Why Don't Iraqis Appreciate American Generosity?
Press Action
Friday, April 23, 2004
http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/holmquist04232004/
By Micah Holmquist
I speak for all Americans when I say I’m infuriated to no end when I see those ungrateful Iraqis.
There can be no doubt that America is both the greatest country in the history of the world and the most giving. Maybe Atlantis could have given us a run for our money, but they aren’t around anymore. As it says in the Bible, “an extinct country does no good.”
Nothing demonstrates our caring spirit more than what we have done for the poor, pitiful people of Iraq.
We didn’t have to liberate them. Oh sure they once threatened us with death that could come at any time, but, as the highly perceptive Blogs for Bush contributor Mark Noonan has pointed out, “we could have unleashed our power without limit and simply killed them all.” In fact I think that’s what we should do now. I believe it was Alex P. Keaton who once said, what’s the point of nuclear weapons if you aren’t going to use them. Sure some Euroweenies might complain, but what are these enemies of freedom going to do? These pacifistic terrorist supporters certainly haven’t stopped us from closing hospitals, using cluster bombs and intentionally killing civilians. They haven’t done anything to stop us over the last year just as they didn’t raise a glove to prevent us from deliberately destroying Iraq’s water supply back in 1991. There’s a reason why France loses every war!
But we didn’t kill them all and let God sort them out. We liberated them from Saddam, a reversal of a <former in torture, so evil we had to invade, will be hired by the U.S. to help with the occupation. Hopefully the soon-to-be U.S. ambassador to Iraq John Negroponte will get a chance to work with these individuals and teach them the honorable trade of abusing America’s enemies. Ambassador Negroponte is nothing if not qualified for this most important task of getting those we can not compromise with to kill and torture for us instead of evil.
Now I know some Iraqis will whine about the damage caused by the intervention, but that’s just loser talk. If the Iraqis develop a winning attitude, the beatings, harm from depleted uranium, lost limbs and massacres will only build their character, and it should never be forgotten that Godly men thrive on competition and obstacles.
One day very soon we will almost certainly hear from an Iraqi man who has founded his country’s first successful chain of fast food restaurants. “At first I was mad at the glorious Americans for causing me to lose my left hand and vision,” he will say in perfect English. “But after a while I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself. I had to get up and go do something with my life just as the millions upon millions of Americans do every day. Anything less would be a dishonor to the brave Americans who were savagely killed on September 11. I can never do enough to express how grateful I am that the Americans did not go soft on us Iraqis. We would be a bunch of effeminate sissies if not for America’s stern delivery of the gift of freedom.”
If that weren’t enough, and it should be more than enough, no less of an anti-American source than Barbara Plett of the Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation says that the U.S. has “perhaps [sown] the seeds of a new national identity” coming forth in the resistance to America’s occupation of Iraq.
You heard that right. We have united the Iraqis in their opposition to us and yet we don’t receive any gratitude at all. Insurgents in Iraq never fly Old Glory when they are attacking U.S. troops. American parents teach their children to say “thank you,” which is just one of many qualities these Iraqis need to learn from us if they expect America to tolerate them.
Why are the Iraqis such a disagreeable lot? I suspect the answer has less to do with that they are Iraqi, or even Arab, than it does with the indisputable fact that they are not Americans. The Iraqi people don’t appreciate how lucky they have it or the sacrifices of our brave fighting men and women. They still need to learn that freedom isn?t free.
While democracy in Iraq will of course lead to democracy throughout the Middle East, it is perhaps too much to expect Iraqis to act like decent people immediately. That’s why, right now, America would settle for them simply saying, “yes, sir!”
Micah Holmquist, editor of Irregular Thoughts and Links, is a Cadillac, Mich.-based writer.