Mostly, I wanted to get my previous journal entry off the front page of my little corner of the internet. Mostly because it is highly inflammatory, repulsive, and is simply the angry, frustrated ramblings of an embattled Russian Studies / History major student.

I will admit however, that to a certain degree, I do indeed feel the way described through out the entry. The United States is indeed under-appreciated because we have always been around for at least 300 years. Many have forgotten what the United States AND it's allies have done for the world since WWII. Which is sad, it punctuates how far the world has fallen since then.

Through out my education in Russian Studies, Russian Language and History, Western Civilization, and just general History, I have noticed that the world indeed has fallen since the end of WWII. One could even make an argument for the end of the Enlightenment.

What I am trying to say here is this: I cannot stand it when people refuse to move on. For example, the current inquiry into the Iraq / Afghanistan conflict in England. What I cannot stand is that they are looking into what should have been looked at in the first place 7-8 years ago. They had the chance to look into the whether to's and the why for's then. The fact of the matter is that we are 'over there' now. People, we are there now, our men and women are dying, getting killed, and you want to discuss the whether to's and the why for's now?

The fact of the matter is that at the time, they were going on what appeared to be credible intelligence that there were weapons of mass destruction, or that Iraq was attempting to acquire them. Based on this intelligence, they decided to act. But now it appears that this intelligence was wrong. At face value: so what? Every one makes a mistake, something gets translated wrong, or some one misunderstands something. It is human nature. However, because this is the government we are talking about here, people think almost automatically: "Oh! There must be a conspiracy". So then they launch into a witch hunt, rustle up some documents, and because they don't find anything in them, they try and catch people on typo's from memos and then blow them out of proportion.

All of this because for some reason, no one can trust the government anymore. Either they do not want to, or because they simply do not care to.

Further more, they made a legally binding decision: authorization for military action in Iraq. The fact of the matter is: the congress feels like they have been lied to (because hindsight is ALWAYS 20-20), and so they want to blame some one for their believing what they thought was a lie, when in actuality, it was probably a mistake. Indeed, when one looks at the evidence, all of the reports do not actually say that there was inconclusive evidence of WMD. The actual language says: "There are several reports stating a relatively high probability of the presence of WMD in Iraq". HIGH PROBABILITY. In essence, the minority wants to persecute the then majority now that the minority is the majority.

Well, while this may be all well and good that there are discussions launched into this, has anyone ever sat down to think about the consequences or the precedent that these conferences and inquiries set? I hardly doubt it. The people are so whipped up about how much they 'hated' Bush, that the only thing they can think about is going on a political witch hunt. But seriously, what sort of precedent does this set? In my personal opinion, it sets a very dangerous precedent. Because, in the future, the military is going to be much slower, and the elected officials are going to be much more reluctant to grant military action. While yes, they should be more ponderous because war should never be the first option, what would happen if action were needed, and needed now to ensure success later.

Say for example that we learn of intelligence which states that a hostile country has indeed acquired WMD, and there is a high probability of the country using them on another, like the United States for example? Well, because the military is going to be more ponderous, their reaction will not be so swift. Add into this the fact that Washington will be slower. Then, say they use them on the United States while our elected officials are still debating whether or not negotiations are warranted. How is every one going to feel about that? Pretty foolish I would imagine. The people will ask: "We had the information, why didn't we act on it?" To which the government will respond: "Because you the people busted our balls last time this happened, you strung us up by our balls from the nearest lamp post simply because an intelligence analyst translated something wrong, and the Department Director mis-read a report from a source within the country". Basically, the government is damned if they do, and damned if they do not.

What I cannot stand is when people who have no idea what so ever how the government works, how all of it is interconnected, and how important it is for the people to understand this, think they can tell the government how it should run, and what it should do, and when. That is what I cannot stand, are fools.

Not to mention that we are still in Afghanistan. Have people seriously forgotten why we are there? Are people really that dense? In my opinion, Iraq is a non issue now that they have their own government, and their own stuff. Iraq is a misnomer now. Our war is Afghanistan. But, back to the original question: Have we really forgotten why we are there?

BECAUSE 3,000 CIVILIANS WERE MURDERED ON SEPTEMBER ELEVENTH TWO THOUSAND AND ONE.

I am not a fear monger or otherwise. I am simply re-iterating the sole reason we are there. This was our Pearl Harbor. Why are we so wrapped up in trying to find out who knew what and when they knew it? If people would stop asking questions like that, we could be over and done with this war. However, certain people have said that this war and the war in Iraq are religious wars.

First, we did not have any intention of eradicating the Islamic faith.

Second, we are in Afghanistan because religious extremists attacked our country.

Thirdly, if this were a religious war, then there should be clear evidence of our intentionally targeting and attempting to destroy Mosques, and other holy places according to the Islamic faith. Have we done so thus far?

Neither are we trying to convert people to our way of life. If you do not like our way of life, tell us! Don't go around blowing people up because you don't like what we like, tell us that you do not approve of some of our lifestyles or the way we do things.

How can we all forget what happened on that day? Did we all become complacent or something? It is highly disappointing that people have become complacent and have forgotten the very thing which united us as a country. I hope that people realize that if we were to retreat just because the going got tough, then the blood of the 3,000 civilians and the 5,000 soldiers will not be on Al Qaeda... It will be on all of us. Because they died in vain. Is everyone sure they want the blood of some one they do not know or could never have known on their hands? Is everyone absolutely sure that they can look a mother, whose son or daughter has just been killed, in the eyes and say: "We retreated because the going got tough" or "We lost courage because too many people have been killed".

May I remind you all, that 50,000 Marines were killed in a two week time span during WWII. Don't even think for a minute or even a millisecond that those were different times. There is nothing different between then and now. The only thing that has changed are people's beliefs, and technology. Is Al Qaeda any less evil than Adolf Hitler? Or are they less evil because they don't kill Jews, they only kill Christians? Are Christians any less Human than the rest of us? You may not be a Christian, but ask yourself, do they not deserve the very same things you want? Sure, their evangelicals or whom ever may grate on other people. But really? Are they any less human? Is Al Qaeda less evil because they don't have obvious armies? Is Al Qaeda less evil because they don't have death camps? What about them makes them any less evil? Or is it because the Christians do not like them, therefore, I should like them, type of response?

Seriously, what makes them any different from Nazis? Both believe they are superior. Both believe they making their religion/nation better. Both are willing to kill innocent peoples. And both are willing to subjugate mass amounts of people to get what they want: an extremist Islamic state or, a perfect, master Arian race.

I am not talking about the billions of moderate Islamic peoples who are peaceful, and are willing to talk. I am talking about the Islamic Extremists, the people who run around emphasizing Jihad, blowing themselves up in the name of Allah, and killing innocent people.

What are some thoughts?