Today is a day I’ve been waiting for. It’s March 19 Iraq Blogswarm - all about why we shouldn’t be in this war. This is a chance for those who are against it to speak up and for our opposition to tell us we don’t understand the world. I will keep this article short and simple.
I’ll be the first to admit that Saddam Hussein was an evil man. I don’t like the horrible things he did. Perhaps the world is better without him. One thing I cannot stand is when someone in favor of war tells me that I don’t live in reality or understand danger, killing or the world. I also cannot stand those who say, “Yes, they found no weapons of mass destruction, but overall it is a good thing. It’s for the greater good.”
I’ve been told on numerous occasions by many people that I hammer the American government when I should be bashing Islamic fundamentalists and terrorists. I’m hammering all of them. Yes, there are terrorists. And then you have the corrupted American government. Put the two together and you have the petri dish to cultivate war.
I’m not partial to saying our government is the only corrupted one - most all governments are. They should have waited until they actually found the weapons before attacking. Is that too much to ask for? What if I preemptively killed my neighbors because I knew they were planning on killing me; however, I had no actual proof. I would be imprisoned and dealt the death penalty.
I am not allowed to take the law into my own hands. That’s the government’s job. They control everything. They answer to no one and make monumental decisions behind closed doors. The aren’t just above the law, they are the law. That’s what America is. America is not nor has ever been a democracy, it is a republic; completely based on a representative form of government.
I talked to several American soldiers I know and asked them to let me interview them for this blog. They of course declined in fear of repercussions. When I asked why they thought we were in Iraq, three said,”Because Osama blew up them buildings, that’s what really started it.” (their answers made no sense whatsoever).
There is no proof for any reasons. The conspiracy theorists are laughed at and the people who believe the news are simply believing nothing but public opinion and speculation. Public opinion governs the entire world and that is sad. Let’s use public opinion in better ways and not just be a bunch of noise.
My parents raised me to talk things through. They taught me the difference between good and bad. They taught me that violence is horrific and that killing people is wrong. These are basic morals most of us live with. Governments live by a different set of morals. They are supposed to make the hard decisions that shape and mold society. They have no easy task.
This such a more complex subject than just right and wrong. When dealing with evil and total destruction, things become opinionated and require covert operations. The truth is, none of us know what is really going on. Certainly, a military cannot reveal everything in the public arena - that would cause incredible problems.
I do believe the inflexible position of, “You cannot negotiate with terrorists” is not working. This is the thinking of stagnant minds. There are better ways to move forward. It is my hope that we as bloggers, can help bring intelligence and fresh ideas to the world. We are doing it everyday - that is exciting to me. We are growing in colossal ways and cannot be stopped. The power of blogging has just begun. I am proud to be one of them.
Yes, war is horrible and humankind should be above it. We can only work towards a better world - all of us. This Iraq Blogswarm is about awareness, keeping the issue alive and never letting us forget why humanity can do better - much better.
Peace and love to the world
Bobby Revell
My opinions do not completely coincide with yours, but I appreciate that you make many good points, (my favorite is: “Yes, there are terrorists. And then you have the corrupted American government. Put the two together and you have the petri dish to cultivate war.”) You take the heated anger out of rant. Your firm, yet not hostile, position is easier to take this way-so thanks-I kept reading rather than clicking off of the page.
And yes, maybe all bloggers will become the new Dickens, Hugo, & Upton Sinclair of our times! Make way for social change!! The bloggers have arrived!
Thanks Margo! You know, blogging has made me more sensible and much more diplomatic. To discuss things without letting emotion take over is difficult - but I am getting better at it. War is such a sensitive subject. Blogging is definitely a way to talk about these things in a calm and rational way and we are having an impact
This is sensitive commenting, to say the least. I fear that opinions about this can create hate in themselves.
I think that what lacked in this venture was an exit strategy, and a real “mission” to accomplish. In that, I agree with you.
I have the opprotunity to talk with military personel all the time. They all have one common thought … “People never see or hear of the good things happening in Iraq”. They talk of schools being re-built, new persoal freedoms, and real gains in the process torwards democracy. Many want to return to active duty there. Media projects the scenario of death, and only death.
What am I saying here? No, not that I think this is a good war, nor that we have made all the right choices in this country (we meaning government). I do think, however, that by saying “I am for peace” is a very loose term. We have more people shot and killed each day in this country by criminals, drug dealers, and gang members. The police are “at war” with these very things as well. Sometimes the forces of evil need to be counter-acted.
So … finish in Iraq, yes. Can we isolate ourselves from the world and just hold peace signs? No.
This would be a FAR greater concern if there was a draft, that I do believe. Once you go from a volunteer army to a forced army, there had better be enemy guns on the border coming to attack US soil.
