"We will use any means to kill our enemy in our land and we will follow the enemy into its land," Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said today at a Baghdad news conference. "This is just the beginning. You'll hear more pleasant news later."
This came after a bomber posing as a taxi driver killed himself and four US soldiers in Iraq. A television reporter went on to comment, "It's the blessed beginning. He wanted to teach the enemy a lesson in the manner used by our Palestinian brothers."
No doubt many Americans will feel oddly vindicated by this. See, these people are subhuman! They don't fight fair, they can't be trusted! This same article makes reference to the bombing of the U.S. Marine base in Beirut that killed 241 American servicemen on Oct. 23, 1983. I remember when I heard that news nearly twenty years ago, and couldn't imagine then why anyone would do such a thing to US. How could they? We're the good guys! My worst fear is that these types of attacks will become more common, but only time will tell.
An article on military pay today ... the columnist seemed genuinely suprised that servicemen and women are paid so little - the base pay for a private with one year of service is $15,480 a year. Maybe if we didn't start wars without provocation, we wouldn't need such a large army, and could then pay our soldiers more? Maybe we could pay a little less money to the crooks at Halliburton and Bechtel, and pay a little more to our soldiers who risk their lives? And for what, corporate profits?
"Our soldier sons and daughters are now immersed in danger, surrounded by fear, targets of hate. They did not come in peace and the world may not be safer when they finish."
