Sent by internet this is the reposting for this site for comment:


This "Letter of Apology" was written by Lieutenant General Chuck Pitman, US Marine Corps, Retired:   


For good and ill, the Iraqi prisoner abuse mess will remain an issue. On the one hand, right thinking Americans will abhor the stupidity of the actions while on the other hand, political glee will take control and fashion this minor event into some modern day massacre. 

I humbly offer my opinion here: 

I am sorry that the last seven times we Americans took up arms and sacrificed the blood of our youth, it was in the defense of Muslims (Bosnia, Kosovo, Gulf War 1, Kuwait, etc.). 

I am sorry that no such call for an apology upon the extremists came after 9/11. 

I am sorry that all of the murderers on 9/11 were Islamic Arabs. 

I am sorry that most Arabs and Muslims have to live in squalor under savage dictatorships. 

I am sorry that their leaders squander their wealth. 

I am sorry that their governments breed hate for the US in their religious schools, mosques, and government-controlled media. 

I am sorry that Yassar Arafat was kicked out of every Arab country and high-jacked the Palestinian "cause." 

I am sorry that no other Arab country will take in or offer more than a token amount of financial help to those same Palestinians. 

I am sorry that the USA has to step in and be the biggest financial supporter of poverty stricken Arabs while the insanely wealthy Arabs blame the USA for all their problems. 

I am sorry that our own left wing, our media, and our own brainwashed masses do not understand any of this (from the misleading vocal elements of our society like radical professors, CNN and the NY TIMES). 

I am sorry the United Nations scammed the poor people of Iraq out of the "food for oil" money so they could get rich while the common folk suffered. 

I am sorry that some Arab governments pay the families of homicide bombers upon their death. 

I am sorry that those same bombers are brainwashed thinking they will receive 72 virgins in "paradise." 

I am sorry that the homicide bombers think pregnant women, babies, children, the elderly and other noncombatant civilians are legitimate targets. 

I am sorry that our troops die to free more Arabs from the gang rape rooms and the filling of mass graves of dissidents of their own making. 

I am sorry that Muslim extremists have killed more Arabs than any other group. 

I am sorry that foreign trained terrorists are trying to seize control of Iraq and return it to a terrorist state. 

I am sorry we don't drop a few dozen Daisy cutters on Fallujah. 

I am sorry every time terrorists hide they find a convenient "Holy Site." 

I am sorry they didn't apologize for driving a jet into the World Trade Center that collapsed and severely damaged Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church - one of our Holy Sites. 

I am sorry they didn't apologize for flight 93 and 175, the USS Cole, the embassy bombings, the murders and beheadings of Nick Berg and Daniel Pearl, etc....etc! 

I am sorry Michael Moore is American; he could feed a medium sized village in Africa. 

America will get past this latest absurdity. We will punish those responsible because that is what we do. 

We hang out our dirty laundry for the entire world to see. We move on. That's one of the reasons we are hated so much. We don't hide this stuff like all those Arab countries that are now demanding an apology. 

Deep down inside, when most Americans saw this reported in the news, we were like - so what? We lost hundreds and made fun of a few prisoners. Sure, it was wrong, sure, it dramatically hurts our cause, but until captured we were trying to kill these same prisoners. Now we're supposed to wring our hands because a few were humiliated? 

Our compassion is tempered with the vivid memories of our own people killed, mutilated and burnt amongst a joyous crowd of celebrating Fallujahans. 

If you want an apology from this American, you're going to have a long wait!  You have a better chance of finding those seventy-two virgins. 

Chuck Pitman 

Lieutenant General, USMC

Semper Fi


 

And how will this help anything?

And how will this help anything?

Ever hear of a red herring?  That's what it will help.  Such statements inflame the bigoted tendancies of noisy yahoos and distract attention from real issues.  That's all.

Just goes to show, some people will lockstep at any bugle call.  This is inane, sophmoric, and pandering to the lowest common denominator in the name of "more patriotic than thou"

I am sorry that he clearly is ignorant of which he speaks.

This is yet another case where a little investigation would be nice.

The letter was not written by a USMC General.  The letter was originally titled "My Apology to the Arab World," and it was written by Dr. Mike S. Adams, a professor of criminology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and published on Townhall.com on 14 June 2004.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/pitman.asp

SO it was not written by a retired Marine General, but by an intellectual Doctor who teaches at a college.

Yet again, this shows how important it is to check facts before spreading them along (no insult intended to who posted this, just a casual warning to everybody is all).

This is yet another case where a little investigation would be nice.

The letter was not written by a USMC General.  The letter was originally titled "My Apology to the Arab World," and it was written by Dr. Mike S. Adams, a professor of criminology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and published on Townhall.com on 14 June 2004.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/pitman.asp

SO it was not written by a retired Marine General, but by an intellectual Doctor who teaches at a college.

Yet again, this shows how important it is to check facts before spreading them along (no insult intended to who posted this, just a casual warning to everybody is all).


