My eyes were also opened re: the Iraq War. When I was in my 30s, I had NO notion of the corruption that existed in the higher levels of our own government. My dad had a good job, my mom stayed home to raise us, we were never asked "are you going to college" but rather "where are you going to college", and we had no reason to believe that our future would be markedly different from our parents' present. When Saddam invaded, my heart and head (such as it was) were fully behind Bush and the plan to evict the Iraqis from Kuwait (remember "Bomb Bomb Iraq"?).
Fast forward to the present and I find I've become as disillusioned as Peachy regarding our leadership. I've always maintained that a little bit of graft, a little bit of grease (throw a little patronage to useless uncle Joey...), were essentially harmless (and basically unavoidable) AS LONG AS those in charge truly loved our country. That no longer obtains. Most of our elite class is about power, fame, wealth...not much room in that triumvirate for a little thing like "patriotism".
I love my country. It is still the greatest nation that ever existed. But I am so heartily ashamed at our foreign policy; I simply cannot understand why any other country would trust us. This is the doing of our betters and, ultimately, of ourselves. We are the ones who elect these psychopathic narcissists. We truly are one generation away from total collapse. If we do not get kids out of the public schools (into parochial schools like Chesterton Academy, or into homeschool coops, or even your garden variety private school where flags still fly), we will no longer have the numbers to fight back.
I think Peachy may have just described the GenX experience with our government. Was late to the questioning myself. Was a CPT in the Army National Guard on 9/11 and was both terrified and exhilarated that this was 'our war'.
I also carry the shame of being a full-on 'Team America FU$K Yeah!' mindset. Even lasted long enough to blame Obama for ISIS & the shitshow Iraq had become. My suspicions began 2015ish when I retired. Peak disenfranchisement was watching the criminal withdrawal from Kabul in August 2021. There goes Ukraine, there goes Taiwan circled my brain for weeks afterward.
Re-grieving lost friends. Seeing in full naked glory the results of our moral collapse of materialism over spirit/God/values.
Very well written. Thank you.
Just had a thought. One of my Soldiers was looking to return to war about 2 months after our return. We all feel this way. Long for combat once we home. It's weird and hard to understand, explain (we usually only talk about this with other Soldiers because we think it will hurt our families and they wouldn't understand anyway...) or live with.
The Soldier asked for my help (to find a deployment), and I answered, "The real war is here. Finish school. Get married. Build a life. This is all hard and noble as well."
The real war is here, but it is a deathmatch for ideas and values and the very soul of our nation and ourselves.
I read the letter and was even more surprised that kids are agreeing with it. It flat-out states that he wants the US to adopt Shariah law and take away all our freedoms, and that was the real reason. That, and because we support the “evil” Israel, although he gives no reason for believing that land should belong to them. While there is some valid criticism of the US for meddling in foreign affairs, sometimes with terrible results, that isn’t really the crux of the letter. It’s amazing to me that people are that influenceable. It’s also amazing to me that censoring the latter has been the response because I really think if most people read it they’d see it for what it is, and allowing people to read and refute it is the best remedy
The Koran specifically states that Jews are to killed where ever they are found and that same gender sex is an abomination to God and participants are to be destroyed. As you point out, the vast majority of those non-Muslims supporting the Islamic jihad in Judah and Israel and Osama's fatwah would themselves be on the chopping block, literally. I am reminded of H.L. Mencken's observation about democracy and would like to paraphrase it here: these people, Jews and gentiles, are going to get their social justice good and hard from the jihadists, and the Karens amongst them are going to find out what patriarchy really is, in the Islamic way.
Jews inhabited Jerusalem more than 2,000 years before Muhammad was born, I don't care what Osama believes. That means that it is the Jews who are the indigenous people there. Arab Muslims are the invaders/colonizers.
Exactly! I’m your age, Peachy, and your reversion to conservatism is identical to mine. I was dumb enough to think the Bushes were alright and the Iraq war was just. As soon as Trump said, “Only Rosie O’Donnell” and made Ted Cruz look like a smarmy tent revivalist, I started to dig up and take notice.
I didn't even realize mrs. K wrote this until I was about halfway through and I thought wow this is really good! And then I realized she wrote it and said of course it's good it was written by mrs K!
Osama's So Hot Right Now
My eyes were also opened re: the Iraq War. When I was in my 30s, I had NO notion of the corruption that existed in the higher levels of our own government. My dad had a good job, my mom stayed home to raise us, we were never asked "are you going to college" but rather "where are you going to college", and we had no reason to believe that our future would be markedly different from our parents' present. When Saddam invaded, my heart and head (such as it was) were fully behind Bush and the plan to evict the Iraqis from Kuwait (remember "Bomb Bomb Iraq"?).
Fast forward to the present and I find I've become as disillusioned as Peachy regarding our leadership. I've always maintained that a little bit of graft, a little bit of grease (throw a little patronage to useless uncle Joey...), were essentially harmless (and basically unavoidable) AS LONG AS those in charge truly loved our country. That no longer obtains. Most of our elite class is about power, fame, wealth...not much room in that triumvirate for a little thing like "patriotism".
