K
kmack
Guest
I have recently read Mark Bowden's account of the U.S. Marine Corps invasion of Somalia in the early 1990's, to protect retreating U.N. Peacekeepers (Black Hawk Down). As you may recall, we invaded the city of Mogadishu to take down a prominant warlord, what ensued was (until now) the bloodiest U.S. conflict since the Vietnam War. The news reports of the time showed thousands of Somalians, men, women, and children armed to the teeth moving in on our soldiers. Our troops acted with selflessness and bravery (several were awarded the U.S. congressional medal of honor.) but many were killed in the line of duty. The book tells of women walking into the street to pick up the weapons of dead men, so as to continue thier resistance. This civilian dissention is similar to the "insurgency" the U.S. now faces in Iraq, people fighting U.S. soldiers. In no means am I trying to condone what these people are doing, I do not accept or tolerate the killing of American Soldiers and innocent Iraqi people, this is just a line of thinking I came across while trying to justify the fierceness of the Somalians resistance.
What if this happened to us, I know it is far fetched, we are afterall, the most powerful country in the world, but say it did. How would you react to a foreign invasion, if everything you knew since you grew up was said to be lies by foreigners (the very foreigners you were indoctrined to hate since childhood). If they marched down your street setting up military bases in your city hall. They take away your president. (Now I know not every Iraqi, not even the majority, loved Saddam, or hated foreigners, but there were some. Now imagine your friends, some family members (maybe those who were treated well by the government, or served in its military) began to fight off the invaders. I decided that I would take up arms, feel frightened, try to protect my family, I would feel it was my duty to resist the change to what I knew my whole life. I suppose I am just trying to walk a mile in their shoes before I judge and I realize I cannot begin to judge these people. They lost everything they had, they feel betrayed, they are willing to give their lives to a cause (a misguided one that is hard for us, in our expensive homes, typing on our expensive computers, to imagine) that they believe in. They are attacking innocent civilians in Iraq, which I cannot comprehend doing, under my previous scenario, that would be like killing a group of your neighbors at the supermarket, inconcieveable. But in Somalia it was different, in a world where they had NOTHING, the only things they could work for (warlords) were being taken away and they were forced to fight for it.
What would you do?
What if this happened to us, I know it is far fetched, we are afterall, the most powerful country in the world, but say it did. How would you react to a foreign invasion, if everything you knew since you grew up was said to be lies by foreigners (the very foreigners you were indoctrined to hate since childhood). If they marched down your street setting up military bases in your city hall. They take away your president. (Now I know not every Iraqi, not even the majority, loved Saddam, or hated foreigners, but there were some. Now imagine your friends, some family members (maybe those who were treated well by the government, or served in its military) began to fight off the invaders. I decided that I would take up arms, feel frightened, try to protect my family, I would feel it was my duty to resist the change to what I knew my whole life. I suppose I am just trying to walk a mile in their shoes before I judge and I realize I cannot begin to judge these people. They lost everything they had, they feel betrayed, they are willing to give their lives to a cause (a misguided one that is hard for us, in our expensive homes, typing on our expensive computers, to imagine) that they believe in. They are attacking innocent civilians in Iraq, which I cannot comprehend doing, under my previous scenario, that would be like killing a group of your neighbors at the supermarket, inconcieveable. But in Somalia it was different, in a world where they had NOTHING, the only things they could work for (warlords) were being taken away and they were forced to fight for it.
What would you do?
. Can you please just stop responding to this thread, its obvious mommy and daddy raised you so well that you just can't understand why someone would be upset that everything they worked for and believed in was taken away by infidels. These people are different from us, they did not live the way we did, think outside of your tiny little worlds for a second, that's all I asked. You just didn't get it, probably my fault. And please, don't spam now with your sob stories about how your life was so hard and mommy made you get a part time job to insure the mercedes she gave you, I don't give a sh*t. Frankly, no one here has the right to say anything in this thread from their opinions, unless they were raised in the third world, or were intelligent enough to see the world through someones elses eyes. But hey, we are the fattest, richest nation in the world, so what do we care what happens? 