THANKS for... finding the origins, as I searched by politics on snopes and it never eluded to the letter, as I thought it my be a hoax...

Another to watch for is the letter claiming a guy thanking his teacher for steering him in the right direction, that he is now a doctor and they named a Cancer hospital in honor of the teacher...
it tugged heartstrings but WAS NEVER true as the name of the writer was altered and no such wing/hospital had a record of this occurance..  ;)

"I am sorry that Muslim extremists have killed more Arabs than any other group."

Actually Western-imposed sanctions have killed many more Arabs than terrorist groups have. While their attacks are high profile if you look at the actual numbers in comparison to the number of Iraqis who died as a result of sanctions and radiation poisoning post-Gulf War they pale in comparison(the latter number is an estimated 500,000+ btw). Thats also not counting Iraqis killed during the course of the Gulf War itself. (look up "highway of death" in relation the Gulf War)

"I am sorry that Muslim extremists have killed more Arabs than any other group."

Actually Western-imposed sanctions have killed many more Arabs than terrorist groups have. While their attacks are high profile if you look at the actual numbers in comparison to the number of Iraqis who died as a result of sanctions and radiation poisoning post-Gulf War they pale in comparison(the latter number is an estimated 500,000+ btw). Thats also not counting Iraqis killed during the course of the Gulf War itself. (look up "highway of death" in relation the Gulf War)


I would not count combatants killed in warfare in any kind of death ratio.  Remember, those are people who are involved in combat, and could just have easily given a statistic pointing towards an American Death.

And don't forget, the "Highway Of Death" only came when the Iraqi Army was fleeing from Kuwait with money, private Property, and even hostages.  Most estimates are that Iraq killed around 11,000 Kuwaiti civilians during their invasion and occupation.  Just as I do not feel sorry for a criminal who is shot when comitting a crime, I do not feel a lot of remorse when the soldiers of a nation are killed after they try to commit an "armed robbery writ large" by taking over a foreign nation.

It is just as unfair as when groups (HGCI) use a police officer (or civilian) who defends themself as a "handgun death", or the execution of a convicted murderer.  HGCI is well known to use both of those, as well as suicides in order to inflate their numbers.

I'm sorry that the CIA deposed a democratically elected leader in Iran in the 1950's because he was going to nationalise the nation's oil, and instead reinstated the oppressive Shah who would be responsible for the murder and torture of thousands of Iranians. Gee, I wonder why they hate us so much... Must be because we stand for freedom!

I'm sorry that the CIA deposed a democratically elected leader in Iran in the 1950's because he was going to nationalise the nation's oil, and instead reinstated the oppressive Shah who would be responsible for the murder and torture of thousands of Iranians. Gee, I wonder why they hate us so much... Must be because we stand for freedom!


And then of course there is Pinochet and Pol Pot

And does anybody in here really think that the KGB/GRU/MI-5/Mossad had nothing to do with these either?

And Pol Pot was not put in place by the US Government.  If anything, he came to power because the pro-US Government in power at the time collapsed.  There is no logical way to claim that the horrors of the Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge were brought about by the US Government.

And does anybody in here really think that the KGB/GRU/MI-5/Mossad had nothing to do with these either?

And Pol Pot was not put in place by the US Government.  If anything, he came to power because the pro-US Government in power at the time collapsed.  There is no logical way to claim that the horrors of the Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge were brought about by the US Government.


No but General Suharto of Indonesia was supported by our government. He gets less mention than a lot of the other dictators of the 20th century, but I think he was supposed to have been one of the worsts. I saw a figure awhile ago(like a couple of years ago) that estimated during his decades long rule(i think it was 30 or 40 something years) he was responsible for over 400,000 deaths of innocent Indonesians(im not sure if I remember the figure correctly, but it was in that ballpark). Are you familiar with him?

And does anybody in here really think that the KGB/GRU/MI-5/Mossad had nothing to do with these either?

And Pol Pot was not put in place by the US Government.  If anything, he came to power because the pro-US Government in power at the time collapsed.  There is no logical way to claim that the horrors of the Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge were brought about by the US Government.


The genocide in Cambodia began in the early seventies when American bombers killed an estimated 600,000 Cambodians. Phosphorous and cluster bombs, napalm and dump bombs were dropped on a neutral country of peasant people and straw huts. In one six-month period in 1973, more tons of American bombs were dropped on Cambodia than were dropped on Japan during the second world war: the equivalent of five Hiroshimas. The regime of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger did this, secretly and illegally.

Unclassified CIA files leave little doubt that the bombing was the catalyst for Pol Pot's fanatics, who, before the inferno, had only minority support. 

It was the incompetence, arrogance, and sheer evil that set the stage for one form of evil to be replaced with another. 

No but General Suharto of Indonesia was supported by our government. He gets less mention than a lot of the other dictators of the 20th century, but I think he was supposed to have been one of the worsts.