I love my country. It is still the greatest nation that ever existed. But I am so heartily ashamed at our foreign policy; I simply cannot understand why any other country would trust us. This is the doing of our betters and, ultimately, of ourselves. We are the ones who elect these psychopathic narcissists. We truly are one generation away from total collapse. If we do not get kids out of the public schools (into parochial schools like Chesterton Academy, or into homeschool coops, or even your garden variety private school where flags still fly), we will no longer have the numbers to fight back.
Keep up the great work, Peachy!
TikTok is digital opium. Its addicts are Emperor Xi’s court eunuchs. Many have already castrated themselves.
History repeats again: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/ccp-opium-war-tiktok-fentanyl
Funny thing is that I actually like the second part of his letter..the immoral and intoxicated rant was pretty on target
I think Peachy may have just described the GenX experience with our government. Was late to the questioning myself. Was a CPT in the Army National Guard on 9/11 and was both terrified and exhilarated that this was 'our war'.
I also carry the shame of being a full-on 'Team America FU$K Yeah!' mindset. Even lasted long enough to blame Obama for ISIS & the shitshow Iraq had become. My suspicions began 2015ish when I retired. Peak disenfranchisement was watching the criminal withdrawal from Kabul in August 2021. There goes Ukraine, there goes Taiwan circled my brain for weeks afterward.
Re-grieving lost friends. Seeing in full naked glory the results of our moral collapse of materialism over spirit/God/values.
Very well written. Thank you.
Just had a thought. One of my Soldiers was looking to return to war about 2 months after our return. We all feel this way. Long for combat once we home. It's weird and hard to understand, explain (we usually only talk about this with other Soldiers because we think it will hurt our families and they wouldn't understand anyway...) or live with.
The Soldier asked for my help (to find a deployment), and I answered, "The real war is here. Finish school. Get married. Build a life. This is all hard and noble as well."
The real war is here, but it is a deathmatch for ideas and values and the very soul of our nation and ourselves.
bsn
And there it is. “When the Muslims conquered the Romans.”
So really Palestine belongs to the Italians 😂😂.
Completely agree. We need to figure out how to right our ship.
I think that deep down, we know what to do, but for whatever reason, we can’t bring ourselves to do it - yet.
Remember, if people like bin Laden had their way, the world would be one big caliphate.
I'm grateful to have grown up amongst refugees from the former soviet union. The other side is a useful reminder to have.
I read the letter and was even more surprised that kids are agreeing with it. It flat-out states that he wants the US to adopt Shariah law and take away all our freedoms, and that was the real reason. That, and because we support the “evil” Israel, although he gives no reason for believing that land should belong to them. While there is some valid criticism of the US for meddling in foreign affairs, sometimes with terrible results, that isn’t really the crux of the letter. It’s amazing to me that people are that influenceable. It’s also amazing to me that censoring the latter has been the response because I really think if most people read it they’d see it for what it is, and allowing people to read and refute it is the best remedy
I used to think that the term ‘Balkanization’ was pejorative. I now view it as ‘rational behavior’.
There’s no fixing these indoctrinated leftist sociopaths, there’s only avoiding them.
Well done! And every bit true.
The Koran specifically states that Jews are to killed where ever they are found and that same gender sex is an abomination to God and participants are to be destroyed. As you point out, the vast majority of those non-Muslims supporting the Islamic jihad in Judah and Israel and Osama's fatwah would themselves be on the chopping block, literally. I am reminded of H.L. Mencken's observation about democracy and would like to paraphrase it here: these people, Jews and gentiles, are going to get their social justice good and hard from the jihadists, and the Karens amongst them are going to find out what patriarchy really is, in the Islamic way.
Danny Huckabee
yeah, that second part...
hmmm,
reminds me of reading Ted Kaczynski's manifesto. kinda felt weird to agree with some of that...
Your words make my heart sing, in the same way that the late PJ ORourke did. Well-done!
Memo to all the Hamas-loving idiots:
Jews inhabited Jerusalem more than 2,000 years before Muhammad was born, I don't care what Osama believes. That means that it is the Jews who are the indigenous people there. Arab Muslims are the invaders/colonizers.
Exactly! I’m your age, Peachy, and your reversion to conservatism is identical to mine. I was dumb enough to think the Bushes were alright and the Iraq war was just. As soon as Trump said, “Only Rosie O’Donnell” and made Ted Cruz look like a smarmy tent revivalist, I started to dig up and take notice.
The 2002 "Letter to America" was crafted specifically as a propaganda message to sway American audiences. It is crafted to be far more appealing to Westerners than bin Laden's original 1996 "Declaration of War" <https://www.911memorial.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/1996%20Osama%20bin%20Laden%27s%201996%20Fatwa%20against%20United%20States_0.pdf>
Or his 1998 fatwa against America and the West: <https://irp.fas.org/world/para/docs/980223-fatwa.htm>
.
I didn't even realize mrs. K wrote this until I was about halfway through and I thought wow this is really good! And then I realized she wrote it and said of course it's good it was written by mrs K!