How far we've come

DATELINE Baghdad:
At least 19 people have died so far in the arson, looting and shootings. Several hundred have also been injured and about 3,000 people have been arrested. Curfews are in place in many areas of the country and National Guard soldiers have been mobilized to help quell the violence, which is threatening to engulf the country.

Twelve thousand troops in the nation's capital were called on to help protect fire fighters tackling at least eight blazes. Other fires were started and were accompanied by looting and sniping, and at least 20 buildings have been completely destroyed.

There have also been 38 arson attacks, shootings reported and a four-hour gun battle at a State University.

DATELINE Fallujah:
Estimates of the number of lives lost during the unrest vary between 50 and 60, with as many as 2,000 persons injured. Estimates of the material damage done vary between about $800 million and $1 billion. Approximately 3,600 fires were set, destroying 1,100 buildings, with fire calls coming once every minute at some points. About 10,000 people were arrested.


Yes with news like this it’s easy to se why the MSM and weak-kneed Democrats are all but hoping for open civil war as pretext for pulling the plug in Iraq. But Wait! The dateline in the first story is not Baghdad. The article actually describes the state of affairs in the US two days after Martin Luther King was assassinated in April 1968. The action described in the story actually occurred in Washington D.C., Chicago, Detroit and a Tennessee State University. The action in the second dateline occurred not in Fallujah but ratheer in Los Angeles, CA in April 1992 after the Rodney King verdict.

As the world’s oldest Democracy, we may at times lose sight of our own rocky road to becoming the world’s only hyper power. We have a long history of committing violence against one another for every reason, race, religion, political persuasion and reaction to what we believe to be an onerous government.

Then there was our all out, no-kidding civil war. And if ever there was a war to end all wars, our civil war would be very near the top when measured in human and monetary cost. But the American Civil War is absolutely second to none when one considers what was at stake in that war. This page has never been overly concerned about civil war and/or the potential partitioning of Iraq. A whole, free and democratic Iraq would be nice, but what is essential is that it not be a haven for terrorists. So when we consider what is at stake in Iraq, we need to be a bit more Lincolnesque and a bit less McClellanesque.

NEWSFLASH: John McCain actually makes sense on the current Middle East crisis. Now if he'd only make sense on immigration, taxes, first amendment rights, judicial appontments etc. etc., he may have a chance for the '08 nomination.