Making America Love Soccer is like Making Iraq Love Peace

Bend it like
eckham.

Soccer and the War in Iraq

I was listening yesterday to one of my favorite conservative radio talk show hosts, Al Rantel, who is gay by the way, on KFI in Los Angeles. He discussed a parallel between the signing of David Beckham for the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team, with a 250 million dollar contract, and the war in Iraq. Al's point was that people in the U.S. are getting all excited about Beckham coming here and being able to "bend" things (Bend It Like Beckham) enough to make soccer a major sport in America. Al was scoffing at this, saying that soccer will never be big here. Trying to remake America into a soccer-loving country will never happen.

Making a Silk Purse from a Sow's Ear

He declared the same kind of thing can be said about Iraq. We, the United States, are trying to remake the Iraqis into behaving civilly, and this too will never happen. They've been butchering themselves for centuries, and the only thing that has ever brought "tranquility" there has been brutal dictators like Saddam Hussein who were more brutish than the populace.




Saddam was able to terrorize the barbarians of Iraq into a relatively peaceful existence. Al was apologetic for having to say such a thing about a people, but he explained we had to face reality. Instead of taking advantage of the opportunity for peace there, the Shias and Sunnis are drilling holes in each other's heads, chopping off arms, and putting out eyes. It is truly barbaric.

Super Bowl versus the World Cup

Al has a point on both issues. America loves football, basketball, and baseball. Nothing tops the Super Bowl, the NBA playoffs, and the World Series.

America does not love soccer, and despite the influx of all those illegals, soccer remains and will remain a second-tier sport here, forever. More people will buy tickets to see the Galaxy for a while, but that interest will peter out quickly. Not many people will be watching the World Cup.


The only time America got excited about soccer was when our sexy girls won the FIFA Women's World Cup in 1999, with the beautiful world-class forward Mia Hamm, and the sexy defender Brandi Chastain, who, after she kicked the winning penalty shot for the U.S. win against China, joyously ripped her top off, revealing bare skin and her black sports bra. We were truly rooting for the girls, as they were not just cute, but talented. Interest in men's and women's soccer in America has waned since then.

The Beckham Hype

David Beckham himself is partly a hype-job. He was recently removed as the captain for the British national team, and he sat mostly on the bench for his last team, Real Madrid. He's kind of like the equivalent of tennis star Anna Kournikova, a pretty boy, with a pretty wife, Posh Spice, former member of the pop singing group Spice Girls, with great advertising value but questionable soccer skills.

Once a Barbarian?

Likewise, no matter what we do, no matter the opportunities for peace, the Iraqis, and the Palestinians I might add, may never opt for peace, and may forever opt for barbarism. I'm sorry to have to agree with Al, but I need to face reality. This is not to say that all Muslims are barbaric. After all, Egypt made peace with Israel, and Jordan has been civilized, and many other Muslim countries too, like Dubai, and Lebanon for the most part. But there are pockets of barbarism that persist—namely Iraq, and Palestine, among others. I wish this were not true.

Make my Life; Prove me Wrong

At the moment, though, I remain pessimistic. This does not negate my judgment that going into Iraq was a good thing. Getting rid of the dangerous tyrant Saddam Hussein was a plus for the world, regardless of the Iraqis squandering this opportunity. All I can say is, prove me wrong Palestine. Prove me wrong, Iraq. I'd love for you to do it.

A Black Bra, Bend It for a While, then the Real Stuff

As for soccer, forget it, I'm watching the Super Bowl, unless you bring me another Hamm, Chastain and friends club. I'll watch Beckham once or twice, and then turn to one of the other real sports.

Send Beckham to Iraq

Hey, I got it! Iraqi's love soccer. Send Beckham to Iraq with his gorgeous wife, and maybe that will get the Iraqis thinking about something other than violence. Then, maybe Americans would start to watch soccer too!

