If anyone who knows me then they may have been waiting for a posting like this from me.....my thoughts on how I do what I do and maybe why.
The long war. We want out, they want us out. Not so easy. I've never agreed with this war in Iraq. I think it was poorly planned for the "unintended results", many things were taken for granted by our State Department, we had incomplete or even misleading intelligence as a nation, and we have/had an administration that listened to a few and surrounded themselves with "yes men"...even "Hell yes men"!
So why don't we just haul ass on the whole damn thing and let "them muslims" sort it out on their own.....after all, they've been slaughtering each other for centuries.
Well, that line of thinking is retarded in nature and irresponsible. We are a nation that is NOT perfect, we make mistakes, we buckle down, and we try our best to fix things when we are allowed to. That's the big picture of my thoughts...and it's very simple. But more importantly, its about being authentic and accountable to the "idea" of American Democratic Values...our values as a society, our belief system.
The United States is in the very unfortunate position of being the global torch bearer of human rights and democratic freedoms (even though we are technically a representative republic...and folks, there is a large type difference). That position in global leadership comes with a heavy burden. As a country, because of this, we will always be a target internally by our media machine and external by other nations and societies alike.
So like after WWII and other wars we've either started or entered, we need to stay and perform the due diligence to at least try to repair the damage we've created, protect the innocent trapped in the aftermath, and give the population a fighting chance to create their own future.
Free of extremist ideology.
In my view, Democracy is a gentlemen's agreement. We agree to debate our differences, we agree to a leadership change (in fact a revolution) evey 4 years, sometimes 8. We agree to a rule of law, we agree to separation of church and state, to freedom of the press, to the right of assembly, to be accountable to a system of rules that apply to everyone no matter of their station in society. Yeah, some people get away with things and it may seem unfair at times, but overall....it is working. The fact that you are reading this from the relative safety of your home, your office, or the starbucks (that hasn't closed) sipping your latte....is proof positive the system, our system is working in general terms....and we still have a long way to go...a long, long way to go.
1. Iraq is not so lucky, it never was, its not now...but hopefully it will be. Wanna know the difference between me and an average Iraqi....actually not much at all. We hurt the same, we laugh the same, we love the same, we just want to go to the grocery store, the library, the stereo shop or our respective places of worship in safety...that is not too much to ask.
An extremist, or better yet Religious Fundamentalist: (Religious fundamentalism refers to a "deep and totalistic commitment" to a belief in the infallibility and inerrancy of holy scriptures, absolute religious authority, and strict adherence to a set of basic principles (fundamentals), away from doctrinal compromises with modern social and political life.) obviously have many alternate views of how we, the USA conduct our daily lives.
The war we are involved in now is really not kinetic in nature, one of guns and bombs and IED's, even though they are certainly a deadly part of this war. The war now...is a war of words and deeds and theories, beliefs, education, moderation and socioeconomic systems...or, OR Maslow's hierarchy of needs., Physiological, Safety, Love/Belonging, Esteem, Self Actualization.
Whether we like it or not, agree with it or not, we are fighting for the environment that will allow Iraqi's to determine their own "new" destiny. To be safe in their own homes, go to the market, marry and have children, be proud of their heritage, and re-acquaint themselves with their pride.
Folks, this does not happen in 5 years, or 10 years, or 15. We are talking a generation or two. We are at this moment fighting for the children of Iraq...the undecided, the curious, the innocence that cause a dream to become a life mission. This is our obligation. We have to provide the soil and water for the seeds of compromise, moderation, openess to grow to a strong tree and bare fruit.
2. The soldier on the ground. Some of the best humans I have met in my life I have met in the past 2 years. They go to places we would never have the courage to go, accept the tasking's we would never accept, and do their best to come home safe and sound. They are hard, and yet they are compassionate, they are wickedly smart...and they have the hardest job on this planet. They cannot afford to make one single mistake in anything. My time in News....we could fuck something up, use a bad graphic, whatever...and fix it with a correction and an apology on air and it's done, over with, on to the next story...fagetaboutit!
