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Tuesday, June 21, 2005

A Sweet (but dusty) Taste of Victory

My vacation to Germany was delayed in Baghdad for a day. I went out to see the sights of Camp Victory. The temperature was somewhere between Wacky and Insane (125+/- degrees) during the heat of the day. I toured around the Base earlier in the day when it was a tame 110 F.

As I viewed the beautiful buildings and waterways, I thought what an amazing man, this Saddam. Harnessing this blasting wilderness and the wealth beneath the sands he was able to bring forth such noble works. Just this one man caused all this in the wilderness to bloom.

Too bad he was a sadistic and brutal butcher. If you really want to know, when the soldiers pulled that scruffy rat of his little hole in the ground, they found Iraq’s largest Weapon of Mass Destruction. His tools, the chemicals he destroyed whole villages with and the rape and torture rooms, etc. etc. are now just fodder for museum’s and history’s retellings.

These buildings are now occupied by those who care. Here in Camp Victory you’ll find soldiers from Turkey, Estonia, Australia and other members of the coalition in addition to Americans. They eat at the same tables and shop at the same places. (But if you ask me, no put-down intended, the uniforms of the Estonians look like pajamas with gentle patterns and soft pastel beiges and browns--I thought they just didn’t change when they came to breakfast)

Now compare South Korea to North Korea. Compare the former East Germany to the West. Puerto Rico and Cuba. Where America goes, freedom goes. Where freedom goes, economies thrive and people smile and terror is unwelcome. That’s the night and day difference from the starving, abusive butcheries of communism and dictatorship. America will make that difference in Iraq too. A bold presumption on my part, you might think at this point in time. But history seems to back me up on this. The price is not pleasant, but it makes a world of difference to those rescued. And now everyone can use these nice buildings.

2 comments:

Toad734 said...

Not sure I would consider Puerto Ricos economy "thriving".

Ernest said...

Schools in: Cuba's per capita GNP is about $1,000 and Puerto Rico's is about $12,000. So it is 12X more "thriving" than Cuba and is considered "one of the most dynamic economies in the Caribbean region."

Had to look it up so I just learned the specifics too, thanks for the education! But it's a no-brainer: Where freedom thrives, economies thrive. The clue is those trying to escaping Cuba and those planning trips to Puerto Rico.