Rock

(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)


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Village of the Damned

Fear

The Only Thing to Fear, Is Fear Itself

One of the differences in mentality between liberals and conservatives I see all the time is that liberals operate out of fear, while conservatives operate out of conviction. Liberals are always worried that someone won't like us, so they want to avoid offending people. This includes the bad guys, like terrorists. They don't want to offend them. They don't want to make them angry. Who knows what they would do to us if they got upset?

One of the problems with this basic stance of theirs is that, while it is morally wrong, it is often correct in terms of reality. What I mean by this is that people do really hate us when we stand up for ourselves.



The same goes for Israel. This, in my opinion, should never stop us nor Israel from doing the right things, but it does add fuel to the fires that liberals create with their propaganda.

Case in point: I found this very interesting article in the BBC News about a village of Saddam Hussein's.

He's Everywhere, He's Everywhere

India's 'Saddam Hussein' village: By Amarnath Tewary, BBC News, Lakhanow village, Bihar.

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It is a typical nondescript village - like many others - in the northern Indian state of Bihar.

It consists of unplastered brick houses, dusty lanes, thatched structures and dirt-laden children with no shoes and running noses.

There appears to be little running water or other infrastructure.

But there is one thing about the village of Lakhanow - and other settlements in the area - that makes them strikingly different.

Sunni Muslims

Ejaj Alam - a small-time civil contractor in his mid-30s - provides the answer: he has decided to re-name his three-year-old son. Instead of being called Majhar Alam, Mr. Alam has opted to call the boy Saddam Hussein in honour of the former Iraqi leader who was executed on 30 December.

"God willing, one day our village will be full of Saddam Hussein's," says Ejaj Alam.

Stalin's and Lenin's in India

What is more, the child will not be the only Saddam Hussein in the neighborhood. There are more than 20 other Saddam Hussein's in Lakhanow alone. Local people say there are more than 100 Saddam Hussein's in 27 adjoining villages dominated by mostly Sunni Muslims. There is even a family with one son called Saddam Hussein and a younger sibling called Osama Bin Laden.

And, now after the recent high profile and much photographed execution of the Iraqi leader, the villagers of Lakhanow have decided to name all the newborn baby boys after him.

"George Bush can hang one Saddam Hussein but we will create an army of Saddam Hussein's. Let him come to our village and see how Saddam Hussein can never be executed," local leader Ayub Khan said.

There is no talk here of the former Iraqi leader's appalling human rights record, no mention of the people he murdered and no references to his numerous "miscalculations". All that is brushed aside by the Saddam Hussein personality cult.

Close to the village is the only private school, Dini Academy, where almost 100 Saddam Hussein's come to read, write and know more about the former Iraqi leader.

"It was during the Gulf War we came to know about the bravery and valour of the Iraqi president who mustered courage to defy American diktats," Mr Nizamuddin said.

On the day of the execution, all the Saddam Hussein's of the area congregated in the village mosque to pray for his soul.

Then they staged a procession and burnt effigies of George Bush.

But there is one problem in having so many Saddam Hussein's, says villager Mohammed Hassan Abbas.

"In the playground we have Saddam Hussein running after Saddam Hussein, behind Saddam Hussein who is ahead of Saddam Hussein but too far from Saddam Hussein... it can all get a little confusing," he said.

Clash of Civilizations

This is an example of the fact that we are truly engaged in a clash of civilizations. The mentality in some parts of the world is so alien to our Western civilization as to seem like it comes from Mars or Pluto, or from a not-so-parallel universe.

One thing that stands out is that they, as opposed to Western countries, are heavily into groupthink. They dress, act, and talk alike; believe en masse in the same things; and speak with one voice about such things as hatred for America. When they get in a group, they chant in unison and display universal hatred for the demons of the West.

Dealing with Other Cultures

I despise cultures like this, as they seem so inhuman to me, and as I admire the individuality of the Western persona.

