A friend of mine spent a year in Iraq as a reservist doing convoy security. He said that Iraqis don't really see themselves as Iraqis but rather, Shia, Sunni, Kurd, etc. Hence the notion of national identity in Iraq is nothing like it is here in the US.
I can own as many guns as I want as can my law abiding neigbor with whom I may deeply dislike and constantly disagree with. The difference is that in our society we strive to extend equal right to all law abiding citizens and have developed non-violent mechanisms to resolve conficts. Iraqis do not enjoy the benefits of such a society.
In a society in flux such as Iraq stabilization is going to be difficult and bloody. In our society we have already passed that point and can recognize the right of individuals to keep and bear arms without being subjected to widespread firefights.
>>A friend of mine spent a year in Iraq as a reservist doing convoy security. He said that Iraqis don't really see themselves as Iraqis but rather, Shia, Sunni, Kurd, etc. Hence the notion of national identity in Iraq is nothing like it is here in the US. <<
Do you see the evil in the method being used to teach us the acceptance of "multiculturalism"?
We are no longer Americans! In todays politically correct world we are German-Americans, French-Americans, English-Americans, African-Americans, Catholic-Americans, Protestant-Americans, Jewish-Americans, etc.
To top it off we still have the upper-class, middle-class and of course the lower-class.
Our society has been intentionally broken into the smallest cultural groups possible to divide us from each other, not join us together. Each cultural groups now has a politically definative difference from every other group or sector.
It is this politically correct multiculturalism division that is enabling politicians to lead us around like idiot goats. They can do things that might be offensive to one group but not to the the others, such as keeping the borders open.
By defining everyones ancestral nationality, they have once again shown us that there is differences in our nation. Not to long ago we all thought of each other as Americans, not small groups with a hyphen in the middle.
Have you ever read Former Colorado governor Richard Lamms speech on the perils of multiculturalism. Here is a link to it.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/lamm.asp