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Originally Posted by peragro
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I still believe that this is a great country. Rumsfeld's bullet number 4 is quite accurate. We had as much part in making the current islamo fascists (less actually) than did the Europeans and the Ottoman empire, yet the negative focus is on what we did while very little is directed to others with more culpability. Furthermore, we spend endless months of news coverage wringing our hands over prisoners who are better treated than many of our own people and radically disproportionatly than are our captured service members and civilians treated.
The negativity aimed at this country by citizens of this country is disproportionate and unfairly given in the light of history and current events. It does harm to what is going on overseas. Whether you believe we went there for the right purpose or not, we are there now and the importance of success in that arena should be obvious to all, no matter whom they support politically. The negativity aimed at us by our own is done so at the expense of acknowledging the people who really are trying to kill us.
As I said the country is great, yet imperfect. I posted the article, which I thought was accurate and worth reading, from and imperfect SecDef. His points are valid despite what mistakes he has made.
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.negativity aimed at this country by citizens of this country....
Good lord it's not negativity. Simply put, we can change our own behavior much more effectively than we can change others. If we have behaved foolishly, we should fess up and correct ourselves. The hawks call this "appeasement."
For the 1800th time, the good book points out that it is prudent to treat others as we would be treated. We don't do that too often. Instead we behave like feudal landlords, exacting tribute and appropriating harvest.
As for treating the Gitmo guys better than we treat our own, yeah, I'm just sure you'd be happy under similar circumstances in a tropical paradise somewhere on the Southern coast of Iran, under an indeterminable sentence -- life, effectively -- surrounded by people you hate. And I haven't even got into the loud music sessions with bright lights and full blast air-conditioning while in their skivvies.
Brilliant, just brilliant, we say we're keeping them off the battlefield while our very actions insure the recruitment of many times their number.
But hey, no worries, we finally got the #2 man in Al Qaeda in Iraq. How many times have we gotten the #2 man?