Again, I am commenting here because I felt a pull to do so, and just add some of “my own” thoughts. I hope that they do not put a division to a blogging friendship. As these are some of my thoughts, I know that you will have thoughts that differ in response. Talking on subjects, thinking about subjects, is what make people human. It seems that most people have a set opinion far right or far left on Iraq, and have nothing to say or talk about, besides how the other is wrong.
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Hi Eric! In my opinion, the Iraq war was never meant to be won, only sustained…much like Vietnam. That’s a quote from the film Zeitgeist which you can watch free. It’s two hours long and you should watch it. Yes opinions cause problems, and that is very much a part of the upcoming election. We all must talk through these problems rather than bitching about them - which is what so many people do - I am no exception.
I have reached a point in my thinking where I will never let someones opinion come between a friendship. I don’t get mad anymore and that’s a huge, really a gigantic step for me. Where did I learn how to do that? From blogging. It has helped me grow and change. It’s so unbelievable to me!
There is a growing consciousness among people and I choose to see it positively rather than so gloomy like I have in the past. Thank you for your enlightening comment!
Bobby, I was encouraged to see that numerous rallies and protests were staged today. I agree with most of what you have written here and am glad you shared your views. I got carried away a bit and made two posts for Blogswarm. Other than that I have been preparing in case our tornado watches became tornado warnings, but it appears we are now in the clear.
Have a great night.
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I read your posts earlier but haven’t had time to comment yet. I have learned that my personal quest for understanding has brought me to a new plateau - a place of inner peace. I am thankful for blogging and the people who have shown me new ways of seeing things. I am going to try to read as many blogswarm posts as I have time to. If I hadn’t met you, I probably wouldn’t have even heard about it. For that and your friendship, I must say THANK YOU
Hi Bobby,
This is certainly a complicated subject. And, being someone who’s more directly affected by the war than some (spent 9 months away from my family, and will probably be on my way to “exotic” locations again in the not too distant future), of course I’ve got an opinion.
That being said, I’ll put it in the form of a question …
Is it possible to believe that going into Iraq was definitely a huge mistake, but given the fact that we must deal with “what is”, as opposed to “what could/should be”, still be kind of glad that we didn’t totally pull out last year when we definitely were “losing” ?
Don’t get me wrong. I honestly have never heard a good definition of what “winning” in Iraq would even look like. But, I think that because of the (successful) strategies that have been pursued over the past year, we’re in a much better position to actually start thinking about getting out somewhat on “our own terms” than we were in Jan of 2007.
No matter who wins this next election, I think it’s extremely unrealistic to expect that even a long as 4-5 years down the road there won’t still be 10’s of thousands of troops in Iraq.
Whether we like it or not, that’s reality.
Todd
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Hello Todd! Once the war actually started, we had to stay in it. Also, I am aware that there is some good that has occurred and many soldiers are doing some wonderful things there. War is sometimes necessary, that is a fact of life. We aren’t to such a high point of human intellectualism that we are above it…yet.
Public awareness is at an all time high and the public is demanding answers from our government than ever before. I was so politically inept just 5 years ago. I educated myself and am still learning and reading more about it. I guess I’m getting older and more interested.
There are so many things the Bush administration could have done to prevent such a public backlash. He lost his credibility with me after 9-11. The 9-11 commission report was ridiculous and left far too many questions unanswered. I’m not saying every conspiracy theory is true, but I am saying that it is possible they are. This is their own fault.
My father died from cancer from agent orange in Vietnam. The U.S. Army sent my mother a letter admitting it was their fault. Then, in a most disingenuous gesture, sent her a check for $250.00 - that was a slap in the face. She was of course expecting no money, but they sent it anyway. She never cashed it.
Anyway, war just isn’t an easy subject to discuss for any of us; however, by talking about it and sharing our views, we are moving in the right direction. I am American and I am proud to be one. I am free to do what I want, so I suppose I really do have a lot to be thankful for.
Have a great day Todd. If you go to anywhere dangerous, stay safe and know you have a friend in me
Square1, your comment didn’t show up - it’s some kind of anomaly that occurs occasionally. I shall reprint it:
Square1:
Well the thanks goes along to Gloria who brought my attention to it initially, and to Lee for banging her drum about it until I decided that it was also my duty to speak up. After all if a French-Canadian can stand up about it, from her current home in France no less, then I bloody well do so as a red-blooded American citizen, instead of whining into my root beer all of the time.
And that’s what I love about blogging the most, the friends who show you interesting new things and ideas. I am often surprised to see people from other countries who know and follow American politics more than many who actually live here. Are you a rootbeer lover? I want one so bad now that you mentioned it
Well I don’t drink alcohol, so I couldn’t say crying into my beer, but yeah, Barq’s rocks!