During the Cold War, a lot of nations would play the US off against the USSR.  And a lot of them were hated by their "sponsors", the the alternative was to see them go to "the competition".

And do you know who else we supported?  Fidel Castro and Ho CHi Minh.

Uncle Ho was a great believer in the US.  When he marched into Saigon in 1945 and declaired independence, he even read the Declaration of Independence.  He said the US and the Vietnamese would be lifelong friends.

Then Trueman made the boneheaded decision to support France in retaking Indochina after WWII.  He thought they would be stronger if they had their colonies again.

Oops!!!!!!

To me, the biggest mess to come after WWII was the attempt to re-establish colonialsim through Asia and Africa.  For the most part, the European nations tried to go back to "Business As Usual", and left behind a big mess.  Many of those regions still suffer from those problems.

In fact, I can only think of one case where a nation promised to release a colony and did it.  That was the Philippines.  In 1935 they were promised their independence in 10 years.  And even though they were occupied by Japan for almost 4 years, they got their independence in 1946, only 1 year late.

We still control many of our "former colonies", but they still have the right to leave if the choose to (or to become official States).  Puerto Rico, Guam, Marshall Islands, Palau, Micronesia, Wake Island, US Virgin Islands, Samoa, Marianna Islands, and many others are still "Client Nations" to one degree or another.

And we have released quite a few of them over the years.  Cuba in 1902.  Philippines in 1946.  Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) to Japan in 1974.  Phoenix Islands to Kiribati in 1979.  Panama Canal Zone in 1999.

If only France, England, and the other European Nations had realized earlier that the era of Colonial Empires was dead.  Then they could have done more organized handovers of power, and prevented 50+ years of military and dictatorial rulers in a great many of their "former subjects".

During the Cold War, a lot of nations would play the US off against the USSR.  And a lot of them were hated by their "sponsors", the the alternative was to see them go to "the competition".

And do you know who else we supported?  Fidel Castro and Ho CHi Minh.

Uncle Ho was a great believer in the US.  When he marched into Saigon in 1945 and declaired independence, he even read the Declaration of Independence.  He said the US and the Vietnamese would be lifelong friends.

Then Trueman made the boneheaded decision to support France in retaking Indochina after WWII.  He thought they would be stronger if they had their colonies again.

Oops!!!!!!

To me, the biggest mess to come after WWII was the attempt to re-establish colonialsim through Asia and Africa.  For the most part, the European nations tried to go back to "Business As Usual", and left behind a big mess.  Many of those regions still suffer from those problems.

In fact, I can only think of one case where a nation promised to release a colony and did it.  That was the Philippines.  In 1935 they were promised their independence in 10 years.  And even though they were occupied by Japan for almost 4 years, they got their independence in 1946, only 1 year late.

We still control many of our "former colonies", but they still have the right to leave if the choose to (or to become official States).  Puerto Rico, Guam, Marshall Islands, Palau, Micronesia, Wake Island, US Virgin Islands, Samoa, Marianna Islands, and many others are still "Client Nations" to one degree or another.

And we have released quite a few of them over the years.  Cuba in 1902.  Philippines in 1946.  Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) to Japan in 1974.  Phoenix Islands to Kiribati in 1979.  Panama Canal Zone in 1999.

If only France, England, and the other European Nations had realized earlier that the era of Colonial Empires was dead.  Then they could have done more organized handovers of power, and prevented 50+ years of military and dictatorial rulers in a great many of their "former subjects".


I agree that Europe had as big a hand if not more so in screwing up the world during the 20th century as us.

Just look at the Middle East. Its actually more Europe's fault than our's, because after the defeat of the Ottomans rather than doing what T.E. Lawrence had promised(allowing all of the Arabs independence, creating an Arab nation that went from Egypt to Iraq, Syria down to Yemen), the French and the British carved these lands up amongst themselves, and even worse, created the Balfour declaration, handing over Israel to European Jews. As much as I feel for their plight, two wrong do not make a right and they shouldn't have been dropped in the middle of the Arab world. I am of the opinion Europe felt guilty after World War II in regards to what happened to the Jewish people there, but did not want to actually solve the problems of the Jews themselves; so they dumped them in the Levant. Brilliant plan.  ::)

I also believe part of why the British created the Balfour Declaration was to give the West an excuse to keep their influence in Middle Eastern affairs("we are just trying to protect Israel!" they were welll aware that the Jews would not have a friendly reception) because WWI had taught them the importance of oil. Prior to it wars had not required it in such a way. The "Great War" truely did change what warfare had been for centuries. I think they knew a permanate outpost such as Israel by Westernerss(and they are essentially Westerners, although not from the mainstream religion) was the only gurauntee of keeping a permanate influence there.

(yes i know that was a good save.)

I'm sorry Americans vote Republican
I'm sorry Americans listen to Rush Limbaugh
I'm sorry American's believe anything George W. Bush says (when it's possible to understand what he's saying!)
I'm sorry anybody buys books published by Regnery....