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the spork
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I opposed the start of the war and i oppose the imperial notions that some of our leaders will start to feel once the war is winding down. I oppose the policies that led to this war, both from the Reagan era on down to now. I oppose the war itself.
That being said, I think if the goal of at least removing Saddam and the Ba'ath party from their power over the Iraqi people is accomplished, these actions will not be irredeemable.
But to truly repair our image with the Middle-East and most of the rest of the world, one of the things that the US government must do as an act of good faith with the world is to stop catering to the loose-cannon known as Ariel Sharon and his government in Israel.
The fault for this soft stance on Israel lies largely with the Christian/Conservative factions in the Legislature who, even though many of them frequently skate on the edges of anti-semitism, are driven by the apocalyptic nature of their beliefs (Those of us who endured the Sunday School circuit may remember that the reconstruction of the Temple is meant to be both the sign and the catalyst of The End - the Temple presently cannot be rebuilt on Temple Mount because the holiest Mosque in all of Islam currently sits upon it.)
Dubya is a man of that particular "born-again" variety and whose campaigne was managed by, among others, a guy named Ralph Reed, who is basically a hand-puppet of Pat "god told me to run for prez in '88" Robertson which is why his followers had a bigger problem with Bill's once-upon-a-time incident of "not inhaling" than they did with Dubya's once-upon-a-time cocaine habit and DWI history... but I digress...
The only way Israel sees itself as fully restored is to rebuild the Temple. The fundamentalist element in American politics may have no real love for the people of Israel, but the only way a Hard-line Israeli governtment like Sharon's to be happy is to basically be rid of the Palestinians so that the Mosque may be cleared away for the Temple.
Because it suits the goals of their Ideology, our fundamentalists do whatever they can to continually endorse the Apartheid tactics of Israel against the Palestinian people.
Watch the news... Ariel Sharon is no better than Saddam Hussein in his policies toward people living within his own country. It's no wonder so many find the notion of suicide bombing so attractive.
As long as the DC contingent keeps licking the Knesset's matzo balls on these issues, we will be reviled as the biggest bunch of hypocrites in the world and will likely continue to be perceived as an enemy by the Islamic nations.
I wonder how many of those bastards secretly smiled to themselves when Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. I know there were politicians here in the US who were beside themselves with rage when Rabin and Arafat were co-awarded to Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to reconcile the right of both Israel and Palestine to exist, they must have been only too happy at how quickly his successors managed to dismantle and ignore the workings of the Oslo Accord, the Peace agreement between the states.
I'm not much for prayer, i haven't been to church in a very long time and more often than not i would tell you that i don't really believe, but i've got one to offer right now
Deliver us, O Lord, from the madness of zealots on all sides, whether they are our own, our allies or those we might call our enemies. May the innocent be kept safe and may wisdom and conscience prevail over the baser qualities of humanity. May all of the souls out there in the desert be able to go home to their lives and families as quickly as possible and may all of the fallen go to their rest in peace. I ask this not for the sake of anyone I know, for I am fortunate enough to have no friend or family in harm's way tonight, i ask this, God, because if you are really up there, you and i both know that there are better things that we could be doing with our time and energy besides killing each other.
Amen
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