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lol…I was so far from thinking about beer that I didn’t catch the “into my beer” part - when I realized that…I cracked up
I usually do not subscibe to your comments, as you get so many that my mail box fills up with “Revellians” very quickly, but I did for this post. I have learned something from each comment, and commend you for your personable approch to this issue Bobby. I wish thought exchange could be this way in more of our society. Wouldn’t that be great?
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Ah…that’s because you use yahoo mail. Google mail only gets 1 email for each comment, with a number by it which tells you how many so it doesn’t fill your box
Yeah that would be cool Eric. In America; class, religion, race and gender is how people are categorized and judged. I’d vote for a poor satanic hermaphroditic alien as long as it was honest 
I’ve never seen war, I’ve never experienced war and to be honest, I don’t want to and I don’t intend to. I think war is just an excuse of someone who’s ego has been bruised!
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You know Nick, that is so true…it’s frightening
Make love, not war! Great post Bobby, have a good weekend!
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Thanks Genie Princess, you have a great weekend too
You keep amazing me with every post, Bobby! Thanks..
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Thanks Laila, that’s a wonderful thing to say
Hi Bobby… how are you my friend? I am here to see how you are doing… and say Happy Easter!!!
*hugs to you*
Thanks Trinity! You have a wonderful Easter too!
I agree with you on the Saddam thing and I totally don’t agree on what America govt is doing to Iraq…Saddam is dead….Bush should have left Iraq alone years ago….I lived in a peaceful land so I don’t like WAR…it just add to the suffering of humans…
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Hi Nimrodjo! Just remember, it’s not the countries that are fighting, it is the government leaders. That’s the reality I cannot stand. Bush never asked me or any normal citizen about going to war. He lied and that’s all there is to it - I’ll be glad when he is no longer president.
There are many things about Iraq that pretty much make me irate, and some things that are never discussed about it. The very mobilization for this war was illegal for a start, and years later, the media angle or the Bush angle of democratization is still out there. How can a president be a man of peace when he essentially gives a thumbs up to executing a leader of a country. Despite the heinous crimes committed by Hussein, the fact remains, George W Bush is not a man of peace.
Talk of rebuilding schools and things doesn’t really eradicate the fact that after two wars in Iraq, there are many areas that have experienced nuclear pollution from depleted Uranium, and there are thousands of cases in Iraq that concern congenital deformities, childhood cancers, and infant mortality.
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The way I see it, Bush doesn’t represent me or most other Americans. He represents himself and the scumbags like Dick Cheney and 9-11 commissioner Philip Zelikow. What is so unbelievable is Zelikow was the guy who designed the preemptive war strategy for Iraq!
People all over the world need to learn what really happened on 9-11, because they apparently have no idea. Bush only cares about his agenda, not peace, and I am overjoyed that he will soon be out of office. Personally, I think we need a whole new government, but I am not crazy enough to believe we will anytime soon. Violence is the supreme authority from which all authority is derived, and unfortunately, that’s how it is.
You’re right, the war is illegal, and people are tired of it. America has military bases in nearly every country! We are taking over the world, and that is causing so much animosity that it will result in our own demise. There are so many similarities between America and the ancient Romans that it’s frightening. The Iraq war has caused far more harm than good - war will never be the answer to anything.
Hi Bobby.
I’ll drop my 2 cents worth in here. I just found the post now.
“We” went in on the premise of ridding Saddam of WMD’s. Most, if not all, weapons used, were supplied by the US, UK, France, Germany etc. Chemical, Biological weapons that were supplied to drop on Kurds and Iranians. Iraq has (had?) 24 Million citizens. 60% are (were?) children. What threat is that? It reaks of the 200 pound schoolyard bully bashing the 50 pound weakling, then telling everyone it was for everyones best.
The MOAB bomb was used in the 1991 Gulf Slaughter. It detonates 21,000 lb of explosives above the ground for maximum “collateral” damage. It triggers temperatures up to 1000F and literally sucks the oxygen out of the air. It spreads a fine mist of fuel into the air the size of a football field into an explosive mixture that is ignited, causing a massive explosion. A shock of 200PSI in the detonation zone literally sucks people lungs out of their mouths… Humans can only withstand 40PSI.
These were also used in Afghanistan and the second Iraq slaughter according to world newspapers. Don’t these weapons qualify as WMD’s?
Wear a uniform and killing civilians will go unnoticed (if you’re on the winning side). Do it in a shirt and jeans, then you’re a terrorist.