They are not afforded this luxury, ever. A mistake in a color on a leaflet can cause a riot that directly results in the death of an innocent civilian. This is the game they play everyday. The same press with all it's freedom, awaits anxiously to high lite the mistakes and brush off the successes. The "viewing" population revels in their misteps and yet demands they move faster. We have turned the camera lenses into the most powerful weapon ever created. Media no longer observes and reflects, but rather edits and reshapes the information into an opinion based editorial. If the news outlets of the world only reported fact and allowed you to decide for yourself, there would be no need for CBS News, NBC News, Fox News, CNN, etc, etc....because they would all be saying the exact same thing....and it would be inherently boring. We are in the age of infotainment and tabloid journalism that compete for your money, not the principals of informing you.
A journalist will allow you to think, if you read a conclusion, then you have been given an opinion.
Just like what I'm doing here, but I said that upfront didn't I?
3. War is NEVER human, nor is it Holy....NEVER. If you demand that civilian casualties stay low and we salvage as much as possible....then expect it(the war) to last a long long time...and get over it, except it.
4. The B-52 bomber is the greatest psychological weapon to ever have been created. It is the definition of defeat....why...because it kills everything beneath it. Ask North Vietnam...as a society, if we want to defeat the extremists and bring them to their knees, then we must be willing to be as equally extreme and destroy ALL life until they reach their break point. We did it in Germany, we repeated it in Japan, again in Vietnam.
Is this us? I hope not...not yet, not again. I still have hope in the 4yr old. I have met Muslim's that are worth our continued effort..and they just want the same basic things we do, I am convinced of that. I see a beautiful civilization that is worth saving. A rich culture and wonderful hearts, for fucks sake they invented modern science..look up the origins of Algebra(it's an Arabic word)!!!!
They are as much like us than they will ever be different. We have created our obligation and we must remain authentic to our promise of what we stand for and the torch we carry.
I will never be afraid of extremist in Iraq, what scares me, is extremists in our culture.
The Silent Majority must be heard, we cannot afford to be silent much longer. We must demand more of ourselves and our leaders. We must honor the life that has been taken and cleanse the soil of hatred and righteousness.
So the tree can grow.
I'm tired.
B.
aS-Sabr miftaaHu l-faraj (Patience is the key to freedom)
The long road into work gives time to reflect.
Will I know true peace in my lifetime? In 35 shorts years, there has not been a decade without the war of man. It is now two years since that day. I think of the images of that day, the anger, the sadness, and I see the statues in my living room, given for the glimpse of my heart, and grow heavy with the guilt, of having them. What award will fill the unhappiness and despair? What is my contribution yet to make? I feel I have done nothing, only to have willfully fed the machine that holds the public eye. I help focus the first person view of the destruction of man.
We use freedom of the press as the excuse to invade, just as a terrorist to religion. What has become of the values we so preciously seek? We have chosen to survive rather than create. We know what the public eye will watch, but do we know what they yearn to see?
Why must this choice be made, survive or serve? What if we, together, choose both? What if we choose to make a difference? What if we choose to honor the medium and the freedom granted to it to make our world better today than it was 2 years ago? What can we do to make it better? Not because it can. But because it should.
It is on occasions that we conflict with the fundamentals of our lives. Who are we? What am I doing? Why am I here? For what purpose am I to serve? Why does the world not agree with me?
Why do we, as humans seek to know the essence of our existence? For exploration? For understanding? To better ourselves? Make us more worldly?
I think not..it is for greed. We generally associate greed with financial gains and have tagged it to a corporate culture based on a bottom line. But greed is not as bad as have made it out to be. All progress has been created on the backs of the individuals who were courageous enough to become comfortable with their own greed and then feed it. The issue arises when we become embarrassed by our greed; it makes us feel inadequate and arrogant.
But is human exploration, the attempt to understand what our species IS, and what it can withstand…arrogant? Is LOVE, complete LOVE, arrogant? Well, yes….because it makes us proud to have that someone or something.
