Ben Bennett

The idea that “we’re good, they’re evil” is too simplistic and also happens to be inaccurate. We are attacked by “terrorists” because the US has been sticking our nose around the world where it doesn’t belong since the late 19th century (and in the Middle East as far back as the 1950s, maybe earlier). We interfere with their internal affairs, we prop-up governments that oppress and kill people, and the citizens of these nations after decades of our government (the US) aiding their enemies and oppressors leaves them no choice but to attack us in the brutal ways that we do.

This is in no one condoning their actions. But with any other violent crime, be it mugging, rape, or murder, it’s always important to find a motive. To say that these people are simply bread to hate Americans for no reason is absurd (sure, they are raised to hate Americans because of how miserable American policies have made their lives, but it certainly isn’t “for no reason”).

In 1953, we assisted the British in overthrowing the government of Iran. The new dictator we put in place was instrumental in killing hundreds of thousands of people in the area. In 1979, Iranian civilians retaliated. In the 1980s, we were allies with Saddam Hussein (who was a murderous dictator). In the 90s, we placed sanctions on Iraq that lead to the death of 300,000 due to starvation.

Now put yourself in their position. If you were relatively small and weak against a powerful adversary like the United States, what would you do after decades of this? You might resort something crazy like blowing yourself up in a crowded place just to help get your message across. Of course, Rudy, with the help of the media, simply announce, “we’re good, they’re evil” and use it as an example of why our government needs to further restrict our freedoms to “protect” us from the “evil terrorists.”

I say we stop meddling; bring the troops home from the Middle East and other countries and those countries deal with their own affairs. We have enough problems in this country that we can spend our resources on without having to try and fix other countries. If the government is going to steal my money via taxation, then the least they could do is use it to improve the quality of America.

If we stop killing them, they’ll have no reason to hate us.

The only candidate, Republican or Democrat, that seems to get this is Ron Paul, so he has my vote.

But I’m looking past it. I will support Rudy all the way, because there’s more important issues out there like fighting the War on Islamo-Fascism.

I hope to meet Rudy one day, to have the opportunity to explain to him why legalized prostitution would be a better stance. But it’s not critical to my support.

Eric Dondero, CEO