The Problem Is in Recognizing the Problem

George Bush is not a man I support. According to polls countrywide, his average approval rating has fallen below 40%. Even still, he is the president of the United States. He's been voted in and, unless removed from office, he's got about 18 months remaining in his term. I say this so that you'll realize my position and the national position and Bush's position.

Secondly, Iraq. The United States invaded Iraq a few years back, much to my dismay, and has remained until now, also to my dismay. When the war began, it wasn't so poorly supported. Now, its approval is lower than Bush's, by most estimations. It's been stated by both sides that the war has gone wrong and things need to be changed. The Democratic party calls for troop withdrawal on some scale, and the Republican party advocates more troops. These are facts.

Now, on to a current event, something that I find bewildering. Comparisons have been made between Iraq and Vietnam with increasing frequency as time has gone on, and Bush has now made his statement comparing the two. The previous statements have said that it's a quagmire, to use the politically chosen word, and that continuing to fight is foolish and we should get out before it gets worse. Bush's statement says that if we leave, we will cause turmoil.

He says that when the United States left Vietnam, it harmed the region. I would like to provide an argument against this. When the US military was in Vietnam, random shootings were not uncommon. The people shot at the soldiers, the soldiers shot at the people. The situation was far from ideal. Americans thought of the Vietnamese as "Gooks," assuming them to be lower in the food chain than we mighty soldiers. This racism led to increasing violence against innocent people as American soldiers had more and more trouble defeating the Vietnamese who were actually the enemy. As time continued, atrocities became more and more common.

If one would take a moment, please, and kindly look to Iraq. Since the beginning of the invasion by US troops, there has been Iraqi resistance. The soldiers started off afraid of the people, these Muslims, who were taken as a group of fanatics filled with hate. Racism again is at play. The soldiers of the US army have defeated the solid opponent, and are now fighting against guerrillas and suicide bombers. Very similarly to Vietnam, atrocities have been showing up with great frequency and soldiers are getting off with just a slap on the hand.

Now, Bush would like us to think that if we left Iraq there would be chaos. Look at all the good we do, training the Iraqi police force (haven't we been doing that for several years now?), policing the streets (using soldiers terrified of every woman and man who may want to kill them), and performing tactical operations to rout terrorists (some of whom happen to end up being whole families in which the women are raped and the men are killed). I'm glad to know that medieval standards of progress are being applied. At least now we know where we're aiming.

So I say have at it, Bush! Have your conquest! All I request is that you don't put my name down as part of the country that supported this war. I would like to submit that California is not part of this war. Please, do me that favour, and I'll let you shoot at whoever you like for as long as you want. Just leave me out of it. Thank you, sir.

From Here on Out

My name is Erik Brenner. I was born on May 22, 1988. I have several pseudonyms that I use online. The posts before this date were all from a small forum. The forum is now down, and I have gathered the posts to this blog. I plan to write at least once every two weeks, hopefully more often than that. As you can see from the preceding posts, I write on any subject that interests me at a particular time. Through these posts I hope to figure through situations on my own and help you, my loving reader, to do the same. Thank you for reading, and I hope you'll enjoy what's to come.