After Iraq, will any American be innocent?

Hi Joe,

I loved Deer Hunting With Jesus and I visit your web site regularly. I am sending the short rant below hoping that it will generate some discussion.

Dismissing the staggering death toll of civilians in Iraq is the new Holocaust denial. The only difference is that while the former is penalized in most of Europe and can land the discontent in jail, the latter is a politically correct and socially acceptable position. Just as every single Jew was a potential enemy and deserved to be interned or sent to a prisoner camp, every Muslim today is considered a threat. Just as rounding up Jews and other undesirables was a way of preventing future attacks against the stability of the Reich, installing democracy against the peoples' will in Iraq is presented as a preemptive measure. Furthermore, it's rationalized as yet another example of American magnanimity and those who criticize it are either fifth columnists or just plain ungrateful.

When World War Two ended and Germans started realizing what had happened as well as what many ignored was going on, the rest of the world did not believe them. Even if a large part of the population was kept completely in the dark about the atrocities committed by its government they were (and are still) held responsible for those crimes. Claiming that Goebbels' propaganda was so effective that it fooled them will probably amount to the same as pretending that you were an innocent and gullible bystander who just so happened to believe everything Fox News and sanctimonious cowards like Sean Hannity fed them. When the dust settles in Iraq many years from now and enough time has passed to let researchers circumvent the obfuscation maneuvers of the Bush administration as well as the innate cowardice of the Democrats, I hope that Americans realize the magnitude of the carnage being perpetrated in their name.

I lived under a dictatorship for half of my life. Since I was a kid, I was kept in the dark about the many atrocities that were committed against neighbors and even some distant relatives. When democracy finally came back to my country (Chile), it was as if people opened their eyes for the very first time. As the horror stories surfaced, we realized that the little we knew about them was but the tip of the iceberg of a much darker story. It was a shocking and painful feeling and yet it was necessary for the sake of our society. I hope the United States gets to experience the same thing sooner than later. Just as nobody believed there were innocent Germans after World War Two, the time may come when no one believes there are innocent Americans.

All the best,

Pablo
From Chile and now in the USA