I believe that everyone has a right to say what they believe and that is one lovely thing about this country is that we will NOT get hauled away for not agreeing with the President, but need I remind you that it was America that ellected him into office and he is doing his best to keep you and me safe?

I have not heard of Osama Bin Laden calling Sadam anything, but I'll take your word for it. I would like to say, on the same note, that it doesn't matter what Bin Laden says about Sadam if he has weapons that he could use against us or any other nation for his own personal gain. "then enemy of our enemy is our friend" does not work in this little incident.

Also, Pres. Bush is trying to help the people of Iraq as best as he can, not just using them for the gas. Has it not occured to you that he was not in the possition of president when when Sadam was going after the Kurds?

We hope that the Iraqi people will understand that we are simply trying to help them. If a man broke into your house and threatened your life, would you not be thankful to the neighbor that brought the theif/murderer to justice?

Just a few thoughts.

TS

So true.I've never supported any war, and the war that is fought for oil is no exception.

The media is the "messenger" of all,but it is corrupted and biased to the extent that it is unpatriotic to question the action of the United States to stop it further from destructing a country.

I suppose the government is going on a downward the majority of Bush's stand point on views of "liberty","life",and "happiness", it means killing people who are not Americans, Supporting Religious views when they are intolerant and ignorant when it comes to other people's views.

You packaged your views nicely and I luv it!.I probably wouldn't be suprised if Bush did dismiss someone who opposed his knows where Jesus would bomb next.

Keep Writing!

Heh. You've just got to laugh at the ignorance of your last reviewer. They've done you a favour in a way, cos I almost wasn't going to review this, but when I read that, I just had to.

I could sit here and pick that review apart one comment at a time, but I'm sure you can manage that for yourself, and it's not the point of this review box. What I will say is good for you for your wonderful, unpatriotic, and sensible point of view. And it was well written, too. Sounded very natural, and yet had it's own rhythm. I loved the Mr President lines, sounded like something right out of one of his press conferences.

Keep up the good work.

Mouse1, it is unpatriotic to critisize your country, because whether or not you agree with our government, supporting our country and our troops in a time of war is respectful. And also, you may have noticed that very few American soldiers died in Operation Iraqi Freedom, or did that just slip your mind? Neither China nor Saudi Arabia is not our ally, nor do we receive our oil from anywhere NEAR the Middle East or Far East. Our oil comes from South America. With your remark about Israel and Ariel Sharon, you are mocking them. Israelis have endured years of suicide bombings in marketplaces, bus stops, and street corners by Palestinians. I think that Sharon is right to make a stand against the Palestinians, after all those years of innocent Israelis being killed and maimed simply because they were Jewish, or Israeli. We did NOT give Saddam Hussein weapons to attack Iran; most of Saddam's weapons are obsolete Russian RPG's, etc, or *French* weapons. So therefore, the US is not even remotely responsible for September 11th, and I firmly believe that our government is completely honest with us, and had no prior knowledge of the attacks. And the US had a chance to disarm North Korea; former president Jimmy Carter can be to blame for that, for wasting his chance. I believe that France and Germany have no right to help us in rebuilding Iraq. None at all. They blasted us in the UN, they badmouthed our country, and now they expect to help, when America's soldiers have done all the work? They are the hypocrites; not the United States, not George W. Bush, and not our troops. The United States IS the police force of the world. Answer me this: where would France be, without American assistance? How many times have we bailed them out of trouble? Countless times. How many times has France even won a war of their own? Never. I find this poem offensive to all of America, but more so to our troops. The least you could do would be to offer a word of encouragement or support to the men and women risking their lives for our freedom.

Staff Sergeant Lauryn R.

AFJROTC

This is really good, and really true. A definite favorite.

