by HALLim » Thu Jul 24, 2003 10:23 am
US FOREIGN POLICY - EVEN A CHILD CAN UNDERSTAND IT!
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Q: Daddy, why did we have to attack Iraq?
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A: Because they had weapons of mass destruction honey.
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Q: But the inspectors didn\'t find any weapons of mass destruction.
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A: That\'s because the Iraqis were hiding them.
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Q: And that\'s why we invaded Iraq?
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A: Yep. Invasions always work better than inspections.
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Q: But after we invaded them, we STILL didn\'t find any weapons of mass
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destruction, did we?
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A: That\'s because the weapons are so well hidden. Don\'t worry, we\'ll
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find something, probably right before the 2004 election.
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Q: Why did Iraq want all those weapons of mass destruction?
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A: To use them in a war, silly.
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Q: I\'m confused. If they had all those weapons that they planned to use
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in a war, then why didn\'t they use any of those weapons when we went to
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war with them?
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A: Well, obviously they didn\'t want anyone to know they had those
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weapons, so they chose to die by the thousands rather than defend
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themselves.
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Q: That doesn\'t make sense Daddy. Why would they choose to die if they
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had all those big weapons to fight us back with?
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A: It\'s a different culture. It\'s not supposed to make sense.
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Q: I don\'t know about you, but I don\'t think they had any of those
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weapons our government said they did.
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A: Well, you know, it doesn\'t matter whether or not they had those
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weapons. We had another good reason to invade them anyway.
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Q: And what was that?
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A: Even if Iraq didn\'t have weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein
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was a cruel dictator, which is another good reason to invade another
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country.
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Q: Why? What does a cruel dictator do that makes it OK to invade his
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country?
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A: Well, for one thing, he tortured his own people.
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Q: Kind of like what they do in China?
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A: Don\'t go comparing China to Iraq. China is a good economic
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competitor, where millions of people work for slave wages in sweatshops
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to make U.S. corporations richer.
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Q: So if a country lets its people be exploited for American corporate
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gain, it\'s a good country, even if that country tortures people?
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A: Right.
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Q: Why were people in Iraq being tortured?
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A: For political crimes, mostly, like criticizing the government.
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People who criticized the government in Iraq were sent to prison and
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tortured.
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Q: Isn\'t that exactly what happens in China?
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A: I told you, China is different.
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Q: What\'s the difference between China and Iraq?
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A: Well, for one thing, Iraq was ruled by the Ba\'ath party, while China
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is Communist.
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Q: Didn\'t you once tell me Communists were bad?
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A: No, just Cuban Communists are bad.
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Q: How are the Cuban Communists bad?
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A: Well, for one thing, people who criticize the government in Cuba are
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sent to prison and tortured.
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Q: Like in Iraq?
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A: Exactly.
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Q: And like in China, too?
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A: I told you, China\'s a good economic competitor. Cuba, on the other
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hand, is not.
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Q: How come Cuba isn\'t a good economic competitor?
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A: Well, you see, back in the early 1960s, our government passed some
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laws that made it illegal for Americans to trade or do any business with
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Cuba until they stopped being communists and started being capitalists
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like us.
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Q: But if we got rid of those laws, opened up trade with Cuba, and
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started doing business with them, wouldn\'t that help the Cubans become
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capitalists?
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A: Don\'t be a smart-ass.
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Q: I didn\'t think I was being one.
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A: Well, anyway, they also don\'t have freedom of religion in Cuba.
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Q: Kind of like China and the Falun Gong movement?
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A: I told you, stop saying bad things about China. Anyway, Saddam
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Hussein came to power through a military coup, so he\'s not really a
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legitimate leader anyway.
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Q: What\'s a military coup?
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A: That\'s when a military general takes over the government of a
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country by force, instead of holding free elections like we do in the
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United States.
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Q: Didn\'t the ruler of Pakistan come to power by a military coup?
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A: You mean General Pervez Musharraf? Uh, yeah, he did, but Pakistan is
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our friend.
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Q: Why is Pakistan our friend if their leader is illegitimate?
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A: I never said Pervez Musharraf was illegitimate.
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Q: Didn\'t you just say a military general who comes to power by
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forcibly overthrowing the legitimate government of a nation is an
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illegitimate leader?
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A: Only Saddam Hussein. Pervez Musharraf is our friend, because he
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helped us invade Afghanistan.
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Q: Why did we invade Afghanistan?
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A: Because of what they did to us on September 11th.
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Q: What did Afghanistan do to us on September 11th?
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A: Well, on September 11th, nineteen men, fifteen of them Saudi
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Arabians, hijacked four airplanes and flew three of them into buildings,
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killing over 3,000 Americans.
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Q: So how did Afghanistan figure into all that?
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A: Afghanistan was where those bad men trained, under the oppressive
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rule of the Taliban.
