"Play square with us and you'll get three hots and a cot."
- The museum jail cell guard for Hannibal Lechter (Silence of the Lambs)

"Be happy in your work!"
- General Sai To (Bridge Over the River Kwai)

March 4th (Parade Day) 2002

I've said this before, that I think my father sends me these things as "Rant Fuel". In this case, I agree with the writer COMPLETELY. It arrived to me via e-mail and I am posting it to not only prevent many e-mail servers from crashing but, I'd like more people to know about this.

As is the Rule: the writer's stuff is in Purple.

This was written by Dr. Steven Tomaselli (Uvalde, Texas):

I was just reading Yahoo news and the San Antonio Express newspaper. You know what upsets me? People with absolutely nothing to do with their lives, so they complain on how the US is treating the prisoners or "Detainees" from Afghanistan.

Do you know why they are complaining? They see a picture on the news or the Internet and they see someone who is shackled and blindfolded walking with two armed guards behind razor wire. This picture tells them they are treated unfairly.

Here is what I see....
I see a thin, sickly looking person who under severe mental duress from being bombed, was cleaned up, given a haircut to prevent infestation of parasites, and given new clothes and shoes to wear. I see a person who is given three nutritious meals per day and a bed to sleep in in a tropical climate, not the cold desert floor of Afghanistan, eating worms, bugs, and goat. I see a person who will be able to get relief from their pains and illnesses without paying a dime for medical expenses. They will get rest, educated, and their mental stress levels will have dropped tremendously because they were taken out of a combat area and will not be shot at again.

I see these people blindfolded and shackled behind razor wire. I have the intellectual ability to understand why they are this way. For those who do not have this ability, let me explain it to you. They are blindfolded to protect OUR US SOLDIERS from further harm. These people cannot plan to
destroy something if they cannot see it. They are shackled because these same people have proven they will easily give up their lives to kill just ONE AMERICAN. We are protecting their life as well as our own. The razor wire is a mental deterrent, just like the little alarm company warning signs most of you out there have on your home, but don't have the actual alarm system. You would think many times over before actually trying to cross that razor wire.

For all of you people out there thinking how bad these poor detainees have it under such strict guard, you need to do a lot more thinking about other things in your life. I was born on September 11th, 1966, and every birthday I have from now on will never be a happy one. Why, do you ask? Because as I am out somewhere trying to have a nice dinner, someone will have a candle or a
ribbon or something, crying about the anniversary of a national tragedy. And then I will think, about how insignificant my one little birthday actually is compared to everything else that had happened on that one day.

It boggles my mind that there are actually people out there in this world, in leadership positions, heads of companies that actually think that we are doing something wrong when it comes to protecting our nation and our people. These same people will be the first ones to complain about something that happens to them when they are vacationing outside this country. They will ask
why the US does not do anything about their misfortune. These are the same people that complain about taxes and how bad their lives actually are.

If you receive this e-mail, please pass it on to everyone in your address book. I am not afraid or ashamed to speak my piece. I am an American, my father fought for this country, and was willing to die for it. I am a New Yorker, born and raised only miles from New York City. I know the people, the city, and both are changed forever. I am a doctor, I understand the pain, suffering, and anguish they have.

May God look down upon us and feel our sorrow and pain. For only He can relieve it or us. For only He can stop the brutality that this world holds.

Ya know, I just can't top that one.

The liberal, bleeding heart, media of this country are whining between their choruses of "Think of the children!" are completely misguided on where their allegiances should lie.

Let me put this simply: These guys are the enemy.

US tax dollars are feeding and clothing them. They are being held in a very warm climate and they are NOT BEING SHOT. And that is the name of the game here in war - TO NOT BE SHOT.

Can I ask how our prisoners have been treated? Let's ask that captured Wall Street Journalist. You know the one. The video tape star who was shot in the head on camera and then his taped execution was sent to the US. We have been spared the gory details but we got the message. He was taken prisoner, and then had his brains were made into a very nice piece of art deco in Pakistan. Did the rules of the Geneva convention apply to him?

Bastards.

The US ground forces are fighting on many fronts. Why should the US media be one of them? "Oh those poor human beings! They keep them outside in a cage under guard!" Sob, sob, boohoo. They are near Cuba, where the temperature does not fall below 70° F. Um, most people pay real money to spend time in a Club Med environment to do the exact same thing - sans blindfolds and razor wire. They are active and get to do calisthenics.

I say if they get homesick, we should treat them as they would be treated if they were home and shoot them. That should make them feel right at home.

I write this the Monday after a weekend fire fight in Afghanistan. It has now been reported by the News (CNN, CNBC, and the like) that there have been American casualties. There is a ground war at work here. Perhaps one of the bloodiest that has been going on in this war.

I really hope that no American prisoners are taken in this war. They would not get nearly the same amount of care that we are giving their folks.

This would be the average itinerary for the American prisoner of war:

I try to keep this itinerary in mind, when I hear about the Afghanistan prisoner mistreatment. It's my reality check against what the liberals are reporting.