Please critique my response to a Freeper chain letter.

[The Night Owl]

"Learn these facts to properly debate our poor misguided liberal friends and family before election time!!!..."

By definition, the United States is and has been one of the most liberal countries on Earth. Civil Rights, Social Security, Medicare, fair wages, and child labor laws are all examples of Liberal initiatives.

Countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran are two examples of places without Liberalism. Do we really want to be anything like those countries?



"... There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq during the month of January... In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the month of January. That's just one American city, about as deadly as the entire war torn country of Iraq..."

First of all, the casualty figure cited does not take into account the casualties incurred by civilians both foreign and domestic in Iraq.

Second, even though the casualty figure cited is used to describe the murder rate in the entire country of Iraq, it takes into account only US combat casualties.

Finally, keep in mind that US forces in Iraq spend most of the time inside of heavily fortified areas known as Green Zones. When US forces do venture out into the cities and towns of Iraq, they travel in heavily armed groups. If Iraq were as safe as Detroit, would travelling in such a manner be necessary? Of course not.

Sure, Detroit is known for having a high crime rate, but one can walk around alone and unarmed in most places in Detroit and not get killed. Not so in Iraq.

The difference between Detroit and Iraq is that while Detroit has a high crime rate, Iraq has terrorists, jihadists, and insurgents who are willing to die just to take shots at Americans.



"... Germany never attacked us: Japan did. From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost, an average of 112,500 per year..."

Hitler, at the height of his power, controlled much of Europe and possessed a war machine that threatened to conquer the entire planet.

Saddam Hussein, for the past 12 years before being deposed, had been in control of only a portion of Iraq. Saddam Hussein's war machine was at full strength when the US confronted it in 1991, and yet even then Hussein's war machine was defeated in roughly one month. Hussein's war machine deteriorated to the point of being almost nonexistant by the time Operation Iraqi Freedom was launched. In essence, the US toppled the Mayor Of Baghadad.



"... Johnson(Democrat) turned Vietnam into a quagmire..."

No military historian worth his salt has ever claimed that the Vietnam war was winnable.



"... was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions."

First of all, Bin Laden was never offered to the US. The Sudanese government, working through shadowy diplomatic backchannels, allegedly once offered to have Bin Laden extradited to Saudi Arabia, not the US. The Saudi royals, good friends of the Bush family, turned down the offer, so the deal died.

Second, even if the Sudanese government had offered a deal to have Bin Laden extradited to the US, Bin Laden, at that time, had not yet committed crimes against the US and Clinton would have had no legal basis to hold him

Also, keep in mind that at the time that the Sudanese government allegedly offered to have Bin Laden extradited to Saudi Arabia, Sudanese officials offered no proof that they even knew where Bin Laden was.



"... We've been looking for evidence of chemical weapons in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find the Rose Law Firm billing records..."

The United States controls all of Iraq, has captured most of the Baathist leadership, and has over 100,000 troops in Iraq. If any chemical weapons were to be found in Iraq, they would have been found by now.



"... It took less time to take Iraq than it took to count the votes in Florida!!!!..."

If the "taking" of Iraq were the only challenge the US faced in Iraq, then US troops would be home by now. The problem is that deposing Saddam was only a small part of the challenge the US faces in Iraq.

Personally speaking, I believe that removing Saddam from power was morally justifiable, but I wonder if removing Saddam from power was the wise thing to do.





"... Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB! The Military moral is high!..."

Over 1000 US troops are dead. Roughly 7000 US troops are wounded. Countless Iraqi civilians are dead or wounded. The US has lost allies and prestige. Once moderate Arabs now hate the US and refuse to cooperate in the fight against terrorism. The Iraq occupation continues to cost in blood and money and has no end in sight. All that because George W. Bush had to rush to war against Iraq.

George W. Bush will go down in history as the worst president ever. He and his malignant administration need to be not only defeated, but discredited and disgraced.

[bbernardini]

1. You might want to mention the letters to Stars and Stripes.

From what I understand, they're overwhelmingly anti-Bush. Not as high of a "moral" as the chain letter might indicate.

[SaveElmer]

2. You make good points...

But you are way too polite...at least more polite than I could be

[NightTrain]

3. Something else you may wish to mention.

> "... Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB!

The president is the commander-in-chief only of the military, not of the American people. So unless you're an active-duty member of the U.S. Armed Forces, the president is *not* your commander-in-chief.


> The Military moral is high!..."

Along with being a bald-faced lie, the word is "morale," not "moral."

Typical freeper. Can't spell worth a damn! :eyes:

[The Night Owl]

5. Good point about the Commander-In-Chief

I will make sure to mention the fact that the president is Commander-In-Chief of the military only.

I had caught the fact that the word "moral" was used in place of the word "morale" but decided not to correct it because I figured the writer meant to write "morale". In general, I factor stupidity in when reading Freeper nonsense.

[Doohickie]

4. On the last point, you might add that

For the first time in years, the military has had to issue "stop-loss" orders, recall ready-reserve (i.e., "retired") troops and draw troops from other international duty stations to maintain troop strength in Iraq.

[AmandaRuth]

6. very good, may i have your permission

to copy this ?-

I would add ---

number of us soldiers killed in Detroit during January = 0
number of us soldiers killed in Iraq during January = 35
number of innocent Iraqis killed in Iraq during January - (whatever that number is)
number of Innocent Iraqis killed in Detroit in January = 0

[The Night Owl]

8. Sure!

And thanks for the suggestion!

[HawkerHurricane]

7. Germany never attacked us, Japan did...

Tell it to the crew of USS Kearny and USS Rueban James.

http://users.erols.com/sepulcher/USSKearny.htm

http://history.acusd.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/reubenjames.html

Of course, since Germany NEVER attacked us, we DIDN'T declare war on them! Hitler, in what was probably his biggest mistake, declared war on the United States! Which made us the only country he declared war on formally before shooting at it.