What it means to be America...(semi-long)
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From: Lyndhurst
What it means to be America...(semi-long)
Here's a interesting e-mail I just received.
Take three minutes and read this-UK Daily Mirror article.
This is something you really wouldn't want to miss reading. Believe me.
No matter what your views on President Bush's statements about an upcoming
war, this piece, from an English journalist, is very interesting.
Just a word of background for those of you who aren't familiar with the
United Kingdom's "Daily Mirror" newspaper. This notoriously left-wing
journal normally is not supportive of the Colonials across the Atlantic.
by Tony Parsons for the "Daily Mirror"... September 11, 2002
One year ago, the world witnessed a unique kind of broadcasting - the mass
murder of thousands, live on television. As a lesson in the pitiless cruelty
of the human race, September 11 was up there with Pol Pot's Mountain of
Skulls in Cambodia, or the skeletal bodies stacked like garbage in the Nazi
concentration camps. An unspeakable act so cruel, so calculated and so
utterly merciless that surely the world could agree on one thing-nobody
deserves this fate. Surely there could be consensus: The victims were truly
innocent, the perpetrators truly evil.
But to the world's eternal shame, 9/11 is increasingly seen as
America's comeuppance. Incredibly, anti-Americanism has increased over the
last year.
There has always been a simmering resentment to the USA in this
country [England]; too loud, too rich, too full of themselves, and so much
happier than Europeans--but it has become an epidemic. And that seems
incredible to me. More than that, it turns my stomach.
America is this country's greatest friend and our staunchest ally.
We are bonded to the US by culture, language and blood. A little over half a
century ago, around half a million Americans died for our freedoms, as well
as their own. Have we forgotten so soon? And exactly a year ago, thousands
of ordinary men, women and children--not just Americans, but from dozens of
countries--were butchered by a small group of religious fanatics. Are we so
quick to betray these victims? What touched the heart about those who died
in the Twin Towers and on the planes, was that we recognized them. Young
fathers and mothers, somebody's son and somebody's daughter, husbands, wives
and children, some unborn. And these people brought it on themselves? Their
nation is to blame for their meticulously planned slaughter?
These days you don't have to be some dust-encrusted nut job in Kabul
or Karachi or Finsbury Park to see America as the Great Satan. The
anti-American alliance is made up of self-loathing liberals who blame the
Americans for every ill in the Third World, and conservatives suffering
from power-envy, bitter that the world's only superpower can do what it likes
without having to ask permission. The truth is that America has behaved
with enormous restraint since September 11.
Remember... remember... remember... the gut-wrenching tapes of weeping
men phoning their wives to say, "I love you," before they were burned alive.
Remember those people leaping to their deaths from the top of
burning skyscrapers. Remember the hundreds of firemen buried alive.
Remember the smiling face of that beautiful little girl who was on one
of the planes with her mum. Remember... remember...
And realize that America has never retaliated for 9/11 in anything like the
way it could have. So a few al-Al-Qaeda tourists got locked up without a
trial in Camp X-ray?
Pass the Kleenex. So some Afghan wedding receptions were shot up after
they merrily fired their semiautomatics in a sky full of American planes? A
shame but maybe next time they should stick to confetti. AMERICA could have
turned a large chunk of the world into a parking lot. That it didn't is a
sign of strength. American voices are already being raised against
attacking Iraq--that's what a democracy is for.
How many in the Islamic world will have a minute's silence for the
slaughtered innocents of 9/11? How many Islamic leaders will have the guts
to say that the mass murder of 9/11 was an abomination? When the news of
9/11 broke on the West Bank, those freedom-loving Palestinians were
dancing in the street. America watched all of that--and America didn't push
the button. We should thank the stars that America is the most powerful
nation in the world. I still find it incredible that 9/11 did not provoke
all-out war. Not a "war on terrorism." A real war.
The fundamentalist dudes are talking about "opening the gates of hell"
if America attacks Iraq. Well, America could have opened the gates of hell
like you wouldn't believe. The US is the most militarily powerful nation
that ever strode the face of the earth. The campaign in Afghanistan may
have been less than perfect and the planned war on Iraq may be
misconceived.
But don't blame America for not bringing peace and light to these
wretched countries. How many democracies are there in the Middle East, or
in the Muslim world? You can count them on the fingers of one hand -
assuming you haven't had any chopped off for minor shoplifting. I love
America, yet America is hated. I guess that makes me Bush's poodle.
But I would rather be a dog in New York City than a Prince in Riyadh.
Above all, America is hated because it is what every country wants to
be, rich, free, strong, open, optimistic. Not ground down by the past, or
religion, or some caste system. America is the best friend this country
ever had and we should start remembering that. Or do you really think the
USA is the root of all evil? Tell it to the loved ones of the men and women
who leaped to their death from the burning towers. Tell it to the nursing
mothers whose husbands died on one of the hijacked planes, or were ripped
apart in a collapsing skyscraper. And tell it to the hundreds of young
widows whose husbands worked for the New York Fire Department.
To our shame, George Bush gets a worse press than Saddam Hussein.
Once we were told that Saddam gassed the Kurds, tortured his own people and
set up rape camps in Kuwait.
Remember... remember... September 11th. One of the greatest atrocities in
human history was committed against America. No, do more than remember:
Never forget.
Take three minutes and read this-UK Daily Mirror article.
This is something you really wouldn't want to miss reading. Believe me.
No matter what your views on President Bush's statements about an upcoming
war, this piece, from an English journalist, is very interesting.
