WWHSD...

(first draft... let me know what you think)


I remember sitting cross-legged in my back yard one day. I was covered in good old Oklahoma red dirt, doing what all elementary school aged boys did in the late ‘70s. I was, of course, playing with my Star Wars action figures. I can almost recall moving Darth Vader forward with one hand to meet Han Solo (I think Luke Skywalker was probably off reading an Archie comic and sipping a glass of milk through a crazy straw at the time.). In the deepest 9 year old voice I could muster, the evil Darth spoke; “ Han Solo… you must lay down your weapons. Tell your traitorous Rebel friends to do the same and I might let you live.” Han Solo thought about this for a second. “You mean that if I don’t fight you any more, and I agree to live in perpetual fear for the foreseeable future, and I back away from my difficult but morally straight and righteous path… then you’ll probably let me live?” Vader took a slow, hissing, gurgling breath and affirmed; “Yes… if you bow down before my surpassing evilness and agree to serve me… then I most likely won’t kill you or anyone you know… at least for a while… unless I think I have a really good reason… or you make me mad.”

What would Han Solo do? Do you really think that he would agree? Hell no… Han pulled both blasters at once and drilled old Big Dumb and Ugly right through the cheap plastic mask. Within 24 hours, I’m sure Darth was propped up on the wall of our wooden shed catching BBs from my trusty Daisy rifle.

So why do we insist on leaning toward appeasement in the war on terrorism? There is no question in the mind of any sane persons about who has the moral high ground. Casting aside all the agenda driven propaganda from a dozen different angles, the facts say that this is a war of Cruelty and Barbarism versus Civilization and Democracy. We see a few individual soldiers do demeaning and embarrassing things to Iraqi prisoners… and we spend the next six months beating ourselves up for it as a nation. And meanwhile we take investigative and legal action against all involved. Some deranged and evil terrorist saws the head off of a civilian to make a political point… and while we are horrified and infuriated, we all know that there is nothing really surprising about it. This is the culture of Death that we are up against.

Palestinian terrorists played soccer in the street with the head of an Israeli soldier the other day, and sympathetic idiots point at Israel and smugly nod their heads as if to say; “See… you shouldn’t oppress people.” Those people aren’t being oppressed enough. If you are the kind of person who uses body parts from a fellow human being as sports equipment, you need to be lethally oppressed. Again, as I continually have to remind myself, I am not generalizing about the entire culture of Palestinians or anyone else. It does get harder and harder to remember that however. It might be a good idea for the Palestinian people who don’t subscribe to the same Death Culture as the extremists to take action, or at least speak out, against their evil brethren. They will never win with their current tactics, but they could lose a lot more than they have been if sympathy for their plight runs much shorter.

Muqtada Al-Sadr and his followers proclaim that if any of their Medhi Army thugs capture a British or American female soldier, they are free to keep her as a SLAVE. Property. Just when we thought that this worst of human offenses was eradicated from civilization, it is back in vogue among the Death Culture. Al-Sadr appeals to the basest and most vile of human urges to motivate his army. While this unspeakable pronouncement is made, our leaders struggle to maintain a ceasefire in Fallujah. We desperately try to avoid damaging any holy sites or mosques while their snipers and machine gunners fortify positions within. We show them too much respect. The Shiite people in those cities reportedly don’t support Al-Sadr, but they don’t seem to be running short of fighters yet. We show kindness and sympathy to the people of these cities and they take it to be weakness and capitulation. We show respect to a religion that has been hijacked and corrupted, and they gain followers every day. They think they can win. Every time we allow them to perceive a victory, whether it really is one or not, they get stronger.

Our most worthless and corrupt politicians garner publicity and support for themselves by comparing Iraq to Vietnam… and the terrorists cheer. They chalk up another victory that can’t be measured in a body count or piece of high ground taken. They understand that this war is being fought on American soil by their surrogate warriors, the Media. They can afford to lose battles in Iraq, because our own politicians and journalists are fighting the major engagements right here.

Sixty years ago, before Korea and Vietnam, before the Hippies and Drug Culture, before the Socialists took over our Universities and Political Organizations, millions of American Men and Women answered the call. There was no confusion or gray area. Everyone pulled together because the alternative was too horrible to consider. Actors enlisted. Baseball players picked up rifles. The sons of politicians and moguls threw a steel pot on their head and pulled on their combat boots because it was a battle of Good vs Evil, and we knew which was which. This fight is no less clear in its opposing sides. If you believe that sawing the heads off of civilians is EVER justified, then go ahead and muddy the waters with talk of appeasement and good will. If you believe that it is EVER acceptable to keep a female as a SLAVE, then preach your sermon of capitulation and withdrawal on campus somewhere. If you want to live in a world where the bodies of our political enemies are strung from bridges and dragged through the street, go ahead and find someone to blame it on besides those who commit the act itself. Blame Big Oil. Blame the Republicans. Blame Organized Religion for not being tolerant enough. You can go ahead search for reasons and justifications for barbarians. The barbarians don’t mind. You perform a function that they could never accomplish on their own.

But once you begin to see what we are fighting against, I expect that epiphany to be followed by some sort of redemption. I won’t hold your short sighted fairy tale politics against you… but I expect you to stand the fuck up and grab your sack. There are plenty of Men already in the service of their country who will do the fighting for you. I don’t expect Joe Wall Street to don a Kevlar or fix bayonets… but I do expect him to be as vocal in his support for his country as he was in his misguided opposition.