Patriot Games

Before I begin I’m going to lay down a few things.

• First, I do not condone terrorism.
• Second, I do not think anyone deserved to die in the attack that occurred on September the 11th. Nobody deserves to die in this manner.

The terrorist attack known as 9/11 was brought on by the US itself.

Think about it for just a moment while I explain. Let’s look at a couple of events.

Osama bin Laden: In 1979 the US aided him and his group in order to help get the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan. Afterwards, bin Laden offered to further help the Saudis, protecting their land following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, when the US brought in half a million soldiers instead, this was an insult that bin Laden could not forgive and a betrayal from his former backers.

Talk about pissing someone off.

The Iran-Contra Affair: Another incident of the US getting itself involved and causing problems. Secretly the US sold arms in order to try to get hostages returned to them, then used the proceeds to fund a guerrilla war aimed at aborting Nicaraguan independence from US hegemony. The key to this is the fact that the US did this secretly and it all came out later in the usual circus of scandal.

Sure way to piss people off if you ask me.

Saddam Hussein: Let’s look at a little history on this one. In the beginning the US started by supporting him. They helped him retain power, sold him weapons and gave him money, backed him in his actions. Iraq and the US were working together indirectly. Then times changed and Hussein took actions that the US had no interest in.

This is where the US' selfishness steps in again. Suddenly the man who they thought was their pawn was thinking for himself and they waged war. This is the first time the US went to Iraq.

After their lack of resolve to remove Hussein, the US encouraged the Kurds and Marsh Arabs to rise up against him. When they did, thinking the US would back them, they were slaughtered. The US failed completely to help or back them in any way and many lost their lives in their attempt to take back their country.

This brings us to the second attack on Iraq.

The war we are currently in with Iraq is backed with reasons that are lies. The attack on 9/11 was made by bin Laden and al-Qaeda, a fundamentalist religious terrorist group. They took full credit for this attack. Iraq, under Hussein’s rule, was largely secular. Otherwise known as, complete opposite of bin Laden. Yet Iraq has gotten the full blame for what happened in New York.

This is an excuse.

Let’s have a quick look at some numbers.

First the official death toll of 9/11.

The official number of deaths is 2,819.

Second the number dead in Iraq.

To date the number of civilians dead is at more than 15,000.

Doesn’t seem right does it?

So much death based on reasons that are lies. WMD’s my ass. This was merely a scare tactic to get Americans and the UN behind the US so they could have a war. Bush had to make himself look good. If I was an Iraqi I’d be well pissed off at the US for these numbers alone, never mind the problems they’ve caused in the country during their occupation.

Over the years the US has continually done things like this. Constantly they piss people, and countries, off. Recently there was a poll of 21 countries about how safe they feel with Bush in control for a second term. The overwhelming majority say they do not feel safe. This was not just about Bush though, but also in relation to the US in general. Now why would 21 countries think that the US is dangerous and they fear them? Normal people fearing a country as a whole doesn’t happen without reasons.

These are but simple examples, things that, on their own, seem like individual incidents, but add these and others together and eventually someone is going to fight back. Someone is going to finally say ‘enough is enough’ and strike out in the only way they think they can against a country the size of the US. They attack them in a terrorist manner.

Constantly the US does things in their own interest. They don’t care who they step on. Look at past events. Look at current situations. The US government caused this to happen, and will continue. Don’t fall for this ‘War on Terrorism’ rhetoric. Bush’s war is as pointless as Reagan’s ‘War on Drugs’. It won’t happen and no one wins. If you let the government continue down this road the only thing that all of this will end in is more, needless death.