Now We Know How Iraq Feels

The devastation of the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Katrina, and the tragedy of the last couple of days, especially in New Orleans, is heart-wrenching, to say the least. The Tsunami in Southern Asia just last winter gave us a glimpse of how devastating Mother Nature can be, but then it wasn't in our backyard.

Now, it is in our backyard, and in situations like this we humans will show our true stuff. Many try to help each other out, knowing that in the end everyone will be better for it. Some, on the other hand, take advantage of the situation, and in showing their true colors, display their animosity and despite for their fellow man.

Thought Aside:
Unfortunately, those helpful folks have no idea how to help each other when dealing with hoodlum thugs. If there could be one way that we could learn from 9/11, the current situation in New Orleans, and days battling the school bully, is that those who help others, need training to appropriately and effectively defend against and subdue those who harmfully hinder us. I'm not referring to more training for police. Police were not on the airplanes that flew into the WTC. Police are not around to help every person defend against the thugs in New Orleans. Nor, are police there to protect kids from school bullies. Maybe Tae Kwon Do should be mandatory in all schools, so that all kids know how to protect themselves throughout life, and in these situations, at least they would be able to protect themselves and others around them. We need to learn not to be passive and tolerant, but to be proactive and protective.

Back to the Main Point:
As we have been passive and turning a blind eye to the devastation with real humans (especially the Iraqi citizens) suffering in the Iraqi War, now we can see how difficult it could be to live with insurgents and thugs as we see it played out in New Orleans. The only difference is that the thugs in New Orleans are out for irreligious (is there such a word?) materialistic greed and total disregard for anyone else. Now, when we see footage from Iraq, maybe we should use the perspective of those trapped in New Orleans, and realize that there are innocent Iraqis trapped, too. Now we know how Iraq feels.

It is an outrage that we can't control the insurgents, whether they be in Iraq or in New Orleans. For a country that supposedly upholds life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we certainly don't defend it well. Speaking of our country, where's George W. Bush in all of this? How long did it take for Bush to get to ground zero after the 9/11 terrorist attack, a supposed surprize attack? We knew last Friday that a major hurricane was bearing down on the gulf coast and it might likely hit New Orleans, a sub-sea level metropolis. We knew it would affect millions of people. Where's the profoundly positively inspiring speech by the President at the site of devastation? Where is large FEMA groups, like at NYC after 9/11? Where's the National Guard?

Oh, I forgot, we sent the National Guard to Iraq.