When I awoke this morning to wingnut "news analysts" telling me that Dick Durbin has realized that his "Nazi Comments Were Nozzo Smart", I groaned. Not again, I thought. First Newsweek, now Durbin. No matter how eloquently worded, and no matter how well-reasoned, all that survives the filter through the nutshell press is a three second blurb: "Durbin apologized, because Durbin was mistaken. There is no comparison between the actions of the United States and the actions of Nazis and Pol Pot."
Sound familiar? "Newsweek apologized, because they were mistaken. There was no Qu'ran desecration in Gitmo." Like I said, oh no, not again. Another golden opportunity squandered.
If I were Senator Dick Durbin, here's what I would have said. And I would have said it with much passion and podium pounding and, yes, tears in my eyes. Unfortunately, I don't have a podium. After all, I'm an IT guy in the suburban Midwest. So the question becomes, who in Washington will say this on my behalf?
Hello members of Congress. Thank you for allowing me to be here today to clarify my recent remarks. On June 14th, in a debate on the merits of our Guantanomo Bay detention center, I made the following remarks: "If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime -- Pol Pot or others -- that had no concern for human beings."
Since I made that statement, it has been demanded that I apologize. It has been demanded that I take back my remarks, which supposedly paint an unfair, inaccurate picture of our international actions, our strategy, and our mission. It has been stated that I do not speak for the majority of Americans - That my view is a minority one.
Based on these comments, my biggest concern is that I have not adequately backed up my position. Please allow me to do so here.
On November 29th, 2001, village elders from the village of Kama Ado, Afghanistan, came down the mountains to Jalalabad to meet with the Governor of Nangarhar. American night time attacks around their village had depleted their water supply and killed their livestock. They came to plead with the governor to try to stop the attacks. Two days later, as part of the intense "shotgun-style" hunt for Osama bin Laden around the area of Tora Bora, two B-52 bombers made two passes over Kama Ado, dropping twenty-five one thousand pound bombs. Kama Ado is a ten hour hike from Tora Bora. One woman who was wounded in the attack said that she lost thirty-eight of her forty relatives. Others reported that the following day, only forty of the village's 250-300 residents remained alive. When journalists visited Kama Ado the following day, they reported huge bomb craters and debris of houses spread over two hillsides, along with children's shoes, dead cows and sheep, and the tail fin of a MK-83 bomb. The people in that village never even saw photographs of the twin towers, much less hijacked planes and knocked them down. But they paid the full price for their destruction.
If I read this to you, and did not tell you it was done by Americans, you would surely believe it was done by Soviets, during their attacks on Afghanistan, or by some other mad regime, who had no concern for human beings.
On November 14, 2004, an Associated Press photgrapher told a story of escaping from Fallujah, Iraq. During his escape, he witnessed snipers kill a family of five, one by one, as they attempted to swim across the river to escape the attacks. These snipings, and countless other murders of innocent Iraqis during those "mandate-filled" weeks immediately following the 2004 Presidential Election, came as a direct result of the "Weapons Free Zone" classification of the city of Fallujah. In other words, anything that moved beyond a certain border was a fair target, and was considered "hostile".
If I read this to you, and did not tell you it was done by Americans, you would surely believe it was done by Pol Pot, during an ethnic cleansing campaign, or by some other mad regime, who had no concern for human beings.
In the coming weeks around America, political groups will march in Independence Day parades and festivities, and they will be met with boos and catcalls. They will be harassed and villified by the majority of the parade watchers, simply for expressing a contrary opinion in a suburban neighborhood. Signs reading, "Protect Social Security", will be met with angry screams of "Communists!" and "Socialists!" and "Un-American Bastards!!!" And, by the end of the parade route, the participants will wonder what country they are now living in.
If I read this to you, and did not tell you it was done by Americans, you would surely believe it was done by Germans in the 1930s, during a fascist, testosterone-filled rally for Adolph Hitler, or for some other mad regime, who had no concern for freedom, or the well-being of the less-fortunate.
I hope I have expressed myself clearly this time. You see, I loved this nation as a child. What America represented to me then are the same ideals that I strive to protect now in my role as a United States Senator. Ideals like morality, FREEDOM (BANG the fist on the podium), equality, CIVILITY (BANG the fist again), opportunity, COMPASSION (BANG, BANG, BANG), tolerance, respect (BANG, BANG, BANG), honor, dignity (tears flowing now), and finally, Greatness.
In the coming weeks, we will celebrate the proud history of our founding fathers, through Fourth of July celebrations across America. But, today I must ask you, my friends, What is the Fourth of July, during a disgraceful period of American History. What is the Fourth of July, when the values our nation was founded on are breached on a daily basis in places like Guantanomo Bay, Abu Ghraib, Afghanistan and Iraq, and finally, Pennsylvania Avenue.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today. And by the way? I most certainly and confidently DO NOT apologize for my previous statements.