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Sunday, June 01, 2008

American Flag Burning in Iraq


One military death in Iraq is one to many. As the war mongering political right of American politics goes then 19 dead is progress? Explain that fact to the 19 mothers and fathers of the kids killed in the war for Daddy by President Bush. My humble heart felt prayers go out to the parents of the children killed in Iraq but somehow the media spin is that their deaths was a sign of better days to come in Iraq. I don’t get it. One death is to many in my eyes and it should be shouted at the tops of the lungs of anyone thinking that this is not okay.

When you analyze the number of deaths of your own troops as a measure of progress then true diplomacy is dead. When was the last time you heard or read about the Republican Bush lead administration talking about diplomacy to end the non stop violence in Iraq? You have not read about it because it is not happening. Kill them all and let God sort them out is the only policy that President Bush has to offer and he isn’t backing down from that stance any time soon. In times of war, each side sees God as on their side and in both circumstances both sides are wrong if stronger minds do not have a voice to end the conflict. War is madness when either side refuses to negotiate peace. Till that time comes the body count grows on both sides. History teaches us that the ones with the bigger weapons always win but in this case that isn't likely. The Iraqi people are fighting a religious war and we are there for nation building in a society that wants nothing to do with politics. Those two things just do not go together.

Over at the New York Times they have this piece on the current war dead and how much of a relief that only 19 American Military people were killed in Iraq…

U.S. Deaths in Iraq Fell Sharply in May
By ANDREW E. KRAMER
Published: June 2, 2008


BAGHDAD — American casualties dropped in May to their lowest monthly level — 19 — since the invasion in 2003, the United States military said Sunday, though officials said they were reluctant to highlight the number as a milestone.

There have been troughs in American casualty rates before, only to be followed by rising numbers of fatalities. Just on Sunday, one American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. The military has instead focused on falling rates of enemy attacks, among other indicators, as a measure of improving security.

Even amid the news of declining deaths, efforts to negotiate a long-term security pact that would set out how long American forces stay in Iraq suffered a setback on Sunday when the Iraqi government criticized proposals from American negotiators and vowed to reject any deal that violates Iraqi sovereignty.

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has been under political pressure to resist some American demands. Street protesters loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, for example, burned American flags on Friday to oppose the deal, and Mr. Sadr promised that his followers would stage regular protests through the summer.
- New York Times

When it comes right down to it, the current election cycle for President of this nation comes down to your willingness to accept any number of military dead for the sake of a land that has no American respect. Our troops could leave there tomorrow and the same tribal wars that have gone on for thousands of years will break out. One has to face the facts that Baghdad is not Washington D.C. or Crawford, Texas.

While the dissenters of an American military presence in Iraq burn our flag in Iraq we have to accept the fact that Iraq is not Boston, Chicago, Memphis, or Kansas City. Changing political philosophy in Iraq is tantamount to converting a lion to a vegetarian. It just isn’t in the works to happen at any single time in our lifetime. All of the unrest in Iraq is now due to the vacume or loss of an absolute dictator under Saddam Hussein and that is the battle that the people of Iraq must come to terms with. Our military presence in Iraq only instigates more hate against America even though we toppled the bastard that oppressed the thoughts and freedoms they now feel they must instigate against our troops. Freedom is a double edged sword and sometimes it swings against the people that gave them the voice to speak.

I’m supporting our troops, I’m just not supporting the reason they are in the line of fire. God bless them and keep them safe. One soldiers death is too many for my thoughts when diplomacy is always an option.

Papamoka

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Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Now It’s Working


The post featured below is from my newest friend BJ from South Carolina. She is a former Newspaper Editor and her political opinion writing can be found at I See My Dreams. Not many people can write like she does and I was so glad that she allowed me to cross post “Now, it’s working…” here at Papamoka Straight Talk. Thank you BJ!

Now, it's working ...

There’s a joke in upstate South Carolina about two Clemson University students riding around campus. The driver pulls over and asks his buddy to get out and tell him if his right blinker is working. The buddy yells back to the driver, “Now, it’s working; now, it’s not; now, it’s working, now it’s not.”

So, is the so-called U.S. troop “surge” in Iraq working – or not?

Can the surge be working when armed U.S. troops celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in the heart of a Muslim country?

Can the surge be working when a single American soldier looks into the camera and wishes his family “Happy Holidays” with tears running down his cheeks?

