Cao’s Note: I thought this was a pretty simplistic but real way of looking at this situation. I originally saw it on a discussion board and it later came to me in an email.
The other day, my nine year old son wanted to know why we were at war. My husband looked at our son and then looked at me. My husband and I were in the Army during the Gulf War and we would be honored to serve and defend our Country again today. I knew that my husband would give him a good explanation.
My husband thought for a few minutes and then told my son to go stand in our front living room window. He said “Son, stand there and tell me what you see?”
“I see trees and cars and our neighbor’s houses.” he replied.
“OK, now I want you to pretend that our house and our yard is the United States of America and you are President Bush.”
Our son giggled and said “OK.”
“Now son, I want you to look out the window and pretend that every house and yard on this block is a different country” my husband said.
“OK Dad, I’m pretending.”
“Now I want you to stand there and look out the window and pretend you see Saddam come out of his house with his wife, he has her by the hair and is hitting her. You see her bleeding and crying. He hits her in the face, he throws her on the ground, then he starts to kick her to death. Their children run out and are afraid to stop him, they are screaming and crying, they are watching this but do nothing because they are kids and they are afraid of their father. You see all of this, son…. what do you do?”
“Dad?”
“What do you do son?”
“I’d call the police, Dad.”
“OK. Pretend that the police are the United Nations. They take your call. They listen to what you know and saw but they refuse to help. What do you do then, son?”
“Dad………. but the police are supposed to help!” My son starts to whine.
“They don’t want to son, because they say that it is not their place or your place to get involved and that you should stay out of it,” my husband says.
But Dad…he killed her!!” my son exclaims. “I know he did…but the police tell you to stay out of it. Now I want you to look out that window and pretend you see our neighbor who you’re pretending is Saddam turn around and do the same thing to his children.”
“Daddy…he kills them?”
“Yes son, he does. What do you do?”
“Well, if the police don’t want to help, I will go and ask my next door neighbor to help me stop him.” our son says.
“Son, our next door neighbor sees what is happening and refuses to get involved as well. He refuses to open the door and help you stop him, “my husband says.
“But Dad, I NEED help!!! I can’t stop him by myself!!”
“WHAT DO YOU DO SON?” Our son starts to cry.
“OK, no one wants to help you, the man across the street saw you ask for help and saw that no one would help you stop him. He stands taller and puffs out his chest. Guess what he does next son?”
“What Daddy?”
“He walks across the street to the old ladies house and breaks down her door and drags her out, steals all her stuff and sets her house on fire and then…he kills her. He turns around and sees you standing in the window and laughs at you. WHAT DO YOU DO?”
“Daddy…”
“WHAT DO YOU DO?”
Our son is crying and he looks down and he whispers, “I’d close the blinds, Daddy.”
My husband looks at our son with tears in his eyes and asks him…”Why?”
“Because Daddy…..the police are supposed to help people who needs them…and they won’t help…. You always say that neighbors are supposed to HELP neighbors, but they won’t help either…they won’t help me stop him…I’m afraid….I can’t do it by myself Daddy…..I can’t look out my window and just watch him do all these terrible things and…and…..do nothing…so….I’m just going to close the blinds…. so I can’t see what he’s doing……..and I’m going to pretend that it is not happening.”
I start to cry.
My husband looks at our nine year old son standing in the window, looking pitiful and ashamed at his answers to my husband’s questions and he says…”Son…”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Open the blinds because that man…. he’s at your front door…”WHAT DO YOU DO?”
My son looks at his father, anger and defiance in his eyes. He balls up his tiny fists and looks his father square in the eyes, without hesitation he says: “I DEFEND MY FAMILY DAD!! I’M NOT GONNA LET HIM HURT MOMMY OR MY SISTER, DAD!!! I’M GONNA FIGHT HIM, DAD, I’M GONNA FIGHT HIM!!!!!”
