Patriotism- Is it divisive?

Patriotism is a dictators fine wine. Some say, "Leave our country if you don't agree with the president." If Patriotism was defined as a cup that drinks from our constitution, we would have more reverence for freedom of speech, where Democracy comes without persecution.

- Raven Smith

Please note- Allow first this discussion of the Iraq war. Then you will see my point as to why Patriotism is an issue, when addressing our progress within Americas political structure and Iraqs new birth pangs.

Patriotism- Is it divisive?

The Iraq war- We made some mistakes in the Iraq war. Duh! If we intend on being truthful in our accounting of our actions, we must honor what was good and what was not. Your conclusions on this war must not be viewed as a "snap shot thinker." Just as a camera takes a snap shot of just one frame or one moment in time, a sound conclusion draws opinions like a video camera, which tells the whole story frame after frame. If you've taken a snapshot of our few mistakes in this war and left out other frames of truth, you've viewed this war unfairly. Snapshot thinkers will even edit the one frame, lol. We lie, we add, we take away, we slander...etc, with our fears, insecurities and other character weaknesses.

We have a value system in America. This which we hold highly today, yes our Democracy. This amazing freedom to uphold your individuality and beliefs. This political structure is one that the Iraqi people have never known. Their leader was Saddam Hussein. A ruthless leader who has a hitler conscious. He murdered his people AND their families without trials. They where assumed guilty by just allegations. America...he can no longer do that. I do agree that in time he would have been a great danger to America and the whole world but again, "in time." Here we are on this day, December 25th, where I must acknowledge again, its time that America steps off the sands of Iraq and come back home. Anyone with me?

Why a declared date?-

First of all, the mind set of the Iraqi people will begin to trust our intentions and their future democracy. If they know they have ownership and rule of their country on a given date, they will feel secure in "today's challenges" and in "today's change." They fear Americas continual occupation. Wouldn't you? Our occupation feels indefinite to them and this will stand in the way of any progress culturally for the Iraqi people. Don't get me wrong, rebellion will be evident for years to come, but as long as we remain there without a deadline or date, rebellion will escalate for other reasons. Today the uprisings are due to mostly our occupation, where in the future the uprisings are made by the hearts of some Iraqis. Just as Gandhi fought peacefully for the Muslims and Hindus to solve their own problems; he felt this was better than a foreign government trying to maintain order and control who was not Muslim or Hindu.

Secondly, I am not naive. As an avid history lover, I know it takes many years to change social structures. Heck, its been over 45 years since the 60's movement and Americans are still dealing with biased views against women and races. The civil war brought freedom to slaves on paper but not in the hearts of Americans. Social change will take time.

On Day 1 of the Iraq war, I made a few predictions. I knew this war would be the longest war in our history. I knew we would create new enemies amongst our allies. I also knew that the political and social structure of Iraq would take years to change, let alone when the Iraqis could feel safe in their country. These people have been in war for decades. History has proven social change takes years. This is not only true in our nation but around the world and from the beginning of mans history. This is where the Bush Administration may have underestimated.

I write these opinions as a republican. I respect Mr. Bush greatly. Bush has admitted to the mistakes of this war but the Iraq war was motivated by many factors. Our fears channel a view point, that there were only one or a few reasons that brought us to war with Iraq. You would be wrong in drawing those types of conclusions.

The Bush Administration saw the good, in the removal of a ruthless dictator. Sorry, but this is fundamentally obvious to anyone who knows what kind of man Saddam was. The Bush administration passionately desires a better future for the Iraqi people. I can only hope we see the good in this to. I also understand the present reasoning of the Bush administration as to why we haven't offered Iraq a pull out date. This reasoning gravely lacks foresight in my opinion. Bush agrees and is working steadily at Iraqs liberation. He doesn't want America running Iraq. He wants a stable government in order to feel at peace in walking away. Personally, I believe a date, a month and a year will have a greater impact on all that we are doing now and on all we hope to achieve. To offer no date, and then hope the Iraq will trust our intentions, is much like a Harlequin romance story. Its too good to be true.

Fact: Its going to take many many and many generations for the Iraqi people to become loyal to the ideas of democracy. Their culture is so very different from ours that its NOT comparing apples to oranges folks, its comparing a caveman to the first man who walked on the moon. Lets elaborate again! Our differences socially and culturally are night and day.

Thirdly, not only are we dealing with a country that doesn't have a similar political structure, Iraq is some what of an isolated culture. Think about it- Saddam did his best to control what programs the Iraqis could watch and what radio stations they had access to. His dictatorship was about control. Something we take for granted in America and around the world. By no means can America rescue every nation under dictatorship. Today we have a much needed restoration within our country, which needs to be a priority.

The cycle of generations - The A, B,

The mentality of the Iraqi people are a product of a dictatorship regime. Have you heard the phrase, "Your a product of your childhood?" This is a universal truth on many levels. Parents teach their children their beliefs, while children acquire knowledge from their social structure. In Iraq everyone is witnessing change. Some will teach their children that dictatorship is the Iraqi way and some wont. True that this generation of children will be raised in a culture of change, but their parents generation and beliefs is too nearby, too concentrated socially, for them to possess major differences of thought. These young Iraqi children will take on some of their parents thinking and some from the social structure. Then they will grow up and become parents. This next generation will take on some of what their parents taught them and some of what their changing culture has taught them. Then they will have children. Then their children will have children and so on and so on. Little by little, many and many years later, the old with the new, the Iraqi people will change socially. I know this sounds elementary but as I predicted, this is NOT going to be a quick war.

In honoring the time element of the cultural, social and political changes that Iraq will go through, we are led to somewhere else-wisdom. Are we so arrogant that we could ever think that change in Iraq will happen in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years...? Can we financially stay in this war for however long it will take? Haven't we learned from our own nations history? How long did laws on paper finally become the hearts of Americans? How can we teach what we still don't know?

Take the challenge-

Today in the news we heard about the uprising in Iraq due to the recent voting process. We watch the news every day and see the continual uprising and deaths of our American Soldiers. We are upset and worried. We wonder what the outcome of this great financial cost will bring to our nation and just like every other war, we've forgotten ourdemocratic stance. We forget in the midst of emotional stirring, that we are all in this together. We is not just America. We is friend or foe, allies or enemies, its the global tie that exists from man to man across all borders. The backlash of this war reveals our Hearts in this divisive attitude that Americans have amongst each other and where the term Patriotism is used. As we remain in Iraq, we must maintain the integrity as teachers of democratic passions. I desire to challenge you and to challenge myself. Do we still have much to learn? One of the reasons why we should pull out of Iraq is based on foresight and the wisdom of cultural change. Democracy is first taught as laws on paper but it takes centuries for hearts to change.

Patriotism-In its very meaning, is a divisive term against freedom.

I would like to hear your opinions on the quote I wrote in the beginning of this article. Secondly, I would like to hear what you believe the word Patriotism means? The basic definition is "The Love of and devotion to one's country." Do you think that we have re-defined this word socially? Is it the support of our leadership or what our fore fathers founded us on? Is is the support of just our leadership? If we are proud Americans, do we persecute each other for the freedom that many had fought for? Are we socially, culturally forever grasping what democracy really is? I would love to hear your thoughts.