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Q: Aren\'t the Taliban those bad radical Islamics who chopped off
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people\'s heads and hands?
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A: Yes, that\'s exactly who they were. Not only did they chop off
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people\'s heads and hands, but they oppressed women, too.
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Q: Didn\'t the Bush administration give the Taliban 43 million dollars
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back in May of 2001?
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A: Yes, but that money was a reward because they did such a good job
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fighting drugs.
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Q: Fighting drugs?
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A: Yes, the Taliban were very helpful in stopping people from growing
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opium poppies.
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Q: How did they do such a good job?
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A: Simple. If people were caught growing opium poppies, the Taliban
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would have their hands and heads cut off.
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Q: So, when the Taliban cut off people\'s heads and hands for growing
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flowers, that was OK, but not if they cut people\'s heads and hands off
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for other reasons?
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A: Yes. It\'s OK with us if radical Islamic fundamentalists cut off
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people\'s hands for growing flowers, but it\'s cruel if they cut off
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people\'s hands for stealing bread.
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Q: Don\'t they also cut off people\'s hands and heads in Saudi Arabia?
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A: That\'s different. Afghanistan was ruled by a tyrannical patriarchy
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that oppressed women and forced them to wear burqas whenever they were
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in public, with death by stoning as the penalty for women who did not
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comply.
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Q: Don\'t Saudi women have to wear burqas in public, too?
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A: No, Saudi women merely wear a traditional Islamic body covering.
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Q: What\'s the difference?
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A: The traditional Islamic covering worn by Saudi women is a modest yet
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fashionable garment that covers all of a woman\'s body except for her
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eyes and fingers. The burqa, on the other hand, is an evil tool of
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patriarchal oppression that covers all of a woman\'s body except for her
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eyes and fingers.
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Q: It sounds like the same thing with a different name.
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A: Now, don\'t go comparing Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are
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our friends.
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Q: But I thought you said 15 of the 19 hijackers on September 11th were
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from Saudi Arabia.
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A: Yes, but they trained in Afghanistan.
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Q: Who trained them?
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A: A very bad man named Osama bin Laden.
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Q: Was he from Afghanistan?
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A: Uh, no, he was from Saudi Arabia too. But he was a bad man, a very
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bad man.
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Q: I seem to recall he was our friend once.
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A: Only when we helped him and the mujahadeen repel the Soviet invasion
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of Afghanistan back in the 1980s.
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Q: Who are the Soviets? Was that the Evil Communist Empire Ronald
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Reagan talked about?
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A: There are no more Soviets. The Soviet Union broke up in 1990 or
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thereabouts, and now they have elections and capitalism like us. We call
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them Russians now.
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Q: So the Soviets ? I mean, the Russians ? are now our friends?
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A: Well, not really. You see, they were our friends for many years
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after they stopped being Soviets, but then they decided not to support
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our invasion of Iraq, so we\'re mad at them now. We\'re also mad at the
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French and the Germans because they didn\'t help us invade Iraq either.
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Q: So the French and Germans are evil, too?
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A: Not exactly evil, but just bad enough that we had to rename French
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fries and French toast to Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast.
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Q: Do we always rename foods whenever another country doesn\'t do what
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we want them to do?
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A: No, we just do that to our friends. Our enemies, we invade.
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Q: But wasn\'t Iraq one of our friends back in the 1980s?
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A: Well, yeah. For a while.
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Q: Was Saddam Hussein ruler of Iraq back then?
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A: Yes, but at the time he was fighting against Iran, which made him
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our friend, temporarily.
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Q: Why did that make him our friend?
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A: Because at that time, Iran was our enemy.
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Q: Isn\'t that when he gassed the Kurds?
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A: Yeah, but since he was fighting against Iran at the time, we looked
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the other way, to show him we were his friend.
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Q: So anyone who fights against one of our enemies automatically
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becomes our friend?
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A: Most of the time, yes.
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Q: And anyone who fights against one of our friends is automatically an
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enemy?
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A: Sometimes that\'s true, too. However, if American corporations can
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profit by selling weapons to both sides at the same time, all the
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better.
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Q: Why?
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A: Because war is good for the economy, which means war is good for
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America. Also, since God is on America\'s side, anyone who opposes war is
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a godless un-American Communist. Do you understand now why we attacked
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Iraq?
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Q: I think so. We attacked them because God wanted us to, right?
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A: Yes.
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Q: But how did we know God wanted us to attack Iraq?
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A: Well, you see, God personally speaks to George W. Bush and tells him
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what to do.
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Q: So basically, what you\'re saying is that we attacked Iraq because
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George W. Bush hears voices in his head?
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A. Yes! You finally understand how the world works. Now close your
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eyes, make yourself comfortable, and go to sleep. Good night.
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