- Posted by
sam
on
May 13, 2008
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I found something over at a Geocities web site. I wanted to share it on my blog, because who knows how long it would have lasted over there and this quote was far to good to read once and not remember. I hope you enjoy.
Why speak up about things that don't seem to affect you? Perhaps Pastor Martin Neimoller's view in one version of his quote will answer that question. He supported the Nazis until he realized, too late, what they were really about and was sent to Dachau concentration camp. He was one of the fortunate to be freed and live until 1984.
First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Social Democrats, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Social Democrat.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.
This version thanks to information researched at Liverpool Community College (which page has since been taken down) and by University of California Santa Barbara Professor Harold Marcuse who continues to update his pages with further research results. This version is similar to the one I remember seeing when I was in middle school and it never left me. I hope it never will.
Thank the good people in this world for we have Freedom.
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- Posted by
Sam
on
March 17, 2008
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Ghalib Ali Hamid, a top Iraqi official at the Bayji refinery, is suspected of skimming profits and having ties to insurgents. (Eros Hoagland for The New York Times)
Everywhere around us, there is corruption, death and destruction of the human race. I started this blog to have an idea of why people would want to stop a thing as great as liberty. Why would people want to snuff out freedoms. Why would people want to kill others. Can't everyone live in peace. I know peace is a long shot and would require something out of Star Trek - First Contact where aliens come to Earth and Unite the entire human race. But, today is not a day like any other day. Today and most likely for a while now the troops have known about Profits from stolen oil that helps sustain the insurgency (bad guys) in Iraq. The profits are skimmed about 1/3 off the top and given to the insurgents. This is upsetting in many ways. Why? Well let me tell you, some people say that we entered the war in Iraq for Oil and now it shows that oil is working against us to kill soldiers and innocent civilians of Iraq. This is extremely sad and disheartening. I don't wish death upon anyone, but for someone who kills for the ability to rule with an iron fist, I say the hell with them. I feel that we went to war in Iraq, not just because of the WMD that were supposed to be there, but because of the atrocities that were happening at this day and age.
1980-88: Iran-Iraq war left 150,000 to 340,000 Iraqis and 450,000 to 730,000 Iranians dead.
1983-1988: Documented chemical attacks by Iraqi regime caused some 30,000 Iraqi and Iranian deaths.
1988: Chemical attack on Kurdish village of Halabja killed approximately 5,000 people.
1987-1988: Iraqi regime used chemical agents in attacks against at least 40 Kurdish villages.
1990-91: 1,000 Kuwaitis were killed in Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
1991: Bloody suppression of Kurdish and Shi'a uprisings in northern and southern Iraq killed at least 30,000 to 60,000. At least 2,000 Kurdish villages were destroyed during the campaign of terror.
2001: Amnesty International report: "Victims of torture in Iraq are subjected to a wide range of forms of torture, including the gouging out of eyes, severe beatings and electric shocks... some victims have died as a result and many have been left with permanent physical and psychological damage."
Human Rights Watch: Saddam's 1987-1988 campaign of terror against the Kurds killed at least 50,000 and possibly as many as 100,000 Kurds.
Refugees International: "Oppressive government policies have led to the internal displacement of 900,000 Iraqis."
Iraq's 13 million Shiite Muslims, the majority of Iraq's population of approximately 22 million, faced severe restrictions on their religious practice.
FBI: Iraqi government was involved in a plot to assassinate former President George Bush during his April 14-16, 1993, visit to Kuwait.
The Iraqi regime has repeatedly refused visits by human rights monitors.
Now, don't get me wrong, there are other bad things going on in this world like Darfur, Myanmar, China and Burma. The problem that we had with Iraq is that they were able to move it to a global scale if necessary. The other countries are only in the certain regions. They do not threaten the world population as of yet. Iraq did and its neighbors still do. I truly wish that when we were done with Iraq, we would push the spread of democracy and Freedom. I wish that we would support financially other countries and groups of protesters that wanted democracy. I imagine we do and it is not publicized, but I could only wish that the US government is pushing for democracy and liberties all around the world.
I thought of a quote that would fit right along with this. "Every person has the right to be free, no one person deserves to be a slave." I believe that down to my bones. I hope you do too.