Can the surge be working when there are those who would have the United States become a fundamentalist theocracy while our soldiers are dying to prevent one in a Muslim country?

Can the surge be working when U.S. troops are fighting to liberate Iraqis from years of tyranny while the Bush administration has systematically chipped away at our own freedoms here?

Can the surge be working when major Iraqi factions cannot exist in harmony, and there are, quite literally, "warring" factions right here in America?

Can the surge be working as long as the neoconservatives who have shaped this administration’s foreign policy are building the world’s largest foreign embassy – a virtual fortress – in Baghdad with plans for a U.S. presence and U.S. bases protecting Iraq’s oil reserves for the unforeseeable future?

And, finally, you are hearing that the surge is working militarily, if not in terms of a successful Iraqi government. Is this true?

Examine six periods of this almost five-year war in terms of U.S. troop deaths in Iraq, verified by the DoD:

20 March 2003 through 1 May 2003 (end of major combat operations): 140 in 43 days

2 May 2003 through 28 June 2004 (sovereignty turned over to Iraq): 718 in 424 days

29 June 2004 through 30 January 2005 (Iraq elections): 580 in 216 days

31 January 2005 through 14 December 2005 (Iraq general elections): 715 in 318 days

15 December 2005 through 31 January 2007: 933 in 412 days

Beginning of the surge – 1 February 2007 to date: 811 in 328 days

Total deaths: 3,897 U.S. troops (Total coalition: UK, 174; other, 133)

Check out I See My Dreams for other great posts by BJ…

Papamoka

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Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Pay Up Westboro Baptist Church!






Did you ever think that for every bad action in the world there will come several opposing good actions to bring the scales of good and evil into balance. I believe that sometimes the scales of good need to be tipped just a little bit more in the world when it comes to our troops. Especially, in times when one of those soldiers is killed in the line of duty. At times like those, a family is devastated and lost in grief.

I hate to even write about the Westboro Baptist Church because I honestly believe that they are a group of radicals hiding behind the cloaks of their church with their message of hatred against homosexuals. Well, some nimrod in that organization had an epiphany that the only way to spread that hate message was to blame God first and point it out that God killed your son or daughter serving in our military for a reason. Showing up at military funerals and protesting that your spouse, your son, your daughter, or even a parent died while in service to America because God hates homosexuals was not a bright idea. Westboro Baptist Church disgusts me with their actions. How you can call yourself a Christian and think that selling hate at a funeral makes you a better person or more God like is beyond my mental comprehension. I’m not being anti Christian, I’m just pointing out how stupid and self centered these people are.

Tip the scales of right and wrong back to the right side and along comes the Patriot Guard Riders. This is a group of bikers and just regular folks that believe in supporting our troops and proudly show up by invitation of the family, to support a fallen son or daughter of America’s military. They don’t ask for any money, many of the Patriot Guard Riders will drive thousands of miles at their own expense to be there for the funeral to legally block the protestors from the families view. Big American flags and bikes lining both sides of the street is a sight to see that I am sure the parents or spouses of the fallen soldier appreciate more than anyone will ever know. Law enforcement officers tend to have a little more respect for people with a positive message than folks with a very negative message at a military funeral. Gee, that took a ton of brain activity to figure out.

Tipping the scales a little bit further for the good side and we have this court case by a parent against the Westboro Baptist Church by the Associated press in the Houston Chronicle…

Church that pickets military funerals ordered to pay $2.9 million

By ALEX DOMINGUEZ
Associated Press

BALTIMORE — A grieving father won a $2.9 million verdict today against a fundamentalist Kansas church that pickets military funerals out of a belief that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., sued the Westboro Baptist Church for unspecified damages after members staged a demonstration at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq.

Church members routinely picket funerals of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, carrying signs such as "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "God hates fags."
A number of states have passed laws regarding funeral protests, and Congress has passed a law prohibiting such protests at federal cemeteries. But the Maryland lawsuit is believed to be the first filed by the family of a fallen serviceman.
- Houston Chronicle

Three words, IT’S ABOUT TIME! I can hear the Amen coming from all my proud to serve brother and sister Patriot Guard Riders over this decision. My own personal applause goes out to the father of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder. Albert Snyder, you sir deserve this court decision and from my family to yours I offer my thanks for your sons service to our nation and of course my heart felt prayers over the loss of your son.

Thank you Mr. Albert Snyder.

Papamoka

Proud Member of the Patriot Guard Riders!
Cross posted at Bring IT ON!
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