Freedom Earned, Freedom Given

By Tim Gibbons: Published in High Plains View, May 16, 2008.

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy
cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” –Theodore Roosevelt
Lexington, 1775. A group of rag-tag farmers and country boys stood facing the largest and finest military power in the world. From among the rebels a lone soldier, shouldered his rifle and fired the shot heard round the world. A shot that began the American Revolution and ended with the birth of a new nation. A nation founded on tolerance and liberty for all mankind regardless of race, religion, station or creed.
Brand new, and infant, the American ideal was to face the withering storm of slavery, the fight for the right of women and the wars against foreign tyrants.
Now we find ourselves in the forefront of the War on Terror, which has entered it's fifth year with the fledgling Iraqi democracy still unstable and an endless stream of American casualties.
On our current path, the war in Iraq will fail, not from lack of valor or effort from our service men and women, but failure of our politicians and the government of Iraq to grasp one simple concept: Freedom earned is more powerful than freedom given. It is only when we fight for what we believe in that it has any worth.
According to psychologist Abraham Maslow, humans have a hierarchy of needs, starting with Physiological (Food, warmth and shelter) and progressing through Safety, Love and Belongingness, Esteem and Self Actualization. An individual, if he is dependent upon himself, must satisfy each of these needs through work and perseverance. He must hunt his food, build his home and gather wood for the fire. He must protect himself and his family, create for himself a sense of worth and seek his own path and find his own merit.
Tyranny, on the other hand, allows these psychological needs to be met with little effort on the part of the individual. The State provides food, warmth and shelter if one devotes himself to the State. Through devotion to the State, safety from the outside evils is promised. One now belongs to a movement that is larger than the individual. The State's achievement becomes the individual’s achievement and boosts the esteem. And Self-Actualization is achieved by promoting and growing the State.
Why would people choose the easy way out? Maybe it's religion.
Islam, like its monotheistic siblings, Protestantism, Catholicism and Judaism, seems to deny the very thing that makes mankind unique. Instead of finding the strength within ourselves to create our own destiny, it would appear that God does it for us.
Within these religious beliefs, God provides food, warmth and shelter in return for unswerving, unquestioning loyalty and devotion. Through service in God, one is guaranteed safety or, at the very least, a place in heaven should one's duties be properly executed. According to these faiths by serving God, one belongs to an elite, chosen group of believers. The Esteem of the believers becomes the individual's esteem and conversion or actions in the name of their God allow an individual to achieve Self-Actualization.
Is it any wonder then, with so much of the world's population belonging to one of the many religions out there, that tyrants are more plentiful than fleas on a coyote?
Tyranny is often comfortable and predicable, there is danger in it, but so long as one keeps their head down and does what they are told, their chances of being harmed are lessened and they can justify their lack of effort by claiming that their needs are being met and they are helping to make the world a better place through their State or God.
But it wasn’t God who liberated Iraq; it wasn’t a Tyrant that overthrew Saddam; and the only banner that flew over Iraq on the day Saddam’s regime tumbled was the stars and stripes of Old Glory.
American soldiers of all races, colors, religions and creeds, liberated Iraq and dethroned Saddam.
American soldiers and the American people paid for the freedom of Iraq with their blood and their money. What thanks have the Iraqi people given us and what sacrifices have they VOLUNTARILY made to avenge the cruelty of their despot leaders?
Our Founding Fathers desired freedom with such zeal that they sacrificed all to get it. “Give me liberty! Or give me death!” Where is that cry in Iraq?
Maybe, tyranny is more comfortable.
While American Forces came bearing the torch of freedom, I can pretty much guarantee, the Iraqi leaders saw just another handout and another source of wealth.
America is one of only a few nations to have an all volunteer military force. Our service men and women choose for themselves whether or not to defend their homeland. They make the choice to serve and so serve with the passion and zeal that made our country what it is today.
It is no idle boast that they are the finest soldiers on the planet because they know the cost and price of liberty. Can Iraq make the same boast?
Before the true heart of freedom can take root in Iraq it must come from the Iraqi people themselves. They must discovery liberty for themselves, even if it lies outside of democracy.
They must be the ones to overthrow their tyrants and terrorists. They must desire freedom and liberty so passionately that, like our Founding Fathers, they would rather die free than live as slaves. And they must choose to unite their country in pursuit of a common ideal.
Thomas Jefferson once said, “Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.”
America has earned her freedom many times over, do the Iraqi have the courage to do the same?