I recieved a forwarded email from a friend in the military. It's a powerful analogy... but it ignores some reality... more in the extended...
Subject: the greatest EVIL of all
>
> "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 told him: "Son, stand there and
> tell me what you see?"
>
> "I see trees and cars and our neighbor's 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 see that
> man come out of his house with his wife and 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 starts to kick her to
> death. Their children run out and are afraid to stop him, they are
> crying, they are watching this but do nothing because they are kids
> and afraid of their father. You see all of this son.... what do you
> do?"
>
> "Dad?"
>
> "What do you do son?"
>
> "I call the police, Dad."
>
> "OK. Pretend that the police are the United Nations and they take your
> call, 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 neighbor 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 son 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 ladies house and breaks down
> her door and drags her out, steals all her stuff and sets her house on
> fire and then...he kills her. He turns around and sees you standing in
> he 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 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 needs
> it...and they won't help....You always say that 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.
>
> My husband looks at our nine year old son standing in the window,
> looking pitiful and ashamed at his answers to my husbands questions
> and he tells him..."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, 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 HIM!!!!!"
>
> I see a tear roll down my husband's cheek and he grabs my son to his
> chest and hugs him tight, and cries..."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. You have to do what's
> right, even if you have to do it 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 is the greatest EVIL of
> all.
>
> Our President is doing what is right. We, as a free nation, must
> understand that this war is a war of humanity. WE must remove evil men
> from power so that we can continue to live in a free world where we
> are not afraid to look out our window. So that my nine year old son
> won't grow up in a world where he feels that if he just "closes" that
> blinds the atrocities in the world won't affect him. "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..."
________________
well that's a fine little story, but like i said, it ignores some realities. i've come up with a bit of an alternative version.
Pretend your yard and house are America, and you are the President. Pretend that all the other houses are different countries. Now pretend that in half the houses in your neighborhood there a bad men. One man beats and kills his wife. One man sits in his garage building pipe bombs. One man sits in his house and tortures his family. One man keeps his family locked in the basement and doesn't let them outside, but you know they're there. Etc. Etc. But One man runs from yard to yard, sleeping in sheds, setting fires around the neighborhood. One day that man burns down your doghouse, killing your dog, and threatens to burn down the rest of your house and kill your family, because it's the nicest on the block.
You gather the rest of the friendly neighbors, who are eager to help you, and even some of the less nice ones. You find the man hiding in one of your more heinous neighbors yards. You corner him in the shed. Then you go across the street and attack the neighbor that beat and killed his wife. The one that is now poor and desolute because all your neighbors have shunned him. The one that's now crippled because you and your other good neighbors beat him up when he killed his wife. Meanwhile the man that killed your dog and threatened the rest of your family sneaks away... still whispering threats to kill you and yours.
What just went wrong?
I think that's a more realistic take on it. Obviously needs some work to counter the original version.