response to “Temple debates war on Iraq”

In response to comments by Khalid Blankinship, chair of the religion department, as quoted by Brian White.

Mr. Blankinship’s views on our nation’s war against terrorism are disturbingly uninformed. Equating our great nation to the barbaric Roman Empire is embarrassingly misguided. We want, “imperial hegemony over the entire earth?” Come on, Mr. Blankinship, with all do respect, Adolf Hitler wanted control of the world, not us. Your anti-American rhetoric is wreckless, and it plants seeds of doubt in any impressionable young minds who might find your opinion important. To say that the United States is entertaining the thought of invading Iraq to, “distract Americans from domestic problems,” is ridiculous. President Bush’s approval rating has actually declined steadily in the months since the Iraq debate has begun. To insinuate that the American public is gullible enough to be persuaded to forget about large-scale corporate crooks simply by introducing the idea of attacking Iraq is insulting to me and should insult other educated students on campus as well. Your “wag the dog” theory is comical, but the laughs don’t stop there. “The idea that terrorism originates out of Saudi Arabia is ridiculous.” Why is that, Mr. Blankinship? Were not two-thirds of the 9/11 hijackers Saudi citizens? And I guess Osama bin Laden was not born into a wealthy Saudi Arabian family. Terorism is everywhere, sir, including on our shores (think McVeigh, John Muhhamed) and some of the most deadly terrorists have come from the land of Saudi Arabia. Moving along, U.S. backed sanctions are not stopping Iraq from producing oil, it is reducing the amount they produce. These sanctions could easily be lifted if Sadaam Hussein would simply abide by the rules laid down in the Gulf War cease fire agreement. Instead, however, Sadaam has continued to sell what little oil he does produce on the black market to countries such as Turkey, and used the billions of dollars of revenue to stock pile germ weapons. I think I have made it obvious, Mr. Blankinship, that your opinion carries little weight when aired in the company of those who know what is going on in the war against terrorism. Sometimes sir, our government is just trying to protect us. I know that is a hard concept for some to believe, but it is true. See, luckily for us, our government has a longer memory than many of it citizens. They remember the crashing planes, the falling bodies, the thousands of lives lost, the innocence shattered, and they never, ever want to have to live through that again. Your government is protecting you, sir, the least you could do is grant them the respect of taking the proper steps to form a legitimate opinion, before resorting to wildly ignorant accusations.