Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, who a few years ago had lamented that we could have avoided "all these problems" if Senator Strom Thurmond, a segregationist candidate, had been elected president of the United States, is now baffled by the Shia- Sunni conflict in Iraq.
" President Bush barely mentioned the war in Iraq when he met with Republican senators behind closed doors in the Capitol Thursday morning and was not asked about the course of the war, Sen. Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, said.
"No, none of that," Lott told reporters after the session when asked if the Iraq war was discussed. "You’re the only ones who obsess on that. We don’t and the real people out in the real world don’t for the most part."
Lott went on to say he has difficulty understanding the motivations behind the violence in Iraq.
"It’s hard for Americans, all of us, including me, to understand what’s wrong with these people," he said. "Why do they kill people of other religions because of religion? Why do they hate the Israelis and despise their right to exist? Why do they hate each other? Why do Sunnis kill Shiites? How do they tell the difference? They all look the same to me."
Hmm .. interesting. I guess you should only hate and kill those who DON’T look like you.
Accidental Blogger 
4 responses to “Trent Lott: “They All Look The Same To Me.””
I’m sure Sen. George Allen would be more than happy to give Mr Lott some pointers in anthropometry.
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Lott’s defense for saying this will invevitably be, “It’s okay…some of my best friends are Iraqi!”
He’ll say this at a press conference where a row of Iraqi exiles are standing behind him. Then he’ll go on Larry King, cry, and all will be forgiven.
Rinse. Repeat.
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Imagine the uproar if his words were like this:”It’s hard for all of us, including me, to understand what’s wrong with these people,” he said. “Why do they kill people because of slavery? Why do they hate the Yankees and despise their right to exist? Why do they hate each other? Why do Yankees kill Confederates and Confederates kill Yankees? How do they tell the difference? They all look the same to me.”
And yet America had a civil war.
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Such a statement would be understandable if it came from someone who is opposed to warfare in general. But it is particularly galling coming from a racist warmonger.
To my fine tuned ears, Lott’s statement sounds too much like:
“You are all savages. Why are you killing each other and making things politically difficult for us and our president? We attacked you – leave the killing to us. We will kill you when needed, especially if you don’t cooperate about sharing your oil revenues with us (and Israel?).”
It is high time Americans understand one simple fact. WE attacked them at our whim, Iraqis did not attack us on 9/11 or at any other time. We destroyed their government and infrastructure. The Iraqis owe us nothing. Whether they now choose to live in war or peace, is their business. They are not required to do what is politically expedient for Bush and Co. We have lost all moral authority to lecture them.
As Sujatha rightly points out, the word is “civil war” not “insurgency.”
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