What the Hell is Wrong with Us?

Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Today I read that the U.S. is essentially leaving our Iraqi allies out in the cold when it comes to offering them an opportunity to emigrate to the U.S.. Countries like Denmark are doing much more than us in helping these folks, when their participation in Iraq was so much smaller.

Once again, I'm embarrassed by my government's lack of honor and apparent inability to Do The Right Thing.

Attention, State Department! You're being OBTUSE and IRRESPONSIBLE. These people have risked everything to help us. Don't you think we owe them the opportunity to start a new life here in the U.S.?

Grr.

7 comments:

Shawn Powers said...

You know, I think everyone will admit that support or no, the Iraq "thing" is a mess. I mean really, it's just a screwed up, don't know how to fix it, crapfest.

It's too bad no one is allowed to use common sense though. Ugh.

I don't want to start a, "What we should do about Iraq" thread, because I honestly don't know. Really. I just wish I saw some semblance of reason, logic, and intelligence when it comes to fixing the big holy mess.

And come on dumb government... You're ruining my day!

Janiece said...

Shawn, I agree. The issue is extremely complex, and I'm certainly not qualified to come up with a plan for resolution.

But this seems like a no-brainer - these translators have risked their lives and the lives of their families to assist our armed forces, and now we can't be bothered to take them in when they're in danger as a result of their service to us?

I understand the need to ensure that the people we allow to come here aren't a security threat, but it seems like we could at least do as much as Denmark, for pete's sake.

It makes me feel bad, because I think we're better than that. Or we should be.

And Yay, Shawn.

Shawn Powers said...

Oh, I completely agree. We should be much better than that. We just keep alienating ourselves from others -- for no good reason. I really think our motto, as a country, should be, "Don't Be A Dick" (Not a Nixon joke)

The Iraq issue is a huge glaring reason why I have no idea who to vote for. The primaries don't even matter -- there's no one I feel comfortable with at all.

I wonder if my political apathy is rare, or common. I'm not sure which would be better.

Tom said...

Janiece says we are better than that. I agree. WE are better than that. Our government, however, doesn't seem to represent US. It isn't better than that. There is a massive disconnect between the U.S. Government and WE the people.

Can we change that, or is our will, the will of the people, no longer important?

But that's better left for a day that isn't SASD.

Nathan said...

I've said this before, but I think we fucked up from the moment we got there. This bullshit about "liberating" Iraq from its evil leader is all warm and fuzzy, but it doesn't work. You can only "liberate" a country from a foreign power; that's the only situation where they'll be dancing in the streets and mean it.

Whether we were right or wrong, the only way to have portrayed things was that Saddam was the enemy, his army was an enemy, and, at best, the Iraqi people were collaborators. When you go to war, the aim is to defeat their army and leaders and then to dictate who they're going to behave afterwards. It worked quite well with Germany and Japan, and those are two of our best friends in the world now.

I honestly don't know if the situation is salvageable now, but someone needs to start from scratch.

Enough of me acting like I know what I'm talking about. Let's get back to Deifying Shawn.

John the Scientist said...

State wants the Iraq to campaign to fail. Regardless of how you felt abnout going over there in the first place, there is no excuse for trying to sabotage honest offorts to clean up the mess, which includes rewarding our friends and punishing our enemies as best we can.

One of Bush's many lost opportunities was to clean house at State - they have a long history of opposing the policies of their Constitutional bosses. This is the same shit they pulled on the ARVN brothers who served beside our armed forces. One of my father's friends when I was a boy was an ARVN helo pilot who was one of the guys who flew those last missions from the Embassy in 1975. State didn't give his family a visa. Tehy wound up getting here via fishing bout and refugee camp. Talk about a slap in the face.

Jim Wright said...

I see John beat me to it (advantages of being 4 times zones ahead)

Yeah, sometimes past performance is a pretty good indicator of future returns. We left a hell of a lot of our wartime allies out in the cold: Vietnam, the Kurds, Cubans, Shia and Sunni translators. Too bad they don't know how to build rockets, like old Von Braun the Nazi.

Funny things is - a lot of people over there hate us, but if we were to give these folks sanctuary, this people who have demonstrated their commitment to us with their lives, not only would it send a message that America takes care of her friends (so, you know, be one) but also it brings Muslims to this country who have every reason to love America, who will be beholden to us, who have vast insight into the Middle Eastern Culture, who...

Oh fuck it, Nevermind.