mitchellpash

Join Date 07/2009

Iraq...Necessary?

The stories of Americans

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't posted in a long time but I am doing a project for a government class.

Iraq?Necessary?

My Goal is to write a bill and get it signed by someone important. It's not going to go through congress, but I just want to make people aware of the horror that is happening.

If you guys have any info; personal stories, dads/moms in Iraq, etc....

It would be awesome to respond

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I wrote about the horrors of pre-invasion Iraq on my personal weblog. I talked to victims of Saddam's anti-Kurdish holocaust and saw pictures of gassed Kurds.

http://web.mac.com/ajbrehm/Home/Blog/Entries/2008/10/9_Erbil.html

It was especially difficult for me since I am from Germany and the poison gas Saddam used to kill Kurds apparently was from Germany too. I cried when I saw the pictures. I didn't publish all the pictures I took.

And I wrote here on JoeUser about the elections in Iraq last month and how Iraqis voted for the most pro-American candidate, the man who told the west about the WMDs:

http://citizenleauki.joeuser.com/article/378485/2010_Elections_in_Iraq

The Iraq war might be one of the most well-documented wars in history, so I'm not sure what you want to do to make people more "aware". But if you like I can give you lots of information about the horrors of Saddam's Iraq and how much things have improved since 2003.

If you want "someone important" I recommend the letter written by the first elected president of Iraq, Mr Jalal Talabani.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article106466.ece

In it he thanks coalition forces for the sacrifices and for liberating his country.

So if you want to surprise your teacher, give him lots of information that cannot easily be found by watching television in the evening. You may use my pictures of Saddam's secret police headquarters if you like. Be sure to include a picture of the Russian tanks.

As for whether the invasion was necessary, I think it was.

But then I grew up in Germany ONLY because the same sort of thing happened to my parents.

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Well said Leauki.

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You know, so many Americans think that horror comes with American soldiers, happens to American soldiers, and wouldn't happen without American soldiers.

The truth is more complex and not necessarily taught in schools.

History in Iraq did not begin in 2003 and war was an everyday thing for most Iraqis since the 1950s.

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Here's more:

"We've already discovered just so far the remains of 400,000 people in mass graves," said British Prime Minister Tony Blair on November 20 in London. The United Nations, the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch (HRW) all estimate that Saddam Hussein's regime murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent people. "Human Rights Watch estimates that as many as 290,000 Iraqis have been 'disappeared' by the Iraqi government over the past two decades," said the group in a statement in May. "Many of these 'disappeared' are those whose remains are now being unearthed in mass graves all over Iraq."

If these numbers prove accurate, they represent a crime against humanity surpassed only by the Rwandan genocide of 1994, Pol Pot's Cambodian killing fields in the 1970s, and the Nazi Holocaust of World War II.

http://www.usaid.gov/iraq/legacyofterror.html

(Actually, it's still easily surpassed by the Sudanese Civil War and the war in Darfur. But still...

The below site tells the whole story. Please, please only look at the pictures of you are older than 16 (or 18 where the law demands). They are quite graphic. When I was shown the original photographs in Sulimainiya I cried.

http://www.9neesan.com/massgraves/

http://www.9neesan.com/halapja/

Note that these numbers are not inflated and unverified. The bodies have actually been found. It's not a "study" of some professors in a university far from Iraq, it's actual bodies.

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Quoting Leauki,

reply 3

You know, so many Americans think that horror comes with American soldiers, happens to American soldiers, and wouldn't happen without American soldiers.

The truth is more complex and not necessarily taught in schools.

History in Iraq did not begin in 2003 and war was an everyday thing for most Iraqis since the 1950s.

Many Americans have the memory of a goldfish. They see the 30 second sound bytes on TV (or the internet) and never wonder how we got to that point, only that they do not like that point. I remember one episode of George Lopez where his daughter is saying "War is never right" as do many faux pacifists. But when George told her not to speak her mind, she retorted "Men fought and died for my right to free speech". But I thought you said war was never right?

They are eternally confused by facts. But if they live in their goldfish bowl, and the 3 second memory, then all things are easy. because war is never right, and there never was a war of independence. Or a Nazi Germany, or Tojo Japan. So they are safe in their ignorance.

But as soon as they step out into the real world, they are confronted by those who do not live in a bowl, and they have no answers to real world questions and issues. just the slogans of their goldfish bowl.

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Many Americans have the memory of a goldfish. They see the 30 second sound bytes on TV (or the internet) and never wonder how we got to that point, only that they do not like that point.

It's important to remember that anything reported on television happens in areas safe enough for television crews to operate. In fact most of the reporters report from luxury hotels. (I have seen some of those hotels in Iraq. It's absolutely awesome!)

In dangerous places, i.e. where hundreds of thousands (really) die and no American soldier stops the slaughter, journalists are rare. The same journalist who decries the violence in Iraq wouldn't dream of reporting from any place not secured by American soldiers or similar troops.

Generally people want to complain in safety. Complaining about the "horrors" of a war fought by Americans is very safe. Nobody will beat you up or put you in prison for complaining about America. Plus you get to feel awesome because you are opposing "evil" like the brave protester you are.

Of course in many countries people can only protest because American soldiers once invaded during a horrible war.

The horrors of war are many but they don't compare to the horrors of a peaceful dictatorship.

If our friend here wants to write about horrors and get a bill signed about it, he will absolutely find enough information if he follows the links I provided.

Although I am not sure if the teacher wants to hear anything about the horrors pre-invasion America-free Iraq. Most people don't.

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If our friend here wants to write about horrors and get a bill signed about it, he will absolutely find enough information if he follows the links I provided.

Although I am not sure if the teacher wants to hear anything about the horrors pre-invasion America-free Iraq. Most people don't.

I agree, the OP doesn't clearly state the objective of his proposed bill, since that is the goal. A clarification would be required if the author wishes to get the type of material they want for his/her specific agenda. Personally, since the author uses the term "horror that is happening" it has a negative connotation to current events in Iraq. It is being left to the read to dissect the OP's meaning, when more clarification should have been added. Of course writing an article, especially one seeking direct responses, and not promptly replying in a reasonable amount of time when suggestions are provided, does not feed the aire of information sharing and raises a red flag.

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I thought maybe he was referring to the horror that is happening to the families of the American soldiers.

Their horror is quite great, even if it means that other horrors becomes smaller.

Many Americans paid the ultimate price for the freedom of Europe.

And now Iraq.

In general I find it sad when people wake up to the horrors of this world only when something is finally being done about them and then do nothing but try to undo the action taken or vilify the people who were brave enough to do something.

But we have no idea what the author wants to do. Maybe his point is about the families of the brave soldiers. If so, more power to him.

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