I'm THIS (3) many!

by Todd Wm. Ristau

(Lights at full. Todd sits at a table with a three layer cake covered in white and red frosting. He has three candels and a box of kitchen matches.)

TODD: We come to Iraq with respect for its citizens, for their great civilization and for the religious faiths they practice. We have no ambition in Iraq, except to remove a threat and restore control of that country to its own people.

(Todd picks up a candle, places it in the cake.)

TODD: Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration is to apply decisive force. And I assure you, this will not be a campaign of half measures, and we will accept no outcome but victory.

(Todd strikes the match.)

TODD: Mission accomplished.

(Todd lights the candle. Lights down to 2/3rds brightness.)

TODD: Today, you are this many. (pause) The war on terror is not a figure of speech. It is an inescapable calling of our generation. The terrorists are offended not merely by our policies -- they are offended by our existence as free nations. No concession will appease their hatred. No accommodation will satisfy their endless demands. (pause) In addition to US Military war dead, there are now 6,331 civilian casualties....more than twice the number killed on September 11th.

(Todd picks up another candle, places it in the cake.)

TODD: Today, you are this many.

(Pause as Todd lights the candle. Lights down to 1/3rd.)

TODD: We gave birth to you in order to disarm a brutal regime, free its people, and defend the world from a grave danger. We knew of Saddam Hussein's record of aggression and support for terror. We knew of his long history of pursuing, even using, weapons of mass destruction, and we know that September the 11th requires our country to think differently...and to act before a threat materializes. (pause) Two years have brought us closer to this goal, made us safer, and in addition to the US Military casualties, it has only cost 11,312 civilian casualties. Nearly four times the number killed on September 11th.

(Todd picks up another candle, places it in the cake.)

TODD: Today, you are this many. (pause as Todd lights the third candle, lights out so that he is lit only by the candles.)

2,300 US Military Dead, 700 short of the number killed on September 11th.

Somewhere between 30,000 and 100,000 civilians are no longer part of a culture of life....at least ten, perhaps thirty three times the number killed on September 11th.

When do the original 3,000 no longer justify the blood we are spilling?

(pause)

The day will come when not a single member of a high school graduating class will have lived in a pre-September 11th world. What do you want that world to look like? And are you willing to see it only by the light of the candles on this cake? How long before you realize the light from those fires makes you blind?

(Todd blows out the candles in a single breath. End of piece)

Sources:

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=354752006

http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/iraq/

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/03/20050319.html

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/03/20040319-3.html
For extensive reading on 9-11, please visit this site:

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=complete_911_timeline

THIS SCRIPT IS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL AND MAY NOT BE DOWNLOADED, TRANSMITTED, PRINTED OR PERFORMED WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR

March 17, 2006 - No Shame (Roanoke)

Performed by Todd Ristau

[Todd Ristau's website] [Archie Levine's website] [Ristau Entertainment Ltd.]

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