So I was a red light this morning, finishing my cortadito, when I hear a loud voice from the car next to me yell, “Hey, maybe you can ask George why I went to Iraq?” Having a “W” bumper sticker on a car will do that for you. The twenty-something then proceeded to relate how he had just returned from Iraq and (angrily) wanted to know why we were there. I just looked at him and said, “Read history” and raised my window as he continued to rant on. In Miami road rage is one of the more popular participatory sports, so I decided to forego a heated discussion with this moonbat (even one who may be a veteran) while I waited for the arrow to turn green. I thought, immediately, that I had lost an opportunity to educate; but I knew it was neither the time nor the place for a lesson. My first question to him would have been, “Why are you so pissed off when you volunteered to go in the first place!?”
In my morning readings, serendipitously enough, I came across an article in FrontPage Magazine that partially answers the young man’s query. The article, “The Saddam-Osama Connection: The Terrorist Testimony” by Mark Eichenlaub, has a laundry list of connections between the left’s (new) favorite victim, Saddam Hussein, and their favorite Bush-fighter, Osama bin Laden. Here are a few:
- Hudayfa Azzam, the son of bin Laden’s former mentor, told reporters in 2004, “Saddam Hussein’s regime welcomed them with open arms and young al-Qaeda members entered Iraq in large numbers, setting up an organization to confront the occupation.” AFP, 8-30-04 Thomas Joscelyn, “What Else Did Hudayfa Azzam Have To Say About Al-Qaeda In Iraq?” 4-3-06
- Hudayfa Azzam, the son of bin Laden’s mentor Abdullah Azzam, has said Iraq’s government worked closely with al-Qaeda before the war and welcomed a number of members in after they left Afghanistan and armed and funded them Thomas Joscelyn citing AFP, 8-30-04
- Dr. Mohammed al-Masri, a known al-Qaeda spokesman, told the Sunday Times that Saddam Hussein contacted the “Arab Afghans” (al-Qaeda) in 2001. Abdel Bari Atwan, Sunday Times, 2-26-06 via Thomas Joscelyn, “Saddam, the Insurgency, and the Terrorists,” 3-28-06
- Haqi Ismail, a Mosul native with relatives at the top of Iraq’s Mukhabarat and spent time in al-Qaeda/al Ansar camps in Afghanistan and Northern Iraq before being caught by Kurdish security, indicated that he was working for Saddam Hussein’s Intelligence Service (Mukhabarat). Jeffrey Goldberg, New Yorker, 3-25-02
- Moammar Ahmad Yussef, a captured deputy of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, told officials that Iraq provided money, weapons, fake passports, safe haven and training to al-Qaeda members. Dan Darling, Winds of Change, 11-21-03
- A “top Saddam Hussein official,” who was also a senior Intelligence official, says that Iraq made a secret pact with Ayman al-Zawahiri’s Egyptian Islamic Jihad and later al-Qaeda. Secret meetings between the two sides began in 1992. Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard, 11-24-03
- Abu Zubaydah, a high ranking al-Qaeda operative in U.S. custody, has said that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had good contacts with Iraqi Intelligence Services. Thomas Joscelyn, Weekly Standard, December 2, 2005
- Abu Iman al-Baghdadi, a 20-year veteran of Iraqi intelligence, told BBC news that Saddam Hussein is funding and arming Ansar al-Islam to fend off anti-Saddam Kurds. Jim Muir, BBC, July 24, 2002
So to my vehicular correspondent I want to say two things: One, if you are a veteran, thanks for your service; and two, if you want to know why we are in Iraq, put away the coloring books, throw away The New York Times and the Barbra Sterisand records, turn off Air America, and read. Read history. It’s the only light that will shine on why today is how it is, and what the future may hold for us.
He needs to read Ralph Peters’ comments in the article “Symposium: After Zarqawi”:
“We are dealing with a world (in the Middle East) of infantile, intellectually analphabetic males who respond to symbols in a primitive manner we have lost (the Nazi example notwithstanding).”
Weren’t the public schools supposed to teach our young folks history? What happened?
PTG, as one not far-removed from high school I can tell you that the history books used in our public schools are so slanted (against capitalism, for example), that they’re worthless.
And George, you’re absolutely right. If this character is indeed a veteran, he *volunteered* to follow all lawful orders issued by those appointed above him when he signed DD Form 4, the military enlistment contract. Enough said.
Well, I admire you rolling up the window. I’m not sure I’d have done it, I’m just hard-headed enough to argue.
But I do like your first idea. Volunteered for the job, nobody “made” that child do anything. I consider his mental state to be childlike if he blames Bush for him going to Iraq, when he signed the paper and said the oath.
I’ve learned long ago that it is a waste of my time to argue with idiots, assholes, communists and drunks. My time is too precious. Hence you did right Georgie Boy. You could present schmucks like this with signed affidavits, videotapes, and handwritten letters by God telling them they’re wrong, and they’ll still dispute it. Spend your time smoking a cigar and enjoying a scotch while this snot continues to blame all the ills of the world on Bushie including the fact of his erectile dysfunction and homoerotic thoughts of Howard Dean.
Anyone who thinks the war against terror starts and ends with the Bush administration is delusional. Who are they going to blame if (God forbid) a democrat wins the next election?
Ziva, they’ll blame republicans for anything. God forbid a dem wins; if any calamity happens, they’ll blame Bushie and the GOP. If hell itself freezes over, they’ll blame it on reverse global warming and on Bush. If an asteroid hits the earth, they’ll blame that on Rumsfield. Remember, we’re part of the culture of corruption; whereas they’re part of the culture of elitist, wine sipping, NY Times reading come mierdas.
High school history? Pshaw. I graduated in 2000 from one of the better public schools with an excellent education in English, music, math, science and how to get really drunk without your parents finding out (which I regret to this day), but only two years of history was required, and since geography-type courses counted as history, I really only had one year of history, which was a joke. I read as much as I can, but I’m still woefully ignorant. It’s almost crippling.
“Read history” was good advice to the veteran. Not the pablum-history taught in schools these days, but real history available from many sources. He might have found out, for one thing, that Iraq has been a problem since…1941. He might have learned about Ali Rashid Al-Mansour and his invitation to adolph hitler…