I see a tear roll down my husband’s cheek and he grabs our son to his chest and hugs him tight, and says… “It’s too late to fight him, he’s too strong and he’s already at YOUR front door son…..you should have stopped him BEFORE he killed his wife, and his children and the old lady across the way. You have to do what’s right, even if you have to do it alone, before it’s too late.” my husband whispers. THAT scenario I just gave you is WHY we are at war with Iraq. When good men stand by and let evil happen son, THAT is the greatest EVIL of all. Our President is doing what is right. We, as a free nation, must understand that this war is a war of humanity. WE must remove evil men from power so that we can continue to live in a free world where we are not afraid to look out our window so that my nine year old son won’t grow up in a world where he feels that if he just “closes” that blinds the atrocities in the world won’t affect him. “YOU MUST NEVER BE AFRAID TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT!, EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO DO IT ALONE!” BE PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN! BE PROUD OF OUR TROOPS!! SUPPORT THEM!!! SUPPORT AMERICA SO THAT IN THE FUTURE OUR CHILDREN WILL NEVER HAVE TO CLOSE THEIR BLINDS…”
~good thing you left out the WMD’s, aluminum tubes, involvement in 9/11 and the imminent threat to the U.S., no need to confuse the youngster or lie to them~
I’d just include over 5,000 americans dead at their hands, Islamonazi Terrorism since 1968, the liberals defend them but–I have no idea why.
Because in Zwahiri’s recent message, he spoke against ****, against liberals, and the financial sector–(i.e., Wall Street bankers, etc.) all those people the libs love and ARE.
That’s right, Carrol, keep it simple so even the idiots can understand it.
Ok, fine, so… in the story, the man beats his wife to death with an aluminum tube.
Happy now?
Excellent metaphor, Cao.
Real Life
Today’s Dose of NIF
The very next day, the son decided that he had to take action before something awful happened. So he marched over to the house that his dad had indicated, accosted the man inside, and beat him to death in front of his screaming wife and family.
Everyone in the neighborhood was afraid of the son as he stalked back home, bloody and satisfied, so nobody approached him. In the distance, a siren began to wail.
The End.
That’s a pretty far out thing for a 9-year old to do, wiggle.
But whatever, that’s what the terrorists do with 9-year olds and handicapped people like that 19-year old with downs syndrome–make them into suicide bombers.
Cao,
You’re right — rather simplistic but well done.
What bothers me is the impracticality of the scenario, capsulized in this statement in the last paragraph: “WE must remove evil men from power so that we can continue to live in a free world . . .”
I hope President Bush isn’t reading this — and if he is I hope he realizes now that the price for removing just one evil person from power is so great it can not, must not become our National policy.
If we are to become to the world what Charles Bronson was to all the many communities he saved in his “Death Wish” movies (and believe me, I realize the need for a global vigilante) we had better learn to fight smarter not harder or more often. There are far too many evil dictators in the world.
I’m not sure how I found my way to this site, it’s a big blog world out there.
I must admit that is the sorriest excuse I have ever heard for why we are in Iraq. We are not in Iraq because Saddam beat his wife or anyone elses. We are not in Iraq because we just happened to be peaking out our front window.
Sure Saddam was a tyrant and a dictator, but he had nothing to do with 9/11 and had no WMD, like Bush said he did. Aluminum tubes? That’s not WMD. Canada has that much and for sure Iran does.
While we have fought a war of choice in Iraq, the real person responsible for 3,000 deaths on our own shores is still at large.
The Neocons have done an excellent job of feeding lies to the world if you believe that made up email and the other comments on this site.
Thanks
..or the 6 year old from Palestine that put on a suicide vest for some candy.
I got this one in e-mail long before I started blogging. Great piece. Thanks.
Something I’d be willing to bet that Carrol, as well as Barbara Boxer (since she never read the two page report) don’t realize is there were 23 separate reasons noted in the authorization for use-of-force that congress voted for, not just WMD.
#10, good catch. And Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer and the rest VOTED FOR US TO GO THERE. BTW, the Progressive left has been wrong on every single conflict we’ve been involved in (click here)
Ok then #8, what are we going to do about it..I agree, there are more evil dictators than Saddam Hussein.
In the case of Saddam (who I consider to be Islam’s Hitler), I don’t see that we had any other choice, just as we didn’t have any other choice with Hitler.
What should become policy is pumping up our military and letting every nation know not to screw around with the US.
I’m so glad we’ve stopped this pussyfooting around…but we’re also isolating ourselves. I’m particularly worried about Israel having no allies but us.
If we’re actually going to use that as a reason, then there should be about a dozen other countries that we should have “liberated” by now…
I take it you believed that BS story. Look, this sort of thing is passed around on a daily basis, just to keep the sheeple, well, sheeple.
It doesn’t matter if you support the war or not. It is happening with or without it. Your opinion means nothing. Nor does mine.
War is death. I’m more of a Life kinda guy.
anonymoses, a terrorist attack in your home town is death too. We are all LIFE kinda people. Sometimes it takes war to keep more people alive, hate to say.