Yes, yes. We've all breathed a collective sigh of relief now that the 'war' on Iraq is over.

Or is it....?

All the regular news stations, which NEVER really told us the truth about what was going on there anyway, have all gone back to their normal programming and the general public seems to be more than happy to follow suit.

Seems to me, though, that this is the time which is the most dangerous, the lull after the storm. Of course, the Iraqis are not happy that our troops are still occupying their land and influencing their choice of government, not to mention regulate to whom and for how much we sell their oil for them. Seems those 'wacky Iraqis' can't seem to shake the sight of our troops completely abandoning hospitals, and residential areas in favor of protecting - with avengence, I might add - the Government Oil Ministry!

Anyway, I've been reading a book by Gore Vidal called 'Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace'. It is a series of essays he wrote after September 11th and mostly concern the question of how our government has gotten to be so hated.

In it he quotes from a letter from accused Oklahoma City Bomber, the late Timothy McVeigh, in which he explains WHY he blew up the Murrah Federal Building. For those with short attention spans and memories to go along with it, let me remind you that McVeigh was one of the soldiers deployed in the First Gulf War in 1991. He was a good soldier who did what he was told and learned military strategy to all our detriment. He explains:

"...For all intents and purposes, federal agents had become 'soldiers' (using military training, tactics, techniques, equipment, language, dress, organization and mindset) and they were escalating their behavior. Therefore, this bombing was also meant as a 'pre-emptive' strike against those forces and their command and control centers within the federal building. When an aggressor force continually launches attacks from a particular base of operations, it is sound military strategy to take the fight to the enemy. Additionally, borrowing a page from U.S. foreign policy, I decided to send a message to a government that was becoming increasingly hostile by bombing a government building and the government employees within the building who represent that government. Bombing the Murrah Federal Building was morally and strategically equivalent to the U.S. hitting a government building in Serbia, Iraq or other nations. Based on observations of the policies of my own government, I viewed this action as an acceptable option. From this perspective, what occurred in Oklahoma City was no different than what Americans rain on the heads of others all the time and, subsequently, my mindset was and is one of clinical detatchment." -
I don't know about you, but, this scares the hell out of me. If you had any sense, it should send alarm bells going off in your head and heart as well. It is easy to say that McVeigh, was a 'homicidal maniac' - read CRAZY, but how many of us ever dreamed in our wildest nightmares that 19 crazies would ever intentially fly three planes into buildings on our soil? In fact, McVeigh was NOT crazy - he was determined. The 19 hijackers on September 11th weren't crazy either. That's what hurts.

We are now dealing with countries in the Middle East who have seen CENTURIES of conflict and who are desperately trying to prevent the deteriorization of their fundamentalist Islamic religion. Every liberal idea, every Westernized mode of dress, each erosion of moral conduct, in their eyes - pulls followers farther away from Islam. We are the Infidels who are forcing our ways on them. We play favorites with countries like Isreal, who, they believe, basically stole the land from the Palestinian people. We set up our military bases on Arab land and refuse to leave for reasons that do not benefit the occupied. The way most of fundamentalist zealots see it, we bring destruction and economic ruin on countries we touch. They are frightened. Fear breeds anger. Anger breeds violence. Violence breeds distrust, and then distance and finally prejudice.

What happened to us on 9/11 is nothing compared to the violence they visit upon each other on a weekly basis. Sure, we were outraged by the attack on our soil, but we are more frightened than angry at this point. Why else would we allow a self-appointed President and his group (The Project for a New American Century) to actually engage in pre-emption against a country who we were told - on non-existant evidence - threatened us.

What's next?! Re-read McVeigh's statements above. They came from an American - who we want to believe isn't like us. But he is. We just bombed an innocent country and threw them into chaos in the name of democracy. Don't believe it. If you wonder why we are so hated, you aren't paying attention.

It is time we all wake up.