FLASHBACK TO 2002: SHANLEY ON THE IRAQ WAR BEFORE IT BECAME A REALITY
Taken from an audio cassette tape originally recorded before a live audience in 2002. This Q&A can be seen in its entirety in the book, “ISLAM” by Brian James Shanley:
QUESTION FROM AUDIENCE: “Is it true that we are going to invade Iraq? What do you think about that?”
SHANLEY: “Well, at this point it is just a rumor. And I hope it stays that way. Everyone in here is too young to remember, but when I was in junior high we had a war with Iraq. We drove Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. That was back in 1991 and 92, I think. The 1st George Bush was president at the time. If we had chased him back to Iraq and taken him out back then, the world would be a different place today. But we did not. The Clinton administration inherited having to deal with Hussein from George H.W. Bush who was president during Desert Shield, Desert Storm, whatever you want to call it. Then George W. Bush inherited it from Clinton. Hussein is nuts. I am not denying it. And every president since the Iraq war when I was young has talked about over-throwing Hussein. But today, I am hoping that rumor stays a rumor and never becomes reality. Our military could topple him in a matter of 60 days tops. We could make Iraq a colony of the U.S. But I have a few problems with that. First of all, Iraq did not have anything to do with the attack of September 11th. Using the attack as a reason to finally invade them would be like responding to Japan bombing Pearl Harbor by saying, ‘Okay. Now let’s avenge this thing! Let’s invade Spain!’. Invading a country that was not involved will be a distraction from the task at hand. We invaded Afghanistan this last October. We don’t hear about it too much anymore. Why not? We cannot let that become a forgotten war like Korea. Nor can we ignore that Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia are the countries that grow, train, and harbor the terrorists who plan offensives against American interests. Invading Iraq makes no sense. But also there is the question of how it will go in post-Saddam Iraq. We can invade and conquer the place in 60 days, like I said. But then what? How long would we stay? At what point would we pass the duty off to some new kind of free post-Saddam Iraqi government? Or would we become their permanent occupying police? Set up a military base? Because I’ll tell you what. If I am a Muslim in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Indonesia, or wherever - and I found out that it just became easier to kill some Americans because they have come geographically closer to me - I am going to Iraq for the fun and sport of it. Even if I am not a part of the Iraq army, I am going as a representative of whatever death group or terrorist organization I am a part of. Killing an American soldier is like a badge of honor in these countries. So while we figure out what to do with the country we have conquered, how to divide it up or whatever we do with it, our troops will become the occupying police responsible for keeping the peace on the streets during that process. But they will be at extreme risk. You think the streets of Detroit are rough? You ain’t seen nothing yet. Iraq is not America. There is no Pacific Ocean to the West of it. There is no Atlantic Ocean to the East of it. It is surrounded by countries, most of which hate us and would love to have a crack at killing some of us. Without a serious plan in place prior to going in, it could become disastrous. I fear that people talking about invading Iraq grossly underestimate what we would be up against, not just Iraqi soldiers defending their home but also Muslim soldiers wanting a piece of the action. Bush is up for re-election in 2004. American people generally do not vote to change presidents in the middle of a war, so this could be a really good way to lock up his re-election bid if he decides to go for 4 more years. The news has talk of Iraq and Saddam being a threat. This is true. The news has talk of Iraq having played a role in the attacks of Septermber 11th. This is not true. Inventing a war, manufacturing a reason to invade a country - I am not on board with it. I am going to sound like a crazy lone nut, but I feel that we should invade Pakistan or Iran in order to find our enemies. Maybe Saudi Arabia. But Iraq is a distraction. And I feel to some degree that the current administration is pulling the wool over the people’s eyes. But I am in the minority on that one. Who knows? Time will tell the story. But in answer to your question, apart from the removal from power of Saddam Hussein, it is hard for me to see much good coming out of a 2nd war with Iraq. It makes no sense to me and I hope that the talk begins to shift another direction as soon as possible.”
MINNESOTA 2008 SENATORIAL ELECTION – NORM COLEMAN vs. AL FRANKEN
Election night was 2 weeks ago. The results were that Norm Coleman was the winner. The margin was small, but nonetheless the winner was declared.
Here we are, half a month removed. And the people of Minnesota still have no security about who their representative in the Senate will be. Why? Because Franken will not concede. In order to keep his own agenda and his own career moving, he is willing to put the people of Minnesota through countless recounts, and recounting of the recounts. He will not stop until he gets the result he wants. Soon he will be filing lawsuits.
If you were running for office and the ballots demonstrated that the people had elected the other guy, would you not concede? Would you not have the mentality of, “Oh, well. I did my best. It is time to move on. Maybe I can try again down the road.”? For the sake of the people who have to go through this, would you not put your own pride aside?
But what if your motive for running has nothing to do with the best interest of the state? What if you could not care any less about the people? Then you will drag it out. You will demand endless recounts. You will file lawsuits. You will pout and cry like a baby who has just been told no by their parents and cannot handle it. This is Al Franken.
