A childās curiosity and natural desire to learn are like a tiny flame, easily extinguished unless itās protected and given fuel. This book will help you as a parent both protect that flame of curiosity and supply it with the fuel necessary to make it burn bright throughout your childās life. Letās ignite our childrenās natural love of learning!
August 13th, 2007
My Letter to Saddam Hussein
The following is a letter I wrote for a class assignment on April 7, 1992. I was 10.5 years old at the time.
There have been a lot of jokes about what happened when we went to war with you. Some are super scary!! Most are about your military going on revenge because you don’t treat them well. They aren’t pleasant jokes and they can’t be stopped! I’m GLAD!! The jokes vary on different topics and scenes. One is about a missionary coming to visit you and he throws you into a lava pit. Another one is when you marry an American and she runs you over with her 4×4. She received the 4×4 because she was a Jeep & Eagle dealer. You go to a cemetery in January because you died.
Sincerely,
Connor Boyack
My teacher’s written response on the top of the assignment reads:
Well…. what can I say? You accomplished the task… and eliminated a world menace… all at the same time! š
Apparently my affinity for politics and world events started at a younger age than I originally thought…
8 Responses to “My Letter to Saddam Hussein”
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Too bad you didn’t know back in 1992 that we had fully supported Saddam when he invaded Iran, gave him weapons, and turned a blind eye when he used chemical weapons on the Iranians and the Kurds. Only when it was politically convenient for us to criticize his use of those chemical weapons did we do so.
So, well, who’s the bigger world menace?
Oh and Saddam is spelled Saddam not Saadam.
What is it with conservatives and spelling!!!
Too bad you didn’t know back in 1992 that…
Yeah, well, who in the world was taught that in a fifth grade history book? Or even a college one, for that matter. But I know now, as do countless others. Our foreign policy is crap.
Oh and Saddam is spelled Saddam not Saadam.
Actually I spelled it Sadaam. But either way, it’s now fixed.
What is it with conservatives and spelling!!!
What is it with democrats and punctuation? Shouldn’t those be question marks? š
Nope, I was exclaiming. š
Actually in college they do teach that, at least in colleges not named Bob Jones University and their like. But yeah, you would not have known that in fifth grade.
Coolness of longstanding affinitiy not withstanding, I’m glad to see that your thinking has grown a little more sophisticated over time. š
This brings up one point on a related topic of criticizing politicians when they change their stances on issues. I think we all have a right to change and modify our views, particularly as we come to have more knowledge. For the likes of Mitt Romney who is constantly criticized for changing his stances which he says is because of new information and a different context at the time regarding stem-cell research (I don’t know if I personally believe his claim, I think he is a classic politician, shading his stances to meet his political goals). But I don’t like the assumption behind the criticisms in the media that someone who has changed his/her stances is somehow less virtuous or trustworthy. I believe in repentance and ever increasing knowledge and understanding, even in politics and particularly on issues where there are not absolutes in morality.
I believe in repentance and ever increasing knowledge and understanding, even in politics and particularly on issues where there are not absolutes in morality.
Absolutely. “Flipping” is fine by me, but “flip-flopping” is not—especially when it’s consistently done during re-election years. I think that “flipping” is fine when one has come to learn a truth or gained additional knowledge—it’s not when it’s based on polls, life events, or other external influences that might later serve to “flop” the person back to the old argument…
The problem with a politician changing stances is that they are being elected for those exact stances. Why should I lend support to somebody who might make a 180 degree shift on an important policy once in office? If we shall know them by their fruits, it becomes difficult when a tree all of a sudden starts growing apples instead of oranges…
Connor,
It appears you knew as much about Saddam Hussein back when you were 10, as the majority of Americans know about him now!