Treason

On NPR yesterday there was a story about an Iraqi man living in the US who was arrested under the Patriot Act for sending money to family members who are left in Iraq. I had a rather heated discussion with my husband (who believes that people SHOULD be able to send money to their family) over this. Though I sympathize with the Iraqi people, especially since we have destroyed their country for no reason, I think the government WAS justified in arresting this man. Though he probably intended the money to go towards food, medicine, and other essentials, we cannot be sure that his family is not part of the insurgency and wouldn't use the money for purchasing weapons, creating IED's, or funding people who are doing those things. I explained to my husband that if my cousin was killed in Iraq and I knew that Americans were able to send money there, I would always wonder if it was one of my own people who provided the money for the weapon that killed him. Even though I wholeheartedly disagree with this war and I believe the Iraqi people are perfectly justified in fighting against us, especially with the added fuel of the Haditha incident, I DO NOT believe that anyone living in America and benefiting from our economic system should be able to send money to a country with which we are at war. That is treason, plain and simple.