Excerpt from a letter to the front
Jeff,
Re. Iraq and our hamfisted "handling" of the this-is-not-an-occupation:
It does seem more than a little naive, not to mention completely without hindsight, to imagine for a moment that the US Government could achieve anything BUT total chaos, in the long run, in that society, in that part of the world, using the methods we've employed to "plant the seeds of democracy."
How can ANYONE possibly believe that our government---a government whose domestic policy is rapidly choking the life and liberty out of its own people---could go to another part of the world, a region whose people and culture we're completely clueless about, and try to plant the seeds of freedom and independent thinking required to support a democracy? Truth be told, I'd be pretty torqued to find that our government had somehow screwed up and managed to create a true constitutional system of self-governance over there. Especially when they're doing just the opposite here at home, slowly crushing the life out of us with the insidiously suffocating effects of socialism.
Seriously? I believe we've opened a can of worms that won't easily (or ever) be closed up again. They've gotten a taste of freedom, but the theocrats will do everything in their power, NOT excluding genocide, in order to hang onto their tenuous grip on the heart and mind of "their" Arabs (and Persians).
Jefferson was farsighted indeed when he admonished us to stay the hell out of Europe's affairs and to let their destructive hornets' nest of backstabbing kingdoms do what they may to each other; that it was (is) NOT in our long-term interest to meddle in the affairs of other countries. I SERIOUSLY doubt he'd see fit to take a different approach to the middle East.
But, alas..., if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle...and you've got men to take care of---regardless of geopolitical bumbling---and you've got your ownself to make sure gets home in one warm, positive, happy piece (all limbs, organs and digits intact and functioning)---so you can pick right back up where you left off with that beautiful family of yours. It's times like this that really distill and drive home the real meaning of family; and I've got to believe that, though you might not feel much like it, you are among the luckiest of the unluckiest, stuck over there, with such a great wife, and two great boys at home pulling and praying for you.
PLEASE STAY ALERT! NEVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN, AND DON'T HESITATE TO PULL THAT TRIGGER. BILLIONS OF PEOPLE HAVE DIED. YOU WILL TOO, BUT NOT YET, YOU'VE GOT THREE PEOPLE AT HOME WITH YOUR OWN LOVE & BLOOD COARSING THROUGH THEIR HEARTS.
And by the way, those long chats over cigars and wine sound really good, too, especially since you are one of the very few people with whom I can relate to on anything more than a superficial level.
Sermon over.
Keep your head down,
Marrs
Re. Iraq and our hamfisted "handling" of the this-is-not-an-occupation:
It does seem more than a little naive, not to mention completely without hindsight, to imagine for a moment that the US Government could achieve anything BUT total chaos, in the long run, in that society, in that part of the world, using the methods we've employed to "plant the seeds of democracy."
How can ANYONE possibly believe that our government---a government whose domestic policy is rapidly choking the life and liberty out of its own people---could go to another part of the world, a region whose people and culture we're completely clueless about, and try to plant the seeds of freedom and independent thinking required to support a democracy? Truth be told, I'd be pretty torqued to find that our government had somehow screwed up and managed to create a true constitutional system of self-governance over there. Especially when they're doing just the opposite here at home, slowly crushing the life out of us with the insidiously suffocating effects of socialism.
Seriously? I believe we've opened a can of worms that won't easily (or ever) be closed up again. They've gotten a taste of freedom, but the theocrats will do everything in their power, NOT excluding genocide, in order to hang onto their tenuous grip on the heart and mind of "their" Arabs (and Persians).
Jefferson was farsighted indeed when he admonished us to stay the hell out of Europe's affairs and to let their destructive hornets' nest of backstabbing kingdoms do what they may to each other; that it was (is) NOT in our long-term interest to meddle in the affairs of other countries. I SERIOUSLY doubt he'd see fit to take a different approach to the middle East.
But, alas..., if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle...and you've got men to take care of---regardless of geopolitical bumbling---and you've got your ownself to make sure gets home in one warm, positive, happy piece (all limbs, organs and digits intact and functioning)---so you can pick right back up where you left off with that beautiful family of yours. It's times like this that really distill and drive home the real meaning of family; and I've got to believe that, though you might not feel much like it, you are among the luckiest of the unluckiest, stuck over there, with such a great wife, and two great boys at home pulling and praying for you.
PLEASE STAY ALERT! NEVER LET YOUR GUARD DOWN, AND DON'T HESITATE TO PULL THAT TRIGGER. BILLIONS OF PEOPLE HAVE DIED. YOU WILL TOO, BUT NOT YET, YOU'VE GOT THREE PEOPLE AT HOME WITH YOUR OWN LOVE & BLOOD COARSING THROUGH THEIR HEARTS.
And by the way, those long chats over cigars and wine sound really good, too, especially since you are one of the very few people with whom I can relate to on anything more than a superficial level.
Sermon over.
Keep your head down,
Marrs
posted by Jefferson | 5:36 PM
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