You know, I have had a few friends ask me how is it that with all of this stress I seem to be enduring regarding my son's cancer I can still continue to write on my blogs. Honestly, the idea that my son, my child, my flesh and blood that was bouncing on my knee, it seems, not too long ago, has a dreaded disease that could end his life, has been very taxing. However, writing calms me down. Writing is what I do. Today, at around noon, Christopher is going under the knife. The doctors will be going in through his abdomen to remove his testicular cancer, taking with the testicle all points in between that may be infected with the disease. While in his abdomen, they will then determine by visual inspection if the cancer has spread into his abdomen by way of his lymphatic system, or by any other means. The surgery should last about an hour. Thank you for your prayers. Your support has been greatly appreciated.
Now, a couple of stories in the news, today, caught my attention. One of them is that Egypt is calling for a cease-fire in Iraq.
According to the Associated Press, Egypt desires an international conference on Iraq to call for a three-month cease-fire between Iraqi forces and insurgents, according to a draft resolution. Iraq strongly objected to the idea on Monday.
My first thought was, "Why would a Muslim country ask for a cease-fire?" Secondly, I thought, "Do they lump American presence into their definition of Iraqi Forces?"
Other problems arise through this as well, because in Islam the Shiites and Sunnis are completely different camps. They are as different from each other as the Kurds are from both of those groups. Some nations in the region are controlled by a Shiite majority, some by Sunnis. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Sunnis are the ones more prone to radical violence, though it seems such a tendency runs amok through all of Islam. Anyhow, this call for a cease-fire is just another clue that there is growing division between Iraq and its Arab neighbors. As the Associated Press states in their article: "It implicitly treats the Shiite-led Iraqi government and the Sunni-led insurgency as equals."
Egypt is trying to unite the countries in the region to stabilize Iraq, according to news sources. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is supposed to be present at the meetings, along with officials from Iran, Russia, China, Europe and a whole score of Arab nations.
Arab nations have made it clear that they desire the Iraqi government to make strides toward incorporating the Sunnis into the government and military, including changing the constitution and ending the system for purging former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.
Iraq's Shiites and Kurds have long viewed Sunni-led Arab governments as favoring Iraqi Sunnis and sympathetic to the insurgency.
The Egyptian proposal calls for "all parties to implement a cease-fire for an initial period of three months to allow for a conducive environment to help foster the political process and national accord."
Like the insurgents are going to abide by such a resolution.
Syria is pressing for the agreement to also include a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Now we must ask ourselves, why are the Islamic Nations of the region desiring a cease-fire, and a timetable for American Troop withdrawal?
The obvious answer in my mind is that now that their biggest ally, the Democrats, have caved, and the troops were funded "without" a timetable for withdrawal, they are realizing that they are losing. Just the fact that Syria, the driving force behind Palestinian terror groups like Hezbollah, desires a timetable for withdrawal should be reason enough to not have one. They are worried. They are truly realizing that the United States is in this for the long-haul, and that the American People and the conservatives in government won't allow the liberal left to tuck America's tail between her legs and run away. It is now that we should become stronger in our resolve, and not give an inch. The ball is in their court. Our national security depends upon it.
Speaking of National Security, it seems that a Lawyer from Atlanta, Georgia has been traipsing around the world with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis. After being told not to fly anywhere, he hopped planes through Europe, then into Canada, and then snuck back into the United States in a car through the Canadian Border.
On top of that the dude is a personal injury lawyer.
The argument that he could use, or may have used, falls short of common sense. If you have any sense of common decency and sense of humanity you don't go around risking everyone around you exposure to this disease.
He is a great example of what this society has become. The man is so selfish that he was willing to put other people's lives at risk.
But here is what is really bothering me. In a post on January 22 of this year in the second paragraph I stated that disease is coming across our border with Mexico. The very security of Americans depends upon our nation to protect us from deadly disease, in addition to terrorism and the like. But this lawyer, who knew he was doing the wrong thing (first, because he's a lawyer, he should have known better, and second, his purposeful disregard for what is right was characterized by the fact that he "snuck" back into the U.S.) is a perfect example of how easy it is for disease, and God knows what else (can anyone say WMD?) is crossing our borders.
Now, if this isn't a good reason to return to vigorous health screening, and tighten the security at our borders, I don't know what is.
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