. There is no grey area.

There is no trade policy, no settlement, no financial compensation that will change this fact. They are here to kill us, whether we watch Fox or PBS, it makes zero difference to them. If we support or hate Israel, they don't care. If we send money to Hamas, they don't care. They'll take the money and still try to kill as many Americans as they can. Withdraw from Iraq? Yeah, we saw how well withdrawing worked for Israel. Vote for Hillary? That and 50 cents will still get your throat slit.

I think many in this country simply cannot wrap their brains around this basic truth. Ten percent of the Muslim world is out for blood, with a ferocity that matches the worst of the nazis. The majority of the remaining Muslim population is complicit in the manner of the majority of Europe in WW2. Their religion has been hijacked, and they don't seem to care.

These facts are required starting points for any and all coherent discussion regarding the middle east. Recognize first, that we are dealing with an enemy that can't be reasoned with, an enemy that will not stop until they either rule the world or are wiped out. What we do, short of killing enough of them, will have ultimately no effect on their desire to kill us.

The idea that Bush lied kids died, blood for oil, all that junior high shit, I'm afraid will mean less than nothing at the end of the day. Just like the appeasers in Hitlers day, "if only we hadn't been so harsh on them in the treaty of Versailles" it's nonsense. If we were to leave the middle east tomorrow, we would still be the great satan. They would still be coming for us.

Lord knows our country is far from perfect, but I don't for the life of me understand how we can devote so much passion to fighting amongst ourselves instead of uniting against the real enemy. If the Neville Chamberlins of this country would take ten percent of their self-loathing energy and actually put it towards supporting the troops (Israeli and US) AND their mission, we might actually have a chance at doing some real damage to the ones who want to kill us.