Politicians, Terrorists and Illegal Aliens

I think it is wise to pay attention to our history. My thought process on this article began with a conversation I had just recently with my youngest daughter about politics. Most people, who know me well, will tell you that I abhor politics and am generally disgusted with all politicians; consequently I spend very little time involved in political discussions. However, I'm not one to discourage anyone, especially my kids, from participation in any legal activity which they find interesting. I only suggested to Kayla that she might have a better understanding of current political issues, if she had a better understanding of our nation's history.

Recently I have read numerous newspaper articles, blogs, Facebook posts and emails about various current events in our world which seem to be quite troubling to the huddled masses. As I think back through our country's history, I am often at odds with, or confused with, the comments and opinions that I read. Let me give you a few examples.

Immigration

Currently, the State of Arizona has caused some consternation because of a state law which will allow law enforcement officials to stop anyone that they may suspect of being an illegal alien. To some people this was welcomed with a sense of relief. Evidently, many people are tired of their tax money being spent to support our illegal aliens. On the other hand, there was outrage from others about this racial profiling, which will no doubt cause problems for many of our own citizens.

Last week a handful of students were sent home from school for wearing American Flag T-shirts to school. One would think that this was a nice display of patriotism, however, they chose to do so on Cinco de Mayo, which apparently made it offensive to some people; hence their removal. I don't understand this, because if you are in school, you surely are an American, so why was this display of patriotism offensive?

I have always been of the opinion that we are a Nation of Immigrants. It is our history of how we came to be a sovereign nation. However, it is also my opinion that we are Americans, not African-Americans, not Latin-Americans, not Italian-Americans; just Americans...one language, one flag, one Nation.

In 1907, Theodore Roosevelt addressed our immigration problems thusly:

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Although Mr. Roosevelt was addressing concerns with Italian and German immigrants, it was nonetheless similar to the concerns with which we are still faced today. I have no problem with people who feel that they owe an allegiance to and harbor pride in their own country; I just suggest that, if you want to fly a flag of a nation other than ours, please return to whatever that nation is and fly your flag back there. My ancestors came from England and although I'm sure England is a decent enough place, my ancestors, for whatever the reason, left. Do I have some pride in my ancestral background? I don't know really, I never knew any of them; for all I know they may have been a bunch of scoundrels. Regardless of where they came from or how they got here, I have only one allegiance, I am an American and I don't fly a British flag.

Terrorists

When I read anything about terrorist activity in our country, I am really not shocked or surprised. Terrorist activity has been going on since this Nation was founded. The names and politics of our enemies have changed through the years, but their tactics remain the same. Our country is so open that anyone can move about unmolested from shore to shore, which makes it such an easy target for terrorists. Our country has a wealth of enemies in this world, the list appears to be growing and many of them are extreme religious fanatics who hate all of us infidels. So there you have plenty of motive and opportunity; I just don't understand why people are so shocked and surprised when it happens.

When they found the SUV parked in Times Square recently with the potential bomb inside, I immediately thought about the Wall Street bombing in 1920. Unlike the most recent attempt, the terrorist in 1920 was successful in exploding his bomb on wheels.

It was 16 September 1920, a beautiful warm autumn morning, when a horse drawn wagon stopped directly in front of the New York Stock Exchange. The driver, whose identity was never discovered, dropped the reins, jumped from the wagon and fled on foot. Within a minute after twelve o'clock, when Wall Street workers were pouring out of nearby buildings for their noontime lunch break, the explosive laden wagon erupted violently, killing 30 people instantly. Another 10 would die soon after from their wounds and an additional 300 men, women and children were injured from the blast and shrapnel. The wagon carried over 100 pounds of dynamite and was packed with over 500 pounds of cast-iron slugs.

The making of bombs is simple, the delivery systems can be as simple as a horse drawn wagon and our enemies are many, so why would anyone be surprised when this happens. Dismayed and concerned yes, but this is really something that we should expect from extremists who hold no value in human life.

War

Today we find ourselves fighting a war in Iraq and another one in Afghanistan. We have now been engaged in these battles for several years and the enemy combatants are still killing our troops. Are we making progress in either country? When will this fighting end? These questions seem to be asked in the media by one person or another on a daily basis. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a good answer for either question. I suppose it depends on your definition of progress and whether or not you are an optimist or pessimist.

We were warned by former Vice President Cheney that withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq would cause the collapse of governments in other countries in the region, namely Pakistan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. His argument dictated that a withdrawal would initiate the transition of the current governments in these countries to regimes under the control of radical Islamic rulers. We should have learned a number of things from the Vietnam War, but primarily we should have learned this, Mr. Cheney had it exactly backwards. Our continued presence is what is destabilizing this region.

In the early 1950's, the French were bogged down fighting a losing war in Vietnam. The defeat of the French by the Vietminh at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 hastened the decision for the French to withdraw. It was at this time that our President Eisenhower theorized that we had to support the South Vietnamese regime against the communists, because if Vietnam fell, then like dominoes, the neighboring countries would fall to communism, as well. So, in 1956, the US Military Assistance Advisor Group assumed responsibility for training South Vietnamese forces. This escalated into a full scale deployment of US troops until 19 years later when the North Vietnamese captured Saigon and President Ford stated that "as far as the US is concerned, the Vietnam War is finished."

Are the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan the same as our war in Vietnam? Not exactly, but there are some striking similarities between the two. Prior to fighting in Vietnam, we had not been physically attacked by our enemy, but our politicians still felt that the potential loss of Vietnam left us vulnerable to our enemy. I don't believe that we had a clear cut strategy for victory when we entered Iraq or Afghanistan and yet in Vietnam, we at least had Eisenhower's strategy of supporting the South Vietnamese regime and preventing the domino effect. It is obvious now that in Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam, we entered all three without any exit strategy. By the time we came up with one and left Vietnam, we had lost 58,159 young men.

It is such a shame that you can develop the greatest fighting force in the world and yet not have enough knowledge to use it properly. I find no fault with what any of our troops and their great military leadership has done in the battles to protect us and keep us free. It is our politicians who I find fault with and that is one of the major reasons that I abhor discussing politics. Another reason is the fact that I could never be persuasive enough to change another person's political views, so every time I discussed politics with someone, it somehow transitioned into an argument with neither side conceding anything.

A good friend of mine just sent me a patriotic poem and I have attached a portion of it that I thought would fit in well right here. I'm not sure who wrote it; maybe someone reading this can provide a name.

For when countries are in conflict

We find the Soldier's part

Is to clean up all the troubles

That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor

While he's here to hear the praise,

Then at least let's give him homage

At the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline

In the paper that might say:

"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,

A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."

And so my dear Kayla, if you want to continue your involvement with political issues; study our history and learn as many of the valuable lessons from our past as you can. And don't just look at historical events as isolated instances, but try to understand the reasons why these events occurred and how they relate to our society and the world around them. History may not exactly repeat itself, but it sure seems to create an uncanny resemblance to our present day woes.