Every Sunday a bunch of leftists gather at the corner of Pomerado Road and Twin Peaks Road and demonstrate "against the war". Apparently they are encouraged to do that by some Air America-affiliated radio show. A week ago on Sunday I and a couple of my fellow Protest Warriors staged a counter-protest. Later I was able to get an e-mail forwarded to a lady who is one of the organizers of the leftist demonstration, just to see her reaction and check whether she might be willing to debate based on facts. Below is that e-mail:
So, this nice lady actually suggested to you that people in Iraq were better off under Saddam? Because he maintained order and government services functioned? Wow! It always amazes me that people on the Left resort to "Under Mussolini trains ran on time" argument. I wonder if she calls herself "liberal". How can one be liberal and resort to this kind of argument? So, she read that some Iraqis said that life was better under Saddam. Well, I am sure there were a lot of Germans in 1945 that thought that life was better under Hitler. In the late 1980s, when Soviet Union was disintegrating, there were people who were nostalgic for Stalin. "Stalin maintained order", they would say. Does she think that they were right?
Now Iraq is a mess for a number of reasons, screw-ups of our administration being one of them. So, these people think that we should just pick up and leave that place to Al-Qaeda and Iran. Do they think there will be peace once we leave, or they simply don't care? They keep saying that Al-Qaeda was not there before we went there. Although there are evidence to the contrary, including some findings by 9/11 Commission, for the sake of argument I will stipulate to that. But Al-Qaeda is there now. And it's not propaganda: I personally talked to people who served in Iraq. Do so-called "anti-war" people think that abandoning the place to Al-Qaeda is a good idea? Now, when finally something is going right?
Last Sunday there was one lady there. She was very condescending to me. She wore a T-shirt with an Israeli and a Palestinian flags and a word "Dialog" under the flags. I think she was Jewish. She also mentioned some of her family members who were killed in wars and was blaming America for it. I wonder if World War 2 was one of those wars. So, I guess, while her family was safely in the US, she would suggest that my family should have a "dialog". I guess, she would suggest it to my grandma's father who was hunted down and shot in occupied Odessa. Or to my wife's great-grandparents who were murdered in Salaspils. Or to my first grade teacher who was lucky to survive the ghetto in Odessa. That lady probably simply does not want to know about all that. Would she join Charles Lindberg's "America First" party? I'd love to ask her all these questions, but she did not really want to engage in conversation. As a Jew, I have to say that there is only one thing worst than Nazis: the suicidal Jews who enable them.
One of the signs I was holding had this George Orwell quote on it: "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." The anti-victory people said that it was facetious. Well, maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. But I happen to agree with it. There is only one way to make facetious: if you believe that in reality there are no bad guys who want to kill you. But as soon as you realize that there are people who wish us harm, then this quote becomes very accurate. Orwell's "1984" was based on the Stalin's Soviet Union. Don't take my word for it, look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four#Orwell.27s_inspiration
It is no wonder that "1984" was not available in the old Soviet Union. Neither was "Animal Farm". But I have been living in this country long enough, so perhaps I should have read "1984" by now. Why haven't I? Well, first of all, I already know what life is like in a totalitarian society. Thus, there is very little for me to learn from this book. So, I've been concentrating on history books like Dan Kurzman's "The Bravest Battle" or Winston Churchill's World War 2 memoirs. I've been also concentrating on current event's books like Yossef Bodansky's "Secret History of the Iraq War" and 9/11 Commission Report. I think I can be forgiven for not reading "1984".
Anyway, I don't want to sound like I am looking for excuses for not reading some book. My point is that, unlike the leftists, I always question my views and arrive to them based on the information I dig out from various sources.
So, this is what the people daring to call themselves "liberals" advocate: "Mussolini got the trains to run on time", appeasement and 1930s-style isolationism. That is very far from true liberalism, if you ask me.
You know what, I have an idea. Send this e-mail to that lady you got those e-mails from. It is unlikely that she will change her mind. But at least she might understand where I am coming from. At least maybe she will think of consequences of withdrawing our troops from Iraq now. While you are at it, send her also these links:
http://conservativlib.wordpress.com/why-conservative-liberal/
http://jonjayray.tripod.com/hitler.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,499154,00.html
http://www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/ohanlon/pollack20070730.htm
http://conservativlib.wordpress.com/2007/05/20/yeltsins-lessons-for-america/
And my e-mail: eric_odessit@yahoo.com.
Let's see what this lady has to say, or whether she will even follow my links.
Update:
Regarding that "dialog" with people who want to kill us: here is a "nice" story (via LGF):
...In total, seven Kassam rockets landed in and around the western Negev town as Sderot children started their second day of the new school year. The Islamic Jihad said they had fired nine Kuds-3 rockets, saying on their internet site that the attack was “a present for the start of the new school year.”
So, how do you talk to these people?
Update 2:
Apparently the nice peace-loving lady admitted that she would like to cut our losses and pull out, regardless of the consequences. And, being "liberal" and "open-minded", she decided not to engage in any debate or at least take a look at the links I sent her.
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