Iraqi freedom vs poverty in the heartland of America

["John Gelles" <indexed-savings@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A friend on another forum finds fault with American leadership --- especially our President --- who appears bent on bringing freedom
to Iraq (and every nation that may spawn terrorism threatening the American people) when freedom from want in America is not yet
achieved --- when we need that leadership to fix  all America's freedoms now and in the future.

My friend is concerned that American leadership may be deliberately short-changing the American people -- and, by implication, ---
everyone else.

My friend has a point that is obvious whenever the President speaks of improving the lot of the Iraqi people:  he never speaks of
"freedom from want".  Rather he speaks of "opportunity".

America, in this view stands for "opportunity" and no more than that --- perhaps for "opportunity" that is barely more than a "slim
chance".

"Opportunity" is never defined in terms of the people who "fail" --- or the reasons for "failure".  The president is well aware of
countless American workers who have lived the good life, done everything right and then been "failed" by the American system:  a
system  that sends jobs to China, and, at home sends mercury into the water and air.

"Opportunity" appears to be the best we can do to comply with the Almighty's endowment of life on a planet He stocked with plenty.

Sadam Hussein offered us the "opportunity" to win hearts and minds abroad --- perhaps even to win the four freedoms for all. So far,
with good fortune, we have made use of this "opportunity":  we have captured the arch torturer --- and we have used the occasion to
press on with our mission to bring liberty and opportunity to those whom we can.

Would that our leaders would listen to my friend and do the right thing all the way.

Would that they could see that "opportunity" and "chance" are just a beginning: that the four freedoms called for ending the tyranny
of Want, Fear, and Silence in the presence of Evil --- all of which tens of millions of people died to achieve in a century that saw
America grow to lead the best we do on earth.

John Gelles