It's really good. I can't say much else.

not trying to flame, hear me out:

yes, i disagree horribly with ur poem, but i won't insult u

-one point (or a few) u might consider is that if wedo want oil from saudi arabia (which i dont' think we do- well m,aybe, i don't no, just playing devil's advocate), then y didn't we attack them too like we did iraq, whom we don't like? it sorta cancls ur other idea of how we support arabia bcuz they have iol, yet we attack iraq bcuz they have oil too, y ano wut i mean? and another answer, of y we didnt' attack north korea first, was bcuase then we found that iraq was catually (this Is porven by the way) dealing with al quaida, so we had to intervene before saddam sold weapons to them

-also- i no u might think y shoudl we interfere with other countries, but an answer might be bcuz we have proof that Saddam WAS dealing with al Quaida (bin laden's terrorist group)- true we haven't found chemical weapons, porbably bcuz they're in trailers transported around teh country- however, we HAVE found equipment used to make these weapons- we haven't found the smokein the snoking gun, but we certainly HAVE found the darn gun

-another thing, we havent' killed most of their ppl (in iraq) yes, some of our bombs have missed targets but we've been XTREMEMLY careful in not bombing hospitals of mosques- true, there r some iraqis dead- but they've died in suicide attacks (their own faults) and, of course, in the accidental bombings

- i don't like to flame ppl, but one thing that really ticked me off was the building when u stated 'is it hypocritical' and then 'crush on building' lordy, i HOPE u weren't talkin about sept 11th bcuz that was a BIG deal and since they are connected to al quaida, then they were partly responsible for it

Brilliant! This is really well written, and you have obviously done your research. I wish I could write political poems as well as this!

This is in response to sublevel's flame.

1)First of all since when is it unpatriotic to criticize your country? The First Amendment does not grant freedom of speech so long as you agree with the Commander in Chief; it is for everyone, even liberals like me.

To Quote Erich Fromm:

"Just as love for one individual which excludes the love for others is not love, love for one's country which is not part of one's love for humanity is not love, but idolatrous worship."

My love for my country does not excuse me from taking a stand when the country does something morally reprehensible.

2)Where do you get the idea that I hate our soldiers? I do not blame the soldiers for what's going on-they have no say in this-I blame our leaders for shipping them off to die.

3) These are not theories, these are facts. Try and repudiate them and do not dare send my anything from Fox News or Rush.

4)Let me make this clear: Saddam is a murderous bastard! There is no love lost between me and Saddam. I am getting sick of the notion that I am either for our president or for a murderous tyrant! The world isn't as black and white as you would hope.

We did not go to war to save the Jews. We didn't find out about the Jews until after the war. We went to war with Germany after they declared war on us following our declaring war on Japan. If you are going to dredge up Hitler at least get your facts straight.

I don't know how freely they can speak with Ba'athist party members (the party Saddam belong to) being appointed as police officers and looters everywhere. Oh and supply shortages and the fact their houses have been turned to rubble tends to put a damper on any party.

5)I don't know how secure I can feel when the man responsible for the September 11 attacks, Osama, is still on the loose, the economy's still in the toilet, and the war has probably given birth to even more terrorists but maybe that's just me.

Have a happy.

Okay, heh, where do I start?

1) You've insulted and all but spit on our government who protects you.

2) You make our troups look like they're a bunch of mindless machines when they're protecting you and are willing to give their life for you. I'd like to turn back time to last year and plant you in the middle of iraq and see how long it takes for you to survive under a tyrant's rule!

3) You make mere theories sound like facts (to list them all would take up more time than I have to waste on this review).

4) And it almost sounds like you're rooting for saddum. "oh! No! don't kill him! he's harmless! Peace! let's have peace! he has no weapons!" is all that's scribbled over the poem. Little known fact-peace is something people in the world only dream of. And taking out a tyrant like saddum is a small step towards that dream. Take hitler for instance. We went to war with him to liberate the innocent jews being tortured and killed for no reason at all except for hitler's extreme hatred for them. We didn't even know if hitler was dead until a few months later. Have a little faith. We'll nab that saddum bastard. we've already destroyed his regime. That's certainly a big step. So page through a TIME magazine sometime and look at the pictures of iraqi men, woman, and children smiling and laughing because they are able to eat drink and speak freely. Watch the news and see the ruins of saddum's portraits and statues. Feel some security when you realize that women won't be raped every day by saddum's son and innocents won't be tortured.

As for the other countries suffering in similar conditions...one at a time, honey. We'll get 'em. Just one at a time.

