My Rebuttal

So I’m not typically one to rebut in an angry fashion, but whoever left the last comment is flat wrong and obviously didn’t get the point of my last post. So let me break it down to you (and you can tell yo’ momma all about it when you’re done reading).

First off, I wasn’t fear-mongering, I was fact amplifying. If you don’t think it’s possible for another major natural disaster to occur on US soil right now in the aftermath of Katrina, then obviously you haven’t been on this planet very long. Just last August/September, Florida was ravished by 4 successive hurricanes. Rumblings from volcanoes both in the US and in Mexico, as well as Earthquakes in places as random as Kentucky and Indiana, have all occurred with unusual frequency in the last 11 months. And certainly the threat of a terrorist attack is always looming (lest we forget that al-Qaeda’s number 2 man warned that 9/11 was nothing to what we are going to see just a few weeks ago).

So my “hypotheticals” are realistic possibilities, not superfluous fear tactics.

As you noted, Rumsfeld indeed is guilty of fear-mongering. But what I’ve presented is far from what Bush & Company presented in taking this nation into Iraq. If you want to talk faulty hypotheticals, then point your fingers at them, and keep them there. Don’t point them at me when I’m dropping knowledge. Arguably the most criminal “hypothetical” ever acted upon in the history of this nation was the notion that Iraq was an imminent threat, that they had WMD’s, and that they were connected to al-Qaeda (all “facts” that the 9/11 Commission Report says were false). I’ve done nothing of the sort. I’ve taken realities and looked ahead into a potential situation based on realities that anyone 1-year-old or older has seen.

My basic point was simply that while Bush is bantering about in Iraq so we can “fight them there so we don’t have to fight them here,” our nation is far more vulnerable than before. So let me amplify the facts for you once more:

FACT: Over 40% of our troops in Iraq are National Guard Members (meant to protect these borders and help in such disasters as Hurricanes)
FACT: Senators and Governors (on both sides of the aisle) alike have expressed the concerns that I amplified concerning having so many National Guard troops in Iraq (i.e. not having enough National Guard and Federal support in times of National disasters)
FACT: An estimated 3 million illegal immigrants cross our Mexican border each year
FACT: Over 90% of the cargo that is brought into this country on ships goes unchecked
FACT: Iraq was no imminent threat
FACT: There is no exact science to aiding devastated areas in times of Natural Disaster, therefore the support necessary isn’t clear until after it happens (watch the news and note how support troops and relief levels steadily increase as the awareness of the full devastation of Katrina is revealed)

All facts from whence I extrapolate these opinions:

OPINION: The US Armed services are strained (with many overseas Troops comprised of our National Guard); especially on the homefront
OPINION: The nation is at least as vulnerable as it was when we entered Iraq, and certainly not significantly safer
OPINION: Another terrorist attack or major natural disaster would push the Federal Government, as well as the National Guard, to its limits

No “fear-mongering” there. Just sound streams of logic. And again, I point out, these are all possibilities based on things that have occurred in recent months.

So to address your foolish comment that I’m not good at fear-mongering, you are absolutely correct. Fear-mongering is what Rumsfeld did. If Bush, Rumsfeld and company had involved themselves in the kind of thinking that I displayed in my last post, maybe we wouldn’t be in the quagmire that we’re in right now in Iraq.

Maelstrom keeps it real. And I will continue to look ahead to realistic possibilities. So my advice to you is to open your eyes, evaluate the big picture, and don’t leave ignorant comments here at The Vortex while hiding behind the cloak of an “anonymous” statement.

Now go tell yo’ momma!

-Maelstrom