[Thermodyne]

We seem to have arrived at the beginning of the end of the conflict chapter of this intervention. And I do think that intervention is how history will record this. As it turns out, there were quite a lot of Iraqis that hated Saddam but were much too fearful to show their displeasure, especially after the back stabbing they received 11 years ago. The remains of the regime have fled to Syria, which has a long history of providing sanctuary to despots and murders. Perhaps the UN will try to extradite them for trial, or perhaps freedom will be found to be contagious once again. It sure spread across the former Warsaw Pact nations in a hurry once it was discovered.

Now more than ever, Iraq needs the support of the world, as they begin to form a new government and restore services and order. They do not need the old usurpers returning to demand payment on deals that were made with Saddam, and they do not need to be rearmed. I personally think that the UN should be involved in so far as their abilities go. They should provide health services and humanitarian aid. Security can be best provided by the US and its coalition allies at this time, and the formation of a government should be left to the people of Iraq. They do not need over 100 nations trying to broker a government that will be favorable to their own personal interests.

It is also of note that this event has received more real time coverage than any conflict in history, and at the same time had the truth spun to the left or right of center in amounts that will probably damage the reputations of many news services irreparably. In America we used to limit the amount of news outlets that any one organization could hold. This was to limit the editorial influence of the wealthy powerful owners. I personally feel that it time to re impose these limits. Right now we have MS-NBC and CNN giving us partial truth from the left and FOX giving us partial truth from the right. I think we were all smart enough to realize what was going on, opinion was being presented as news. I don’t like this when it is against my position and I find it embarrassing when it supports my position. I found myself reading the raw releases, and then not posting at times because of the slewed positions that the large news services were taking.

In the end, it has worked more or less as advertised. The fat lady has yet to sing, but I think I hear her warming up. And I must say that for all of the regrettable damage this war has done to the everyday people of Iraq, it has been less than what the sanctions were doing. The sanctions were not hurting Saddam and his at all; he still lived the life of a king. He lacked for nothing and this must be laid at the feet of the Nations that were violating the embargo and the UN who was tasked with the enforcement. We need no longer name names; the records will address this as they become public. The Iraqi people seemed to have lacked for everything, the living conditions of these people were much worse than had been reported in the west. This will be the worst failure that the UN ever passed off on the world. Food for oil was a sham. And I bet the involved parties do everything they can to see that this program is never fully audited and examined.

The lesson here is that while this administration has not been totally forthcoming about this, they did have a workable plan. The WMD are still missing, but from the reaction of the Iraqi people, I don’t think it will matter. Personally I think we will find them as people began to try to make amends for their involvement with Saddam. But who knows. The second lesson is that the Major News Services don’t give a damn about hard news. Everything is just an opportunity to make Ratings numbers. They have been allowed to slant the news and then editorialize it to fit the political agendas of the owners. Everyone is asking “what next”? Will we loose Afghanistan? Will wee invade Syria? I say who cares. What ever happens I would just like to be able to get the facts read the editorial opinions and then come to my own conclusions. For this government’s next action, I think we need to reform the news industry. And I think that a return to limiting the ability of any one organization to reach markets is the way to do this. Then I think that the FCC should ban the collection of news Ratings numbers from broadcast news shows. Broadcast new was meant to be a service that the broadcasters provided to their viewers. It was part of the licensing requirements in the old days. Now news is one of the largest revenue producers the networks have, and they are compelled to slant the information in their endless pursuit of profits and Ratings. Of this I have had enough! Just tell me what happened, and who did what to whom. I will decide if I think it is good or bad.

From what we are seeing now, we all know where this thing goes next. All that is in doubt is how long it takes to spin down, and how many times it comes to blows as the Iraqis learn to set aside their internal differences. In closing, I hope that there are plenty of signs to go around. Because there were a lot of experts paraded across the news by large corporations that sell news. And right now I am thinking that I am glad that I don’t have to listen to the spin that they will have to put on their views. The combat part of the war was not a blood bath. And while civilian casualties are all regrettable, they have been very light up to this point. In the coming months, we will hear things that were good and we will here things that were bad. We will decide that things could have been done differently, and we will hear that some parts were not needed at all. This is as it should be, and I can only hope that both sides of the issue will learn from this. What ever happens, it gives me a good feeling when I see so many people who have nothing, acting so happy about it. We should all strive to never take our freedom for granted again. We sit here and argue about the rights and wrongs of this war as we ***** about the price of gas and how much the war will cost. And the whole time we forget that these people face summery death should they be overheard complaining about their situation or the way they were governed. I am ashamed that I completely overlooked the horror that these people lived day to day. We should all put ourselves in their position for a moment. Were we them, everyone here who posted a derogatory comment about President Bush Clinton Bush Sr. Regan Carter Ford or Nixon would be in jail. Our wives would be in jail, our sons would be in jail. Our daughters would be worse off than that. The majority of us would be killed for speaking this way during a war. Our parents would also be punished, and at least forced to relocate to an undeveloped area. Everyone we spoke to would have become a suspect with many arrested. After 30 plus years of this, I am amazed that these people are not still hunkered down in their homes. To still be here to day, they learned to survive, and in Iraq that seems to have been to never be noticed. I solute the silent majority of Iraq. And I hope that the future hold opportunity and happiness for them. I also hope that the US protects this freedom that we have given them as surly as it protects the freedoms that America enjoys. And the freedoms that American lives have purchased for countless millions in the past.

PS:

I was going to let this pass, but what the hell. It has been fashionable and popular to trash the reputation of the United States in the past few months. Just as it was fun to razz the French for their defense of Saddam. And I hope that you have all enjoyed the debates and sparring as much as I have. A good disagreement opens the mind to outside views and ideas. But we should all take a moment and reflect on the fact that the freedom we enjoyed while doing this was paid for with the blood of America and its allies. And we do it on a medium that was developed to ensure that the Soviets could not decapitate America in a first strike. I doubt that a Nazify’d Europe would be so chatty and free to speak their mind today, and I seriously doubt that the Soviets would have ever allowed a basically free uncensored uncontrolled medium such as the internet to fall into common use by it citizens. This was an American expression of freedom. The most basic freedom, the ability to say what is on ones mind be it right or wrong.

To those who were offended by my statements, I offer no apologies. If you feel that you are owed one, well then email me, I’ll hear you out. But the reason that people don’t discuss politics and religion in mixed company is because of the hard feelings that can occur. I look forward to the next hot off topic thread that consumes this forum. This one is about over I think, with all that has happened up to now, I doubt there is much left that will seem worth much debate in at this late date.

[ April 09, 2003, 18:17: Message edited by: Thermodyne ]