One of the Real Reasons They Hate Us

by James Glaser

Now President Bush might not know about this since he was never in the service overseas, but I am sure Colin Powell has had to deal with this problem over his whole military career. We have troops stationed in countries all over the globe. Every foreign service town has prostitution, bars, drugs, and crime.

The people who own the bars and prostitutes love the US being there. They are making big bucks off the troops. Prostitutes, many of who have been forced into the trade, don’t like Americans, and after a few years learn to hate America. Their brothers and sisters, parents and children, learn that hate also.

If you are a guy, think about growing up in one of these foreign service towns. A lot of the best-looking women are in the "trade," and the ones that aren't might work at the base making way more money than you do. In fact, in many places, the women that you grew up with can go out with a American and have your year's salary spent on one gift. Yes, the local guys hate Americans.

Think of this problem in another way. You're 18 or 19, an apprentice metalsmith making about 20 dollars a month, you're in love, but the woman that you are in love with looks at a American serviceman as a ticket to American citizenship. Let me tell you, that brings out the hate.

Let's take this one step farther. The woman you're in love with gets pregnant by the serviceman and he splits back to the states alone. Your family won’t let you marry her even if you wanted to, as she has brought shame on herself. Her family disowns her for the same reason. Then we have the child, who has a lifetime of being the half-American child of a whore. Harsh, but that is how it is in many countries. You hate Americans, she hate Americans, and the child grows up hating Americans. Again, all of her family hates Americans for what they did to her.

What I am writing here happens all the time, all over the globe. I want you to think of your hometown and what it would be like if a few thousand foreign teenagers moved in. They are away from home for the first time, have lots of money by your standards, and are arrogant in the bargain. Yes, think about that.

I am not proud of how I treated people in Okinawa. I thought these people were lucky to have me protecting them from somebody, and I was on my way to Vietnam, so screw them if they didn’t like it. This was the service-wide way of thinking. All the "lifers" would tell you that they were just gooks anyway, so it didn’t matter how you treated them.

I am commander of our local VFW and have asked old, young, and my age vets if this is the same the world over, and they all say yes. Afghanistan with all its opium and hash should make some Afghanies rich if our troops get stationed there, and the cycle of hate will start over again.

Can we do anything about this? Why, yes. We can bring the troops home to protect our borders, just like President George W. Bush said when he was running for President.

October 27, 2001

Jim Glaser [send him mail] is a Vietnam vet and a volunteer in veterans hospitals.

© 2001 LewRockwell.com