A Red Cross report says that children in Kosovo (today) are 5 times more likely to die from a NATO dropped cluster bomb than a Serbian landmine. In 1991, 30 Million clusterbombs were dropped in Iraq. It all sounds like Mass Destruction to me.
The US government has now killed more soldiers by sending them to Iraq than civilians were killed in 911. Let’s not even think of how many innocent civilians that have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in retaliation. I don’t see “eye for an eye” in the Koran. It may be in the Bible but I’m pretty sure it mentions something about turning the other cheek too. I wonder why some Muslims don’t like the Schoolyard bully so much…
I dread the day when Millions of our innocent citizens are invaded by foreign forces and subjected to the genocide that has been imposed on so many other countries in the name of democracy. We can only hope there is no such thing as Karma.
Terrorism is a terrible thing. I wonder why it is only committed by governments with access to large quantities of Oil and natural resources?
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I thought I’d add this to the above post:
Yesterday, my 8 year old son happened to see the graphic pictures of a little Iraqi boy with the top of his skull blown off in a book I was reading. Another photo was of a boy (I think) that only had a head and torso left after the explotion in a non-military area og Bagdad. There was even pictures of babies with “side effects” from the “dirty bombs” with depleted uranium that were dropped on Iraq between the 2 conflics.
My sons question was this:
“Dad, why do people go to war when they know it’s wrong? Why do they kill little children when the soldiers are the ones with weapons?”
Hell! How do I answer that one? He wasn’t meant to see those pictures. Nor was the western world. They come from independent journalists (not the “embedded” ones that were approved”). 10 independent journalists were killed in action in Iraq… far more than the “embedded - approved ones”.
Life sure knows how to throw a few curveballs at you every now and again.
We are decent, good people. Australian, US, Iraqi.. we all want peace. They don’t want to kill us any more than we want to kill them. They have a few bad eggs. So have we. Surely all US citizens shouldn’t be judged on the likes of Timothy McVeigh, Charles Manson, the murderers at Columbine or any of the 1000’s of perceived bad guys in society that held a US passport? So why judge Iraqi’s on a Saudi citizen that lives in Afghanistan that even released a statement 2 days after 911 stating he wasn’t involved. Why deny it? These guys do it to prove a point. There’s no society named: “Terrorists Anonymous”
Imagine an invation of the USA by a forreign coalition due to a US citizen accused of committing an attach on foreign soil. Bizarre!
When Hillary, Obama or whoever is in the other party, gets in office, watch them do the first thing every president does: Grant a presidential pardon to the outgoing president, ridding them of all wrong doing. Bush did it for Reagan, Clinton did it for “Father” George and “Boy” George did it for Clinton. I just hope this time the Democrats (or whoever) stops the bombing and don’t continue it like Clinton did… these guys are supposed to be opposed to the war, right?
Maybe do what they did in a local election in Brazil a few years back. They voted for a Monkey. The slogan was: “Pay Peanuts. Get Monkeys” or something like that. At least a monkey would be more humane… Yes, a bit rough to say that, but the world is getting increasingly more annoyed with injustices committed by “the good guys”.
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Hi Sean, thanks so much for your comments! That’s such a difficult subject to explain to a child, I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Apparently, adults and world leaders don’t either, so how on Earth can a child understand?
I’m seeing two growing schools of thought in regard to terrorism. One, is the idea that the Islamic religion is just bad and should either be outlawed or regulated somehow; perhaps even changed. I know Christians who say, “If a Muslim doesn’t want to kill Christians, then they are not really Muslim and are ignorant of their own theology. I disagree with this point of view and do not believe Muslims or their faith is bad. I believe there are terrorists, but governments are using the fear to gain power.
The other school of thought is of course the conspiracy theorists. They lend themselves little validity because they tend to overdo it and make many ridiculous claims, such as believing aliens live at the bottom of the ocean or that Bush is Satan.
I fall in the middle and can see through the B.S. on both sides. It’s a combination of terrorism and government taking advantage of fear tactics - all the while corrupted by festering greed. Some people believe there will be an economic collapse in America and other countries who are allies. I believe that a collapse like that would actually be a good thing. It would force the world to be reworked from the ground up. Who knows, I will not live in fear, no matter what happens.
The people of the world aren’t fighting anyway. It’s the governments. I never agreed to go to war, Bush did. Citizens should be able to vote on such things. Something major is going to happen soon…it is inevitable. Lets hope it’s not nuclear war. Something has to give before long. I do not believe a new president will change anything, it must be a complete change in the way this country is governed. I want a democracy, not a republic.
Well said, Bobby. You’re a class act and a reason for the blogging community to be proud. I like your diplomacy skills. More people could do with skills like that.
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Thank you Sean, that means a lot to me and I will never forget it.