Cowards: the New Right

     What need have we for fellow citizens who would cowardly lie back as their homes are invaded by masked men?  Who prepare for it by getting properly dressed and unlocking the doors for the invaders?  Who sit idly by as machine guns are waved in their faces?  The "new right" of Bush supporters should be forgotten.  They are cowards, slaves to the promise of money. 

     Although bombing foreigners from a great distance may seem like an obviously cowardly act, greatly praised by the spineless Bush fans, there is more to it than that... from Riverbend's The Raid.

We were collected at my aunts house for my cousins birthday party a few days ago. J. just turned 16

...

"Hey- there’s no coverage here… is it just my phone?" She asked. J. and I both took out our phones and checked, "Mine isn’t working either..." J. answered, shaking her head. They both turned to me and I told them that I couldn’t get a signal either. J. suddenly looked alert and made a sort of "Uh-oh" sound as she remembered something. "R.- will you check the telephone next to you?" I picked up the ordinary telephone next to me and held my breath, waiting for a dial tone. Nothing.

...

J. frowned and turned down the radio. "The last time this happened," she said, "the area was raided."

...

T. suddenly sat up straight, “Do you hear that?” She asked, wide-eyed. At first I couldn’t hear anything and then I caught it- it was the sound of cars or vehicles- moving slowly. “I can hear it!” I called back[.]

...

"What should we do?" T. asked, wringing her hands nervously. The only time I’d ever experienced a raid was back in 2003 at an uncle’s house- and it was Americans. This was the first time I was to witness what we assumed would be an Iraqi raid.

...

J. was already in her room changing- she called out for us to do the same, "They’ll come in the house- you don’t want to be wearing pajamas..."

"Why, will they have camera crews with them?" T. smiled wanly, attempting some humor. No, J. replied, her voice muffled as she put on a sweater, "Last time they made us wait outside in the cold." I listened for Ammoo S. and heard him outside, taking the big padlock off of the gate in the driveway. "Why are you unlocking everything J.?" I called out in the dark.

"The animals will break down the doors if they aren’t open in three seconds and then they’ll be all over the garden and house... last time they pushed the door open on poor Abu H. three houses down and broke his shoulder..." J. was fully changed, and over her jeans and sweater she was wearing her robe. It was cold.

...

Twenty minutes later, [...] It was nearly 4 am. Meanwhile, the noises outside had gotten louder as the raid got closer. [...] "Are your papers ready?" She asked [Ammoo S], referring to his identification papers which would be requested. [...] I squinted down at my watch and noted it was not yet 5 am. "Haven't they gotten to us yet?" I asked. [...] It came ten minutes later. A big clanging sound on the garden gate and voices yelling "Ifta7u [OPEN UP]".

...

Suddenly, two of them were in the living room. We were all sitting on the sofa, near my aunt. My cousin B. was by then awake, eyes wide with fear. They were holding large lights or ‘torches’ and one of them pointed a Klashnikov at us. “Is there anyone here but you and them?” One of them barked at my aunt. “No- it’s only us and my husband outside with you- you can check the house.” T.’s hands went up to block the glaring light of the torch and one of the men yelled at her to put her hands down, they fell limply in her lap. I squinted in the strong light and as my sight adjusted, I noticed they were wearing masks, only their eyes and mouths showing.

...

Suddenly, someone called out something from outside and it was over. They began rushing to leave the house, almost as fast as they’d invaded it. Doors slamming, lights dimming. We were left in the dark once more, not daring to move from the sofa we were sitting on, listening as the men disappeared, leaving only a couple to stand at our gate.

...

We found out a few hours later that one of our neighbors, two houses down, had died. Abu Salih was a man in his seventies and as the Iraqi mercenaries raided his house, he had a heart-attack. His grandson couldn’t get him to the hospital on time because the troops wouldn’t let him leave the house until they’d finished with it. His grandson told us later that day that the Iraqis were checking the houses, but the American troops had the area surrounded and secured. It was a coordinated raid.

     The new Cowardly Right expects Iraqis to sit and take it.  The new Cowardly Right would sit and take it, if the British were doing it to them.  The new Cowardly Right deserve no respect.  The new Cowardly Right get none from me.