It’s Almost
Upon Us…
— From an e-mail dated March 19, 2003 —
…the war, I mean.
I’m not entirely convinced that, aside from the No Fly Zone air-defense
suppression sorties being flown, we’re doing a damn thing today, but I
wanted to share my personal views on the war in Iraq with you.
I am not posting this to any listserve, so if you’re reading this, it’s
because I sent it directly to you.
I’m certainly not embarrassed by expressing my opinions “in public”
as it were, but I am always cognizant of the “public persona” with which
I’m so closely associated, so I don’t want my personal opinions to be confused
with those held by the membership and board of directors of Brassroots the
staff and management of Running With Scissors, or the Infinite Group.
Thank you.
My opinion of the best action to take in the post 9/11 world
were apply expressed in my Groeteschele and Kurtz Were Right piece penned in December
of 2001, so this is by no means a treatise similar in scale or depth compared
to those musings. The perspective I presented therein has not changed for
me, but the implementation of the solution certainly has.
We lost our mandate to WIN after this administration was browbeaten
into UN submission by its so-called allies, its domestic political foes,
and its general lack of cajones when it comes to anything other than limiting
Americans’ freedoms here at home. We are simply showing up to one portion
of the necessary playing field a year late. The initiative to WIN
has been lost, so we’re left making excuses and apologizing for something
we haven’t yet accomplished… WINNING.
In life – be it on a football field or in the death throws of
nations – winning is EVERYTHING. There is no “how you play the game”
to it once you decide to enter the contest. I sincerely don’t believe we’re
willing to WIN or even keep what we’ve WON when we win it.
Why the all-caps in “win” as written above? Because to WIN
means you don’t have to keep playing the same game over and over to decide
the outcome – and I fear that’s the quagmire of “almosts” and “nearly hads”
into which we’re about to stumble head-first.
Am I talking about an uncertain military victory for the U.S.
and its (30-some) allies over Hussein and his armies? Uh… Hardly. We will
crush them like so many ants who’ve lost their antenna – but I’m genuinely
concerned we won’t twist our boots on their smashed carcasses once we’ve
stomped them. I want us to WIN, not just “emerge victorious” to the
delight of the world. I want us to emerge victorious for the delight of
ME. Why? Because I am what this war should be about.
MY needs.
MY desires.
MY dreams.
Sorry. I want it all, and I want it now.
We could have it, but we don’t seem to want it… Not as
badly as I do, at any rate.
Am I interested in liberating an oppressed people who’ve been
systematically murdered and tortured for thirty years? Yes, and that certainly
looks good on paper, but my allegiance to any people who will not overthrow
their tormentors by force of arms – like America once did – is waning in
the post 9/11 world… Especially since the vast majority of that world hates
every fiber of our being(s).
In short: Screw ’em.
What I want is a little payback and a LOT of oil. The
mere fact that we’ll “liberate” an oppressed people who worship some deity
on a throne is nothing more than a happy circumstance to me. Remember,
I’m the one who has to keep fighting the EnviroNazis who think that getting
our young men killed is perfectly okay because we thinking people (thee and
me) dare not drill for oil in one-third-of-one-percent of Alaska, so a few
more religious lunatics breeding their insanity in a less tortured way is
of no concern to yours truly. Since not enough Americans see fit to vote
against the insane policies of the Extreme Left, I’ve been reduced to entertaining
myself by calling them murderers in addition to liars and thieves
of the Bill of Rights in print and on radio. I would much rather be doing
something constructive, but when the only recourse to WINNING is being
destructive, so be it.
Countries supposedly fight wars – REAL WARS – to resolve
disputes caused by the incursion of one nation into another nation’s sovereign
territory, or, on the contrary, to gain and hold needed lands and resources
to maintain the survival of one’s own “undernourished” country. I see this
war as one that should have been fought a year ago for the former reason,
but… I can accept the latter reason because I’m bored watching my
freedoms dwindle while we kiss the collective asses of untold ungrateful
nations by telling them we won’t stay.
Fuck that noise… Let’s turn the sandbox into the world largest
Union 76 gas station.
That’s right.
I’m a horrible man for saying this, but I’m sure there are a
lot of you out there who can appreciate my clarity of thought on the matter.
Will we end terrorism achieving a “politically correct” victory
in Iraq? Uh… Not bloody likely. In fact, I expect it will get even worse.
But, much as it was when the Irish defeated the British and won their independence
in the early part of the last century, we know that if you kill enough bad
guys, eventually, there’s no more bad guys who left are willing to show up
for their murderous jobs in the morning. My fear, of course, is that America
will be so concerned with the way she “looks” to the rest of this pig world
that our “powers that be” will cheerily give it all away at the bargaining
table once we’ve suitably stomped the living shit out of our opponent… Just
like the Irish did. And, looking at the past century of “peace” that the
Irish bought with the blood of their young men, would we really want to do
anything but WIN (for real) this time out?
This is a Holy war, make no mistake about it, and we’re still
the Good Guys – even though we’re fighting the wrong war for the wrong reason
a year too late. But don’t let that bother you. It sure as hell doesn’t
bother me.
WIN.
Cripple and kill as many of those murdering bastards as humanly
possible, I say.
Just fucking WIN.
…And keep it.
…And drill it.
…And exploit it.
And deal with the terrorism and international repercussions as
they come. It’s war, dumb-ass.
There’s going to be death.
There’s going to be a loser.
There’s going to be a winner.
Deal with it.
We’re in a global war. It’s time we started acting like it. If
you don’t live in a “slave state” (like California or Illinois or Hawaii
or...), travel with your long arms, boys and girls – it doesn’t get any
realer than this. And when someone asks you “why” we’re fighting,
tell ’em our bravest young men and women are fighting for YOU.
Because YOU are all that matters on this globe. Why? Because…
…YOU never hijacked a plane.
…YOU never paid to have someone else hijack a plane.
…YOU never jumped up and down and cheered when you saw the results
of that hijacked plane.
…YOU don’t tell your children to kill other people because of
the way they pray – or don’t.
And YOU were never asked if you wanted to pay for other
nations’ mistakes.
YOU are still one of the good guys.
THEY are still the bad guys.
It’s not a black and white world, but rewarding wrong is never
right.
Let’s do the right thing…
…Let’s go get Phil some cheap gas.
Godspeed to all our armed forces (another ready alert just left
Davis Monthan Air Force Base on afterburners this very moment), and God
bless this reckless and often wrong Country of ours. But most importantly,
God bless all those – many of them going into harm’s way as I type – who
work to change what is wrong with this nation, as we ask His guidance to restore
its dream.
It’s all we have…
It’s what they want…
…So let’s give it to them — 62-grains to 15,000-pounds at a time.
***
“Big Duke Six to Eagle Thrust. Put on Psy-War-Op;
make it loud. This is a Romeo Foxtrot, shall we dance…”
— Robert Duvall as Major Kilgore in Apocalypse Now