Posted on Wednesday, 12th March 2008 by Bull
A friend of mine sent me this in an email. It brought tears to my eyes.
For all the liberal press, I have never heard
a better analogy of U.S. aggression. Nobody wants to
see our troops have to go to war but someone has to do it.The other day, my nine year old son wanted to
know why we were at war…
My husband looked at our son and then looked
at me. My husband and I were in the Army during the
Gulf War and we would be honored to serve and defend
our country again today. I knew that my husband
would give him a good explanation. My husband
thought for a few minutes and then told my son to go stand in
our front living room window.
He said, “Son, stand there and tell me what you see?”
“I see trees and cars and our neighbors’ houses,” he replied.
“OK, now I want you to pretend that our house
and our yard is the United States of America and you
are President Bush.”Our son giggled and said, “OK.”
“Now, son, I want you to look out the window
and pretend that every house and yard on this block
is a different country,” my husband said.“OK Dad, I’m pretending.”
“Now I want you to stand there and look out
the window and pretend you see Saddam come out of
his house with his wife, he has her by the hair and
is hitting her. You see her bleeding and crying. He
hits her in the face, he throws her on the ground,
then he start s to kick her to death. Their children
run out and are afraid to stop him, they are
screaming and crying, they are watching this but do
nothing because they are kids and they are afraid of
their father. You see all of this, son…. what do
you do?”“Dad?”
“What do you do, son?”
“I’d call the police, Dad.”
“OK. Pretend that the police are the United
Nations. They take your call. They listen to what
you know and saw but they refuse to help. What do
you do then, son?”“Dad……. but the police are supposed to
help!” My son starts to whine.“They don’t want to, son, because they say
that it is not their place or your place to get
involved and that you should stay out of it,” my
husband says.“But, Dad… he killed her!!” My son exclaims.
“I know he did… but the police tell you to
stay out of it. Now I want you to look out that
window and pretend you see our neigh bor who you’re
pretending is Saddam turn around and do the same
thing to his children.”“Daddy… he kills them?”
“Yes, son, he does. What do you do?”
“Well, if the police don’t want to help, I
will go and ask my next door neighbor to help me
stop him,” our son says.“Son, our next door neighbor sees what is
happening and refuses to get involved as well. He
refuses to open the door and help you stop him,” my
husband says.“But Dad, I NEED help!!! I can’t stop him by myself!!”
“WHAT DO YOU DO, SON?” Our sons starts to cry.
“OK, no one wants to help you, the man across
the street saw you ask for help and saw that no one
would help you stop him. He stands taller and puffs
out his chest. Guess what he does next, son?”“What, Daddy?”
“He walks across the street to the old lady’s
house and bre aks down her door and drags her out,
steals all her stuff and sets her house on f ire anthen… he kills her. He turns around and sees you
standing in the window and laughs at you. WHAT DO
YOU DO?”“Daddy….”
“WHAT DO YOU DO?” Our son is crying and he
looks down and he whispers, “I’d close the blinds,
Daddy.”My husband looks at our son with tears in his
eyes and asks him. “Why?”“Because, Daddy… the police are supposed to
help people who need them…and they won’t help…
You always said neighbors are supposed to HELP
neighbors, but they won’t help either… they won’t
help me stop him…I’m afraid…. I can’t do it by
myself, Daddy …… I can’t look out my window and
just watch him do all these terrible things and …
and . do nothing … so ….. I’m just going to
close the blinds . so I can’t see what he’s doing .
And I’m going to pretend that it is not happening.”I start to cry. M y husband looks at our nine
year old son standing in the window, looking pitiful
and ashamed at his answers to my husband’s
questions. He says….”Son…..”“Yes, Daddy?”
“Open the blinds, because that man…… he’s
at your front door… “WHAT DO YOU DO?”My son looks at his father, anger and defiance
in his eyes. He balls up his tiny fists and looks
his father square in the eyes, and without
hesitation he says, “I DEFEND MY FAMILY DAD!!! I’M
NOT GONNA LET HIM HURT MOMMY OR MY SISTER, DAD!!!
I’M GONNA FIGHT HIM, DAD, I’M GONNA FIGHT HIIM!!!!!”I see a tear roll down my husband’s cheek and
he grabs our son to his chest and hugs him tight,
and says…. “It’s too late to fight him, he’s too
strong, and he’s already at YOUR front door, son…
you should have stopped him BEFORE he killed his
wife, and his children, and the old lady across the
way. You have to do what’s right, even if you have
to do i t alone, before it’s too late,” my husband
whispers. “THAT scenario I just gave you is WHY we
are at war with Iraq . When good men stand by and
let evil happen, son, THAT is the greatest mistake,
believing that the atrocities in the world won’t
affect them.“YOU MUST NEVER BE AFRAID TO DO WHAT IS
RIGHT! EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO DO IT ALONE! BE PROUD TO
BE AN AMERICAN! BE PROUD OF OUR TROOPS!! SUPPORT
THEM!!! SUPPORT AMERICA SO THAT IN THE FUTURE OUR
CHILDREN WILL NEVER HAVE TO CLOSE THEIR BLINDS…”
Tags: 8 year old, explanation, War
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (3)
March 31st, 2008 at 8:28 am
good post and even better analogy!
April 7th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Would it unpatriotic for me to ask the writer, and readers, of this piece “who decides what is right and wrong”? Everyone should always strive to do what is RIGHT. Does that mean, though, that if you disagree with someone who believes certain world political problems require a certain response, that that person doesn’t want to do what is right and therefore is wrong? Do we, as a country, then have the repsonsibility to find and fix and judge EVERY wrong and evil that is done around the world? That is where the difference is in explaining the world to adults and to nine year olds. The world is a big place and we have found and discovered by many presidents and adminsitrations that it is not possible to swoop in and correct every evil in the world. That is why until George W. and the Neo-cons we limited our interactions to “defensive” and “national security” dilemmas. This country is now seen, and will be seen for a long time, as the nine-year old bully who swings at everybody who gives them a look they don’t like. Yes, my son is a marine and yes, I am all for a strong defense. Not a unweildly, arrogant Offense. History has never looked kindly on countries who invade whomever they want, for reasons they want everyone to take as their own. Defending your family in your neighborhood is nothing at all like the world stage involving hundreds of cultures, histories and interests. If it was the same thing, there would be no borders or countries or sovereign ANYTHING! Just because words can be constructed to make a good story does not translate into anything close to REALITY. Think again. And please STOP teaching everyone to FEAR and WATCH closely through your blinds. Fear will only ratchet up everyone’s willingness to swing at everyone who crosses them or “appears” to cross them. Do you really want your nine-year olds to live their lives in fear and ready to pounce? I hope you don’t have a cute, moving story to justify that answer too.
April 7th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Interesting comment Sundance. I love this country!