Where else in the world could we openly and publicly exercise the freedom of speech we enjoy here on FR (or anywhere else in this country)?
What we say about ourselves is one thing. But what other nations say about us should not go unrepeated either.
The leaders in Israel were saying last week that the fall of Saddam Hussein has had a greater impact on bringing peace to the Middle East than anytime in modern history, even in the last 1,000 years. And who would know this better than them what the ravages of war, racial and religious hatred, and the assault on your sovereign homeland can bring.
Was Bush responsible for this? Yes, but not only Bush.
Let me give you a glimpse into what a real hero is.
When Time Magazine came to Donald Rumsfeld with the nomination for the 2003 man of the year - he turned it down saying there were far more worthy recipients.
He knows who the real heroes of this nation are - and he said so. The American Soldier. They are the ones fig ting, dying, leaving wifes, babies, mothers, fathers, sweethearts and loved ones behind.
And for what? For what I ask each one of you.
Is it so they can die on a cold hate-filled battlefield on a sandbar half way around the world for a country who won't even protect it's own sovereignty and borders from an invasion every bit as potent to the ruin of America as 9/11/01 was?
I wonder what our boys being shot at right now in Baghdad would think if they knew the nation they are laying their lives on the line for is not worth more than a voting majority on election day.
IT'S THE SOLDIER
It's the soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the
PRESS.
It's the soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of
SPEECH.
It's the soldier, not the campus
ORGANIZER,
Who has given us the freedom to
DEMONSTRATE
It's the soldier, not the lawyer,
Who has given us the right to a
FAIR TRIAL.
It's the soldier who salutes the flag,
Serves under the flag
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who gives the protester the right to burn the flag.
-Father D. E. O'Brien