Still, these kinds of cultures abound, and I, and we, must deal with them. Hatred, I know, is not the answer. Neither, though, is fear. I don't think it is moral or courageous for us to be afraid of them, and so avoid doing what we must do in the world. Regardless of whose feelings get hurt, we must defeat the Saddam Hussein's of the world.

On the other hand, I think we in the West do make a mistake when we don't at least try to understand these cultures.

Cultural Naiveté

One of our problems in countries like Iraq is that we are culturally naïve. We don't understand their system of tribal leadership and so on. So any war effort is doomed to fail, because we don't really have a feel for how things work there. It seems like we did a better job with this in Afghanistan.

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We Must Reach Out

One of the liberal fears is that we are creating more terrorists than we are killing. I say, so what? As long as we are doing the right things, I don't care.

I do care, though, that we, in addition to waging our just war, reach out to these other cultures and try and make friends. We need, in my opinion, to talk to them, create a dialogue with their leaders, and, without kowtowing to their demands, show them respect as human beings.

I don't think we can prevent villages of Saddam Hussein's from sprouting up here and there. I do think, though, that we can do like the terrorists do to gain favor. Like the PLO, Hamas, and Hezbollah do—we can extend the hand of friendship; we can build roads and schools; donate medicines and foods; and provide schoolbooks, with text that doesn't proclaim George Bush and America as the Great Satans.

Rock

(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)


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Truth to Power

Sunni's demonstrate against the disrespect shown their leader.

Taunting Saddam

Iraq to Review Abusive Acts at Hussein's Execution: New York Times, By JOHN F. BURNS and JAMES GLANZ: January 3, 2007, BAGHDAD.

Iraq's Shiite-led government said Tuesday that it had ordered an investigation into the abusive behavior at the execution of Saddam Hussein, who was subjected to a battery of taunts by official Shiite witnesses and guards as he awaited his hanging.

Officials said a three-man Interior Ministry committee would look into the scenes that have caused outrage and public demonstrations among Mr. Hussein's Sunni Arab loyalists in Iraq, and widespread dismay elsewhere, especially in the Middle East. In an unofficial cell phone video recording that was broadcast around the world and posted on countless Web sites, Mr. Hussein is shown standing on the gallows platform with the noose around his neck at dawn on Saturday, facing a barrage of mockery and derision from unseen tormentors below the gallows.

As the shock of those scenes reached a new crescendo in Iraq, American officials said that they had worked until the last hours of Mr. Hussein's life to persuade Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to delay the execution. The officials, who spoke on condition that they not be identified, said they appealed to Mr. Maliki not to execute Mr. Hussein at dawn on Saturday because of the onset of a major Islamic festival, and because of constitutional and legal questions that the Americans believed threw the legitimacy of the execution into doubt.

A Politically Correct War

This is another indication to me that the United States, and in particular, George Bush and his advisors, are waging and will always wage a politically correct war in Iraq.




This, to me, is a major reason why we are losing.

We are afraid to offend the people that continue to support Saddam Hussein.

American Concerns

For Bush and his advisors, there are two points of concern about the Saddam execution. First, that legal matters were not followed completely in the haste to execute Saddam. Second, that Saddam was subjected to disrespect as he went to his death.

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On the first point, I am not an expert on the law, so I'll demure to legal experts on this matter. Yes, I do want law to rule in Iraq. Yes, it was important to get the execution of Saddam right legally. I believe, though, there were other considerations, which I'll get to.

On the second point, I believe it's possible to show theoretical respect for the office of the presidency of Iraq, and for the Sunni followers of Saddam, while at the same time making it clear that Saddam Hussein himself was a deservedly disgraced man.

Obviously, we don't want blatant disrespect being shown to our leaders, soldiers, prisoners and dead. So, following the Golden Rule, we want to treat even the condemned with dignity.

All this I agree with.

Speaking Truth to Power

On the other hand, we have moral obligations in addition to legal and humanitarian obligations. We have a moral obligation to say loud and clear, to Sunnis and Shias alike, and to the world, that Saddam Hussein was a scumbag, and that he deserved to die a thousand deaths.

