A Southern Armyman's point of view

I spent more than 12 years in the Army, as a 'grunt'. As I write this
I hear a C-17 flying low overhead, either into or out of the airfield
on the military base where I worked as a civilian for many years
before I retired. I spent several years in the Far East, Europe, and
several months in the Persian Gulf region. I remember what it was
like to drive or walk down the street in a foreign country and have
the local people smile and wave at me and not have to wonder if they
really were happy to see me, or if they had a weapon behind their
back. I also remember what it was like to see hostile and angry looks
on the faces of some of these same people - this is what King George
and L'il Richard have done for America.

Our country once had friends around the world. As the dust was still
settling on Manhattan, September 11, 2001, people and their leaders
around the world spoke out against the senseless inhumanity of the
attack on the Twin Towers. They offered us help and sympathy and
support. We didn't ask for these words or these gestures... we didn't
have to, this was purely and simplely what friends and neighbors did
in times of trouble and crisis.

George W. Bush has alienated most of the leaders of the nations that
were thefirst and the loudest in their support of America after that
tragic day. Those few who've taken active part in the invasion and
occupation of Iraq have largely done so out of fear and frustration:
Fear of alienating the Bush government and frustration at King
George's stubborn unwillingness to talk to anyone, starting with
Saadam Hussein!

Now, Mr. Bush is trying to fond some way to justify military action
against Iran, either by provoking them into some rash act or by
persuading the rest of the world that Iran constitutes some threat to
America. And, he won't talk to anyone, including the Iranian
government.

If President Bush pushes America into an armed conflict with Iran, it
will be the biggest foreign policy failure in this country's history,
because it personify an age-old wisdom: The enemy of my enemy is my
friend. If pushed into what they will see as a war for national
survival, Iran will bury it's religious and political differences with
Iraq and make common cause against the US and any ally foolish enough
to hang on, and this will turn the entire Persian Gulf region into a
war zone.
In addition to the massive destruction around the Persian Gulf and the
loss of innocent human lives, the true price of a barrel of crude oil
will rise so fast and so far that the industrialized world will be
staggered.

And, only a fool would think that all of this could not result in a
major terrorist attack on America. There are too many uncontrolled
tactical nuclear weapons on the market, and the people of the oil-rich
nations of the Persian Gulf have their price. Such a threat -
nevermind an actual attack - would only strengthen and expand the
extra-legal authority of Homeland Security and US Military
authorities, at the expense of our Constitutional rights. Only
recently, the US Appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled that US
civilian courts do NOT have the authority to determine the legality of
the detention of those the military hold in Guantanamo and other
facilities. If this ruling stands, it is a frightening repudiation of
a major tenet of the Bill of Rights.

If any or all of this events and actions sound eerily familiar, many
of us have read about these events and their consequences long ago -
George Orwell wrote about them in "1984."

I would like to thank him for contributing this, but he will remain anonymous. Just the discussion of warrantless wiretapping remains me of my two favorite quotes,
"When Facism comes to American it will be drapped in a flag and carrying a bible"-Upton Sinclair. And, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."-Benjamin Franklin