The Cost of Freedom: A Political Rant

A pine box is a one-way ticket home for our boys overseas.

With war-ravaged Iraq weighing heavy on the collective conscience of the Western World, and an upcoming war in Iran looking more and more likely, powerful people have started pointing fingers. More specifically, people have started pointing fingers at America, her policymakers, her military commanders, her President. We here at HPO are not quick to defend the clusterfuck that Iraq has become, and we even foolishly jump at every chance to bash George Dubya Bush. But to criticize the concept of fighting for true freedom, freedom from dictators like Saddam and Mahmoud and Idi, freedom from terrorists like Osama, is to go a bit too far.

America's staunchest allies, including CANZAB countries, who were all for this war back when it began, are starting to go Benedict Arnold on the American efforts over an increasing death toll and rising chaos in "Mess o' Potamia." While it is now known that the war was justified by falsified pretexts, and that from a logistical standpoint the entire operation has gone tits-up, America as the world's police officer does more good than harm.

In our favorite newspaper about a month ago, the British government (one of America's strongest allies) claimed that American forces in Iraq (specifically the 3rd Infantry Division) was "a big part of the problem" in Baghdad. As evidence for this, they claim that the brave, fighting men of that unit fired three tank rounds and destroyed an entire building after encountering "harmless rifle fire."

We'll repeat that, so that everyone can fully appreciate the idiocy of that comment: Harmless rifle fire.

It ain't that harmless when those bullets are flying past your head.

While we agree that decisions made by the Bush administration and certain commanders-in-chief are shaky at best, to criticize the boys in the war zone is going a step too far.

And now, people are getting upset at America's growing military involvement in Iran. In Iran, women who show any skin or hair by not wearing traditional arab garb are sent to jail for 2 months, and taxi drivers who drive these inappropriately dressed women are jailed too. Only China executed more people than Iran last year. Their president was a member of the organization mainly responsible for the Iran hostage crisis. They now possess nuclear power, and may already have a nuclear weapon. They want to nuke Israel.

In America, you can tell Bush to "sit on it" right to his face. Hell, people do it every day. You know what happens if you go out in public in Belorussia or Iran or and start yelling bad things about the president? You get taken down to the "police station" and get beaten with phone books. Or worse.

If nobody stops Iran, and other countries like it, the world would not be a very nice place 50 years from now. Nearsighted thinking often leads one to forget that there can be more than the horrible immediate aftermaths of war.

Dubya should resign immediately, lock himself in jail for life for what he has done. He owes an apology to just about every living thing on this planet, but yet he continues his devious lying day after day.

But, people, do not bash the soldiers out there fighting the good fight for us. Respect them, because they are the real heroes here. It's easy to focus in on the bad things the soldiers have done, like the Al Gharib debacle, but those things are logical consequences of the dishonest, pestilent leadership style of the Bush administration. As Tom Hanks once said in a movie: "Stupid is as stupid does."