~sub

I can't decide whether this is funny or so incredibly sad it makes me want to cry.

I think it is amusing to read the number of reviews that TRY to support the US. You have to wonder, are they stupid or just ignorant! They try to back up their points with 'facts' that they recieve from the media. It is a fact that 98% of the media of 2001 originated in the Pentagon...gotta wonder, are they really telling the truth? Open your eyes and see the light! Or rather...the corrupt and evil government!

Love your poem! Ignore the flames!

Excellant poem! im printin it off now, fear not, i wont take credit or nethng, its just its spectacularly written! on a political note: wutever happened to those 'chemical weapons' iraq was supposed to have? the pres has convieniently 'forgotten' those now that the US is occupying iraq. *shrug* just a thought.

Re: The USA gives away the most money to other people than anyone else.

"When the Rich Talks Aid, the Poor Don’t Always Get It"

The Commitment to Development Index

"Tied aid" is the financial assistance that recipient countries are required to spend on services from the donor nation. Denmark tops the aid ranking, followed by Sweden, the Netherlands and Norway. These countries are among the world's most generous and only a small proportion of their aid is tied. Japan and the United States rank 20th and 21st in the aid category

Foreign direct investment can bring jobs and foster economic growth to developing countries. Four countries stand out as sources of "healthy" direct investment: the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

The index shows that the Netherlands, Denmark and Portugal currently lead the world in tackling the challenge of development. But with a combined population smaller than that of Tanzania, these countries can hardly lead alone. The Group of Seven nations - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States - must assume the responsibilities commensurate with their power and economic might.

The G-7 nations engage in more trade, more aid, more peacekeeping and more pollution than any other group of nations. Yet, among them, only Germany ranks in the top half of the index. These nations must reform their policies with an eye toward aiding development, as a matter of both morality and enlightened self-interest. If these countries step forward, they will help improve the lives of millions of people who deserve better than they now have - and build a more stable world in the process.

By Nancy Birdsall and Moisés Naím , The Center for Global Development

International Herald Tribune

April 29, 2003

~Didn’t you duck Vietnam?~

Two weeks before he was to graduate from Yale, George Walker Bush stepped into the offices of the Texas Air National Guard at Ellington Field outside Houston and announced that he wanted to sign up for pilot training.

It was May 27, 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War. Bush was 12 days away from losing his student deferment from the draft at a time when Americans were dying in combat at the rate of 350 a week. The unit Bush wanted to join offered him the chance to fulfill his military commitment at a base in Texas. It was seen as an escape route from Vietnam by many men his age.

~So what business do you have Shippin’ a boatload of Americans

To die in some godforsaken desert?~

Actually, as Pres. he has the right to send US troops anywhere for 60 days without any approval.

~I am not at liberty to say at this point in time.~

You repeat this over and over. Do you think, just maybe, that Bush knows things that might damage National Security? That by saying "I am not at liberty to say at this point in time" that he might be protecting the troops?

~Because he’s Middle East is full of e-vildoer Bound together by their hatred of all that’s good and holy.~

When has Bush ever said anything like that? In fact, Jordan and Kuwait are in the Middle East and they are close allies. Bush has even said he wants to see a Palestine nation.

~So has North Korea. In the Congo,

There are an estimated 30 million dead. So why not them? In fact, you sure didn’t care All those years ago when Saddam Was gassing and torturing the Kurds.~

Didn't you just say that you didn't want to go to war? Now you want to take out everyone who's Evil? Second, our Bush was not Pres. when the gassing occured. What was he susposed to do about it?

~Interfering in the politics of another country?~

The USA interfers with the politics of other countries just by giving money in the form of human aid. The USA gives away the most money to other people than anyone else. That's where most of your tax money goes. If we stop interfering, thats a lot of people who will end up straving. Do you want that?

~You expect the Iraqi people to embrace us with open arms~

Uh, they did.

I just have one question for the "Concerned American". How would he handle Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden and are allies/potential enemies in the Middle East. Could the "Concerned American" protect the security and Liberty of the United States, bring peace to the world, honor our commitments to our true allies and help enforce international law without going to war against some entity at some point. If the "Concerned American" could, this other Concerned American would sure like to hear how.