The fact that he got this many votes at all makes me embarrassed to be from Minnesota. But if we elected a wrestler for governor in 1998, and then sent a Nation of Islam member to swear in on a Qur’an to the House of Representatives, then I guess there are no boundaries here. We would elect Adolf Hitler or Bozo the Clown if they were running on a Democratic ticket.
But when the rubber hits the road, despite all of the voter fraud of the fake names, the robots who let the TV news dictate to them who they should vote for, the registered dead folks, the illegal immigrants, and all of these things that were trying to get Democrats into their various offices – if you have all of that going for you and yet you still did not win, it is time to throw in the towel.
Al Franken says he cares about Minnesota. He says he is trying for the best interests of the people who live and work here. Then don’t just SAY it. PROVE it. Do the honorable thing and concede. Let the people have the freedom to speak without manipulating the election. And let the people have the security of knowing who their Senator will be. Because the not knowing is worse than the knowing, even if in knowing you know someone is going into office that you did not support – atleast you know who it is. There is no question mark. You can move on to the “acceptance” stage of things.
If, because of the closeness of the race, a mandatory recount is the law, fine. But after it is over Franken needs to accept it, and stop trying to get into the Senate through these tactics. It is tough enough to take a Saturday Night Live comedian seriously as a Senatorial candidate, without all of this other crap being added to the pile.
We call on Franken to shake the hands of the winner, and then allow both the Senator and the people of Minnesota to move on with the job of trying to fix the mess our country is in, and the bigger mess we seem to be headed into. If the recount happens and he does not win, and he complains even more, the people of Minnesota must speak out against him. After this fool returns to his lights, his cameras, and his Hollywood action, we all still have to live and work here.
BJS
bjshanley@hotmail.com
www.myspace.com/rev_shanley
612-867-0699
www.lulu.com/brianjamesshanley
NEW BOOK DROPS TODAY
I have put out the book “ISLAM” today. Nothing fancy, but it will be helpful as an introduction to the religion of Islam. It is a transcript of a question and answer session that I did with a group of high school kids in February of 2002. The conversation went off into other areas, but I only published the Islam-related content.
There are pictures of Al-Ilah moon god archeology as well as pre-Uthman manuscript photos of the Qur’an. There are photographs of Clarence 13X and Wallie Dodd Ford, too.
It was a good night of Q&A, and now it is preserved forever in print. Please support the project and pick up a copy for you or someone you know who has questions about Islam, or who is a Muslim. The volume is short, but there will be something of substance for all to chew on. Thanks.
“ISLAM” by: Brian James Shanley - link below
B.H.O. Wins White House
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2008/11/20081155293464248.html
In 2004, the media as well as Michael Moore (through the instrument of the propaganda piece “Farenheit 911″) crammed John Kerry down our throats. But in the end, the people proved that they would not be fooled by this, and they made a statement that they would not be told what they should believe or how they would vote. They were intelligent. They were independent. They were non-robots. They re-elected George W. Bush.
Last night’s election demonstrated, however, that it only took 4 years for all of that to change. It showed a new America - one in which the news, the entertainment industry, the public school system, and the secular universities have taken away people’s rights to independent thought by dictating to them who to vote for. 4 years ago they tried it, but the American people rejected the attempt. This year, they have swallowed it up.
And the result? We have put a radical straight out of the 1960’s into the White House. Both he and his 1st Lady have used classic Marxist and Socialist terminology in defining his program for our country.
When a conservative gets into the White House, you often see liberals in full rebellion. Half-naked activists throwing piles of manure and breaking windows is how they like to show their displeasure. No respect for the office, unless one of their own has it.
I will not take their path. I think that the wrong choice was made. I think people fell for a grand hustle. But I will not sit there like so many liberals did after the 2000 election and say, “Atleast we can get him impeached”. I am going to show respect to the office. I am going to respect the Commander-In-Chief. I am going to accept that this was part of God working out His system in human history, and I will watch it all play out. He is sovereign.
But many of the different and conflicting groups of people who helped Baraq get into the White House are already coming in to collect on the marker. And if he cannot pay it back, it will be dark times for us as a nation.
Click on the link above and see the Al-Jezeera article. The international community is already testing Baraq by talking tough and making demands. Until he demonstrates different, they will view him as an appeaser to terrorism.
I am not of the opinion that he deserves to be where he is, or that the reasons for which he won were just. He will have to show me something between now and 2012 if he wants my vote for re-election.
But the fact that he is there, I have no choice. I am bound by my loyalty to my country to support him.
The country has been influenced by people with special interests to elect someone who does not have a Western or a Capitalist mentality. This is a day I never thought I would see, where something as sacred as an election could be manipulated.
For the first time in my adult life, I am truly afraid for the future of my country.
Brian James Shanley
612-867-0699
