I Don't Want To Change Your Mind.... I Just Want You to Be Informed

I can't begin to tell you how much I dislike discussing politics, since everyone always gets so angry & everyone thinks they're right & the words start flying like shit bombs. I hate it. Hate. It. So, it is with great trepidation that I make this post tonight. Even though I'll no doubt lose some readers, I have to try & somehow relate this. I love my country deeply. I love it enough to try & inform the uninformed & the misinformed, so dummy up folks. I'm only going to say all this once & forever after, keep my lips zipped about this.

I saw somewhere today that the casualty count in Iraq so far, is around 4,000 sons & daughters. In 5 years... we have lost around 4,000 sons & daughters. Let this sink in. Every one of those soldiers & their families supported the war in Iraq. They still do, except for perhaps a handful, whose pain has been too much for them to bear. Again, think.

-4,000- soldiers killed in -5- years in Iraq.
-47,359- soldiers killed in -10- years in Viet Nam.

At the end of the Vietnam War the final count in casualties was a whopping 47, 359. In 10 years (about double the time of troops in Iraq), there were a total of 47,359 dead soldiers. 47,359 Soldiers who would never see their families again. Soldiers who would never get to know their children that were born during their tours. 47,359 Soldiers who were mostly drafted & died for what they thought was defending their country. No one in Viet Nam had ever blown up portions of large cities in America or blown up American planes full of American passengers or even threatened America. Is this sinking in?

Both my male 1st cousins were killed in Viet Nam during their tours. They're part of those statistics in a war that was never ours. Let this sink in for a moment. It's all part of public record. Lies & misconceptions aren't on public record, unless they're part of a lawsuit. You do the math. These were my 2 cousins that I used to force to sit through my tea parties when we were little. Just look at the statistics. Absorb them.

Iraq: -5- years -4,000- deaths
Viet Nam: -10- yrs -47,359- deaths

Use your brain & allow these numbers to wash over you & consume you. You'll never understand this if you don't. We have a lot more people in our nation now, than when we were in Viet Nam. Think. Are you truly willing to have our government pull troops out of Iraq because we've lost 4,000 soldiers? Do you think that if we do this, the Al Qaeda & Osama Bin Laden will be good boys & start playing nicely? If so then baby, I've got some ocean front property in Iraq I'd like to sell you, for a most reasonable price. Honest. (email me for my number) Get it? Yet?

Both my kids know friends who've been in Iraq or are still there. These kids went to Iraq because they were patriots. They fought because they didn't want to see the Al Qaeda or Osama Bin Laden or Saddam Hussein do any further damage to the country they loved so much. This country. America. The America before & after 9/11. They went to Iraq knowing they might not come back, but they knew there was a reason for what they were doing.

Iraq has been a war of extremely low death casualties. This is compared to any other war, including the Civil War, which of course, was another useless war like Nam, but the statistics were still heart wrenching. The casualty count from any war is sad & heart wrenching. But, don't be so naive as to allow that to shadow your judgement of how things really are. Those young people went to Iraq because most of them were deeply affected by 9/11 and anyone who wants the U.S. to pull troops out of Iraq dishonors those brave soldiers.

Iraq War: -5- years -4,000- dead soldiers
Vietnam: -10 years- -47,359- dead soldiers

It's an awful number to deal with, no matter what war & it JUST BITES! I was a huge protester during those turbulent times in the late 1960's. I protested because I'd lost people I loved in a war that we never had any business being in. It wasn't our war but we lost 47,359 good soldiers because our leaders thought maybe, if we let the Communists skip by even once, then all hell would break loose. Think about it. What we're facing now is far worse than anything the Communists could have come up with.

Let me ask you this: Are you willing to let the Al Qaeda take over the majority of the world's oil so they can turn around and kill us with that same oil? Whether your answer is yes or no is of no consequence. This is not speculation & it's not a game. We're talking some serious shit here.

The Al Qaeda hates everyone in the world who isn't them, but they really, really hate America and all Americans. They don't just want to kill soldiers. They want to KILL every single one of you and every one of your children and everyone you have ever loved. They want to permanently wipe our country & its people from the face of the freaking earth. Does this bother you? If it doesn't, it should. Because if we pull out of Iraq now, it is a certified guarantee that Al Qaeda will eventually gain control of the majority of the world's oil. Think. If you like the price of oil now, you're gonna love it when the Al Qaeda gains control. If you disagree, then it's time to pull your heads out of your behinds. I can think of more graphic ways to say this, but I'm sure you get the picture.

Most Americans plod along through their daily lives & basically never pay attention to what's going on in the government until election time. Though pathetic, it's just the way of human beings. All of you *plodders* kind of drift through life & suddenly you catch a teensy bit of news on TV, you get behind it, right? What the media chooses to reveal to you is worlds away from the whole truth, or even the real truth. It's television. It's movies. It's radio. Get it? They didn't give us the truth in the 1960's. What on God's Green Earth makes you think anything has changed in the ever manipulative & increasingly competitive world of the media? If you don't believe me, then you need to do some investigative digging, pal. This is not the election year to go into the polling booths uninformed & unarmed. The facts & factual statistics are bi-partisan & the closest thing you'll ever get to the truth. Factual stats are not Democrat or Republican. Check history & check the facts.

IF you really care about the direction this country is going, then you'd better do your homework. Now. Please don't enter the polling booth in November without at least being armed with the REAL facts. If you do, then this country will surely *go to Hell in a hand-basket*, taking all of us & our savings & everything we cherish, with it. Think about it. Is that what you really want? Read the statistics & pay attention to history, people. If you can't read, then find someone to read it for you, but BE INFORMED.