Wed 20 Sep 2006
For decades, millions of men and women in the region had been trapped in oppression and hopelessness. And these conditions left a generation disillusioned and made this region a breeding ground for extremism.
Imagine what it’s like to be a young person living in a country that is not moving toward reform. You’re 21 years old, and while your peers in other parts of the world are casting their ballots for the first time, you are powerless to change the course of your government.
While your peers in other parts of the world have received educations that prepare them for the opportunities of a global economy, you have been fed propaganda and conspiracy theories that blame others for your country’s shortcomings.
And everywhere you turn, you hear extremists who tell you that you can escape your misery and regain your dignity through violence and terror and martyrdom.
–President Bush Speaks to UN General Assembly [TRANSCRIPT]
The irony of Bush’s speeches amazes me every time. At some point, Bush will attack the “enemy” for behavior that can be found on his own soil. Millions of Americans have been “trapped in oppression and hopelessness” for decades; less than half of indivduals 18-25 turn out to vote; instead of properly improving our education system, we blame outsourcing and immigration for taking American jobs; and the last time I checked, the slogan for the American military switched from “Be All You Can Be” to “An Army of One.”
3 Responses to “On America or the Middle East?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
October 26th, 2006 at 9:41 am
Hmmm, may I offer you something to think about? If I were a betting man, I would bet my life that Bush invaded Iraq for reasons that many of us will never know in our lifetime, and the events of 9/11 provided a unique cover, but does that make him wrong? Someone, somewhere, decided that they were going to blow up the twin towers, and other well known points in the United States, right? They succeeded, partially, right? The people behind it are eventually linked to radicals, (religious radicals,) many of whom are located in one central region of the world. Now, you’re the President. You have to strike back. You don’t know who struck you. You don’t know who is standing behind the people who struck you, lingering in the shadows. You just know that you need to show the world, and your enemy that to attack this country will never be Choice A. What would you do, given these three choices.
1. Do nothing but mourn, bury you dead, and demand action by The United Nation?
2. Strike back, and strike back hard at the the one leader in the region you know you can’t negoiate with. (As you know, Iraq (Mesopotamia,) sits on the worlds greatest supply of crude oil. But the leader doesn’t play fairly, because he is a dictaor whose word is law. But, he doesn’t control the whole country. His Achilles heel.
3. Try to get the leaders of this region, (Iraq, Iran, Syria, etc.) to help us, and the entire world to do away with the bombers and so forth? Do you think a leader of a country that wouldn’t allow someone as brilliant as you, to walk in the street showing your face, would actually help us?
Bush, who will go down in history as probably our worst President, did not have much of a choice. His fault, it seems, was in not planning a way out. Most of us hate war, but slavery is even worse. Ask the women of the middle east who have tasted freedom. They’ll tell you. This is a unique world that we live in. Real power doesn’t really come from our brains. It comes from the 500 pounds bunker busters, that 99.9 percent of us Americans, and the rest of the world, never knew existed until we invaded Iraq. That sends a unique message across the globe. But not everyone gets that message, as simple as it is….”Freedom, is not free.”
Bush is easy to dislike. For one, he get’s really bad haircuts that expose his rather large ears. Two, “Mad TV” has him sqaurely in their crosshairs. This conincided with “Mad TV’s” leap over “Saturday Night Live,” as the most creative and most watched skit show on Saturday nights. Millions of new viewers got to see a dead on impression of Bush as a stumbling idiot. (Hmmm, maybe your mission statement affects adults as well….)
October 26th, 2006 at 12:43 pm
you’re points are very valid, however, i feel that one needs to take care of one’s own first. i think that’s why we are in the situation in the first place. after the post WWII social, industrial and technological boom, america became high on its own global power and neglected its citizens and its communities to chase dreams around the world. we have never “recovered” from the civil rights movement, the womens movement, and the massive cultural and economic divde that continues to split the country. although i’m not very well educated in 20th century global politics, i know that despite the united states’ position as a superpower, we suffer from some of the worst crime rates, education, health care and other seemingly essential components of civilzed society.
so whatever his decision was… fine. however, don’t talk about how you are saving people from travesties around the world when you can’t save your own.
October 26th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
“after the post WWII social, industrial and technological boom, america became high on its own global power and neglected its citizens and its communities to chase dreams around the world.”
That’s an interesting claim. It may even be true. However, in order to really understand how far America has come, you have to go back further than WWII. You have to go back to begining and understand that America, the home of the free and all of that good stuff, was created to serve only one. That one was White Anglo Saxson men. Period. Not women. Not Blacks. Just white men. That lasted for a long time. I would say, that lasted until the late 60’s. So if you look at America in that light, you do discover that since the Civil Rights movement of the 60’s this country has changed dramatically. In fact, compared to the 140 years, or so, prior to the that movement, America, post Civil Rights, is a totally different world. Night and day. I don’t know that America has dropped the ball, as much as we, i.e. Blacks, and other people of color have dropped the baton, and we’re having a hard time picking that baton up. We don’t vote like we should. We allow our neighborhoods to be taken over by criminal elements, i.e. gang members. Too many of us are not involved in our children education. It’s like our past never happened. But, and here’s the silver lining. We all share the same freedom. And no one stands in our way anymore. We make our own world’s now. And Bush isn’t saving the world from travisties. He’s just another in long line of Imperialistic men who have a powerful military at his disposal. But his tour of duty is almost over…so we’ll see what happens after he’s gone. If you’ve noticed, he and members of his staff are starting to backtrack about Iraq. Whatever their mission was, it’s been accomplished. Now they’re ready to go. And they will leave. They left Viet Nam, they’ll leave Iraq.