Just a word of background for those of you who aren't familiar with the
United Kingdom's "Daily Mirror" newspaper. This notoriously left-wing
journal normally is not supportive of the Colonials across the Atlantic.
by Tony Parsons for the "Daily Mirror"... September 11, 2002
One year ago, the world witnessed a unique kind of broadcasting - the mass
murder of thousands, live on television. As a lesson in the pitiless cruelty
of the human race, September 11 was up there with Pol Pot's Mountain of
Skulls in Cambodia, or the skeletal bodies stacked like garbage in the Nazi
concentration camps. An unspeakable act so cruel, so calculated and so
utterly merciless that surely the world could agree on one thing-nobody
deserves this fate. Surely there could be consensus: The victims were truly
innocent, the perpetrators truly evil.
But to the world's eternal shame, 9/11 is increasingly seen as
America's comeuppance. Incredibly, anti-Americanism has increased over the
last year.
There has always been a simmering resentment to the USA in this
country [England]; too loud, too rich, too full of themselves, and so much
happier than Europeans--but it has become an epidemic. And that seems
incredible to me. More than that, it turns my stomach.
America is this country's greatest friend and our staunchest ally.
We are bonded to the US by culture, language and blood. A little over half a
century ago, around half a million Americans died for our freedoms, as well
as their own. Have we forgotten so soon? And exactly a year ago, thousands
of ordinary men, women and children--not just Americans, but from dozens of
countries--were butchered by a small group of religious fanatics. Are we so
quick to betray these victims? What touched the heart about those who died
in the Twin Towers and on the planes, was that we recognized them. Young
fathers and mothers, somebody's son and somebody's daughter, husbands, wives
and children, some unborn. And these people brought it on themselves? Their
nation is to blame for their meticulously planned slaughter?
These days you don't have to be some dust-encrusted nut job in Kabul
or Karachi or Finsbury Park to see America as the Great Satan. The
anti-American alliance is made up of self-loathing liberals who blame the
Americans for every ill in the Third World, and conservatives suffering
from power-envy, bitter that the world's only superpower can do what it likes
without having to ask permission. The truth is that America has behaved
with enormous restraint since September 11.
Remember... remember... remember... the gut-wrenching tapes of weeping
men phoning their wives to say, "I love you," before they were burned alive.
Remember those people leaping to their deaths from the top of
burning skyscrapers. Remember the hundreds of firemen buried alive.
Remember the smiling face of that beautiful little girl who was on one
of the planes with her mum. Remember... remember...
And realize that America has never retaliated for 9/11 in anything like the
way it could have. So a few al-Al-Qaeda tourists got locked up without a
trial in Camp X-ray?
Pass the Kleenex. So some Afghan wedding receptions were shot up after
they merrily fired their semiautomatics in a sky full of American planes? A
shame but maybe next time they should stick to confetti. AMERICA could have
turned a large chunk of the world into a parking lot. That it didn't is a
sign of strength. American voices are already being raised against
attacking Iraq--that's what a democracy is for.
How many in the Islamic world will have a minute's silence for the
slaughtered innocents of 9/11? How many Islamic leaders will have the guts
to say that the mass murder of 9/11 was an abomination? When the news of
9/11 broke on the West Bank, those freedom-loving Palestinians were
dancing in the street. America watched all of that--and America didn't push
the button. We should thank the stars that America is the most powerful
nation in the world. I still find it incredible that 9/11 did not provoke
all-out war. Not a "war on terrorism." A real war.
The fundamentalist dudes are talking about "opening the gates of hell"
if America attacks Iraq. Well, America could have opened the gates of hell
like you wouldn't believe. The US is the most militarily powerful nation
that ever strode the face of the earth. The campaign in Afghanistan may
have been less than perfect and the planned war on Iraq may be
misconceived.
But don't blame America for not bringing peace and light to these
wretched countries. How many democracies are there in the Middle East, or
in the Muslim world? You can count them on the fingers of one hand -
assuming you haven't had any chopped off for minor shoplifting. I love
America, yet America is hated. I guess that makes me Bush's poodle.
But I would rather be a dog in New York City than a Prince in Riyadh.
Above all, America is hated because it is what every country wants to
be, rich, free, strong, open, optimistic. Not ground down by the past, or
religion, or some caste system. America is the best friend this country
ever had and we should start remembering that. Or do you really think the
USA is the root of all evil? Tell it to the loved ones of the men and women
who leaped to their death from the burning towers. Tell it to the nursing
mothers whose husbands died on one of the hijacked planes, or were ripped
apart in a collapsing skyscraper. And tell it to the hundreds of young
widows whose husbands worked for the New York Fire Department.
To our shame, George Bush gets a worse press than Saddam Hussein.
Once we were told that Saddam gassed the Kurds, tortured his own people and
set up rape camps in Kuwait.
Remember... remember... September 11th. One of the greatest atrocities in
human history was committed against America. No, do more than remember:
Never forget.
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 6,147
Likes: 0
From: 49th Parallel
You can discuss politics, and other related topics about the war here:
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...threadid=112776
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...threadid=112776
Former Moderator
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 59,195
Likes: 1
From: Ventura, California, USA
Dario, it is a unanimous decision (that includes HondaGal and Cthree) that politics will not be discussed on this forum because to the marked and emotional and argumentative nature that this, especially because of the war, causes. This after all, is a car site and not a political arena. Please follow Evo's link as posted to discuss it. I like your article, but this is not the place for it.
Thanks,
Raj
Thanks,
Raj
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