This is what members of the "righteous" left call "speaking truth to power." I love the concept. The liberals of course think this applies only when an employee is a whistleblower at an oil company, or when a leftist speaks up about Republican corruption, or when a citizen "bravely" calls President Bush a warmonger. The concept of speaking truth to power, though, should be a universal one—a goal worth trying for in many situations.

In this case, the United States needs to speak truth to power by saying to the Sunnis that Saddam was an evil man and deserved to die. This is the truth, and it ought to be said, loud and clear, regardless of consequences. The Sunnis may riot. They may kill innocent human beings because of it. Then, their rioting and killing behavior is their responsibility, and not ours, and needs to be correctly labeled too, as murder and acts of cowardice.

Our Upside Down World

We live in a crazy world sometimes these days. Terrorists are allowed to disrespect us, torture us, murder us, and follow none of the Geneva Conventions, without getting criticized at all by the world—while we must respect the terrorists, avoid torture, not murder them, follow all the Geneva Conventions, yet still get called war criminals by the world and the left.

Our Moral Superiority

If we had been in charge of Saddam's trial, we would have conducted it over a period of about five years. Then, the appeals process would start. Saddam would still be in jail and would be sitting there for 20 years before and if he were ever executed. He would not have been hanged. He might not even have been executed by lethal injection since that, according to the newest leftist thinking, is cruel and unusual punishment.

Plus, if he ever were put to death under us, he would have not been taunted.

Fine, call us morally superior. I don't see it this way. I say we have lost our common sense. We have become so politically correct that we have lost our minds.

Why It's Good Saddam is Dead

One major reason for executing Saddam so quickly was to eliminate the very real threat of a coup attempt on Maliki, or a kidnapping and freeing of Saddam, where Saddam could again lead the Sunnis on a murderous path. The Maliki government needed Saddam dead, and it did the right thing by killing him quickly. Killing Saddam swiftly did mean that the death came right before a major Muslim festival—but notice it was done before the holy days, not during them.

They Should Have Been Nice to Saddam

As far as the taunting goes, yes, if we were in charge it would not have happened. Maybe it shouldn't have happened. After all, it might have interfered with Saddam's self-delusion of the 72 virgins awaiting him. Seriously, though, maybe it shouldn't have happened, but aren't you glad it did? Didn't he deserve it? Can't we understand the executioners' transgressions? The man had butchered their relatives. Maybe they were wrong for being impolite to Saddam, but wasn't it understandable?

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Moral Cowardice and a Polite War

It's okay for us to object to the legality of Saddam's execution and to the taunting, but not for the reasons we did it. We did it because we are afraid of a Sunni backlash. This is the same reason why we don't attack terrorists who hide in mosques, or insurgents who blend in with civilian populations. This is the same reason why we don't attack the enemy on Muslim holy days.

We are such good guys. We are the touchy feely warriors, sensitive to the feelings of the people we are trying to kill. Good for us.

Compare that with Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We won that war, remember? We weren't very nice. We called Japanese Japs and Germans krauts and did what we had to do to prevail. The results? We conquered our enemies. We saved the world, and we were lauded, universally. Even those we vanquished became our allies. Compare that to now. We are such "nice guys," following all the rules, being so polite. The results? We are losing. We are called warmongers.

America, speak truth to power always; and if you're going to fight a war, win.

Rock

(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)


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The Munchkins Rejoice While the 72 Virgins Do Their Thing

Ding Dong.

(Munchkin 2)
You've killed her so completely
That we thank you very sweetly

(Glinda)
Let the joyous news be spread

The wicked, old witch at last is dead

(Munchkins)
Ding-dong the witch is dead
Which old witch? The wicked witch
Ding-dong the wicked witch is dead
Wake up you sleepyhead
Rub your eyes, get out of bed
Wake up the wicked witch is dead
She's gone where the goblins go
Below - below - below
Yo-ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out
Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low
Let them know the Wicked Witch is dead