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jail them allFriday 21 Mar 2003
author: kevin
"Punish Anti-War Anarchists"
Posted by Kevin Willmann
Friday, March 21, 2003
Now that the war to liberate Iraq has begun, our nation should put aside partisan differences and come together as one behind our president and our military.
Unfortunately, with some people, that is not happening.
We’ve seen it in comments over the last two days by several elected officials in our government. These people are so blinded by their dislike of George W. Bush that they resort to cheap partisan shots at him. They do this while our men and women in uniform are risking their lives to free Iraq and disarm a rogue regime.
I believe the disharmony they’ve exhibited has inspired nations like France publicly to hinder our diplomacy. Likewise, such rhetoric has inspired the alleged anti-war movement to continue its protests, and even escalate its tactics.
Today, these groups went out into the streets again, attempting to shut down commerce in San Francisco's financial district, as well as other cities across the nation. As I write this, a near riot is taking place in San Francisco.
Protesters at one intersection held banners with the photo of Che Guevara and chanted, ''Bush, you liar. We're going to set your ass on fire.'' Amazingly, this was reported on SFGate.com.
I thought these people were supposed to be ''peace activists.'' That incident didn’t sound very peaceful.
As someone who has counterprotested these supposed ''peace'' activists, I can tell you they are anything but peaceful. They are violent, vitriolic, and hateful. I’ve heard many of them use racist remarks to describe other counterprotesters, yet they claim to be against racism. They call America a ''terrorist nation'' and compare George W. Bush to Adolf Hitler. They say this is ''dissent'' and they are only ''questioning our government.''
Today, the true face of the so-called ''peace movement'' is coming out in their acts of civil disobedience. When people chain themselves to poles, block traffic, and vandalize property, they are not acting peaceful. Their actions are not ''freedom of speech'' or ''dissent.'' Instead, these actions are a form of domestic terrorism.
In a time of war, it is also sedition.
Freedom of expression ends when it becomes criminal and infringes on the rights of other people. Additionally, as our terror threat level has been elevated, these people present a public security threat. Law enforcement gets diverted from its real duty of protecting their communities. At the same time, it takes time and resources away from investigating and preventing possible acts of terrorism.
Even worse, the actions of these mobs only embolden people like Saddam Hussein and threaten to hurt the resolve of our military currently in harm’s way.
Unfortunately, the policy in punishing these people has been one of ''catch and release.'' There is no real punishment for these demonstrators. It is only a small fine and they are released back on the streets to raise more havoc.
This should change now! These hellions should pay a heavy penalty other than a slap on the wrist for disrupting San Francisco and other cities. The organizers of these groups should pay an even heavier price for stirring up the emotions of their groups. They do not have the right to interrupt the daily flow of life of this country. They must not be allowed to get away with disrupting our communities.