anonymousme

Brah,

I really appreciate your comment yesterday. Ultimately, it is true that you can only know a thing by being right down there in it, like you've been in Iraq.

I realize that U.S. troops in general are not intent on destroying Iraq, but sometimes I really believe our government may be. And those troops follow no other orders except those issued from the U.S. government.

But you've been there more than a few times and I haven't. But I *am* beginning to think that war, much like life, is another huge grey area. But it has to be the worst kind of grey area imaginable.

I just hear and see so many stories of increased Iraqi suffering since the U.S. occupation that I can't help but feel profoundly angry. I also hate that we're so caught up in our daily lives over here and that when many of us think of the Middle East, prejudices come into play and we think of these people as somehow lesser than us.

The Middle East can be a magical place with a history nearly as old as man. It has a vibrant past spotlighted by some extraordinary people. I remember reading about Baghdad as a kid and thinking how beautifully wonderous the city seemed. Now, it has been almost completely destroyed. That magic has undoubtedly been snuffed out, along with so many other cities in Iraq and the outlying areas.

Of course, the Middle East has been torn by strife and conflict for a great many decades, but I can only think that this war has only served to exacerbate the problem immensely. Most of the citizens of the area live in mindnumbing poverty, and I don't think most of us here in the prosperous U.S. can possibly undertstand that when things are *that* bad, *all* that you have is religion.

I think religion is absolute dangerous bullshit, but I cannot be so dismissive of it in environments where devastating poverty is so extraordinarily rampant, as is the case in the Middle East. It is one of the very few reasons these people have to live. So, I refuse to take that away from them, but the real solution is to reduce the poverty.

Poverty (and extraordinary desperation) is what engendered the most shameful period in human history, the German National Socialists. Poverty never leads to anything good. Islam is not a violent religion by nature, and it is not a particulary bad religion (though, as I said earlier, I'm not a fan of *any* religion.) But Islam mixed with extreme poverty is a combination that can only have devastating results.

If most Christians were as poor as most Muslims, Christianity would be the scourge of the world. (Not that I don't think it is already.)

Suffice to say that while I agree with msot of what you wrote in your comment, I think the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq has made things far worse for the Iraqi people than they otherwise would have been under Hussein. I don't believe we've done any real good there, but I also don't think we should immediately simply abandon them now that we've fucked them over.

I am very much impressed that you wrote back with such an even-tempered and well-thought critique of my incendiary entry. I really do think that the world would be a better place if more people reacted with the calm and composure that you did, especially considering that you're a Marine. (Yeah, you're not active anymorem, but don't they say "once a Marine, always a Marine"? I've always thought that was pretty cool, actually. I mean, I admire it, because it implies that you never leave them behind.)

As far as contradictory comments go, I find war both repulsive and beautiful. Instruments of darkness (read "weapons of war") have always been extraordinarily compelling to me because I guess I've just always been drawn to those things that concern morbidity and death. I feel that it's part of my nature and that there's nothing I can do about it. In fact, there's nothing I really *want* to do about it. I truly love death and all those things associated with it, be they weapons or instruments of torture or gore or fascist imagery, and though that may seem an extreme statement to make, I can't help but believe it's true.

I suppose I tend to gravitate most toward Nazi imagery not because I am a racist, since I have been and always will be the ultimate enemy of racism. (For example, I was the only white, honorary member of the black fraternity at CSU, Stanislaus from 1991-1992, and part of the reason I love living in San Diego so much is the deep hispanic influence in this region. The latter people are true Native Americans, and they have more to offer our culture than we will peobably ever realize. And I also have a deep love and respect for Jewish culture, which I consider to be comprised of possibly be the most profoundly loving, tolerant, and wonderfully unique people in human history.) But rather I do it because Nazism is so shocking (I love going after the shock value) and may possibly be the only official government in the history of mankind wherein the concern lay almost exclusively with death. [Even the child drummers in the Hitler Youth had huge totenkopfs ("death's-heads") on their emblazoned on their drums.]

So, the "Ich bin kampfbereit" statement simply means I always feel ready for war or at least learning about and immersing myself in war.


In any case, how did the hearing go? I hope it went well, so let me know as soon as you can. I'm sorry I was a bit of a bastard at the beginning of practice on Wednesday, so thanks for putting up with me. I really do consider myself very lucky to have you in the band, and the new bass did indeed sound much cleaner and tighter.

Let me know what's going on with you, and im the meantime, I'll be continuing to work on the band stuff. (Mostly digitizing and website work this weekend. Except for Sunday, when we'll be practicing, of course.)

Auf wiedersehen.