Subscribe!As I sit here in a windowless office in Evanston, Illinois, I am filled with frustation and a desire to to something to change the course of our country. We have an administration and Congress that is more interested in keeping their jobs than performing them. We have catch-phrases such as "Mission Accomplished", "Stay the Course", "Cut and Run" thrown at us, as though the complex issues facing us can be so simply summarized. It's also insulting to the American people that the President and his cronies don't seem to think we can understand the truth. Either that's the case or the administration itself doesn't understand the consequences of their actions.
In response to the blatantly obvious statement that the war in Iraq is aiding in the recruitment of terrorists, the President said that we don't make terrorists by fighting terrorists. Yes, that might be true. If we can arrest or kill the leaders of terrorists organizations we can weaken their resolve and abilities to operate. But, if in doing so we injury and kill civilians, we haven't accomplished anything. The use of the term "collateral damage" is simply a euphemism invented to disguise the truth. Whenever you hear the term, you should think about what it really means. The death of a mother. A father. A son. A daughter. They are not collateral. They are people. People who had hopes and dreams. People unfortunate enough to be caught in the middle of a war, a war they didn't want. A war we didn't have to fight.
Imagine yourself in that situation. Imagine waking up to an explosion and a thickening cloud of dust. Imagine running through your now demolished home and finding your parents bloodied, unconscious and dying. What would you do? How would you accept the explanation that your parents were collateral damage? That they were innocent victims, we're terribly sorry but that's what happens in war. What would you do? Would you just accept that apology? Or would you want to avenge your parents' deaths? Sure, there may have been some bad guys in the neighborhood, but those bad guys wouldn't have been there if the good guys hadn't invaded.
Imagine that a "Coalition of Willing" European, Asian, African, and American nations decided that a regime change was needed in the United States and accomplished this through military force. What would you do? Would you sit idle, accepting the propoganda of the invading force? Or would you fight back? What if the invasion led to the deaths of your loved ones? Could you accept their loss as simpliy collateral damage? I know for sure that I certainly could not.
I surely haven't disguised my disgust for our current President, but if our nation were invaded I certainly would do whatever I could to fend off the occupiers and fight for him. What do you think is going on in Iraq?
So, what can we do? On November 7, 2006 we have a chance to bring about a major change in our nation's leadership. We need to vote out everyone who voted "Yea" on the recent detainee legislation and vote out everyone who voted "Yea" on renewing the Patriot Act. Let's vote for people who will be more thoughtful and understand that the sacrifice of civil liberties for security means victory for the terrorists.
