I like to send interesting stories and commentary to my friends.
Recently, I sent a friend a link to an article written by Alan Dershowitz, the great Harvard lawyer and champion of American liberty and of Israel, which defended and explained Israel’s right to defend itself against the ongoing rocket attacks by the terrorist group Hamas I thought quite convincingly. (You can read the article here.) My friend did not like the article at all, finding fault in it, and declaring himself in disagreement with it.
I had thought Dershowitz’ arguments solid and difficult to refute as they were so grounded in international law, precedent, and logic. The reaction of my friend, which so confused me, gave me great pause and took me on a path that finally led me to the beginning of understanding how some Americans, otherwise intelligent and thoughtful, can be so self-hating and so seemingly out-of-context that what they consider reasoned, thoughtful argument is, in actuality, some form of Orwellian anti-rational intellectual and moral confusion.
To me, my friend, a very religious man was, in his astounding refutation of Dershowitz a man sunk in moral confusion. I wanted to understand how this could be so.
I asked him to explain.
I wrote, “What are your counter arguments?”
He replied, “They are all insane over there. I hope someday sanity will return.”
“They are not ALL insane,” I replied. “There is such a thing as good and evil.”
The correspondence continued with his reply, “Those who are in power over there have chosen the path of mutual destruction. That is evil. Nothing good will come of this until another path is chosen. You see, I can tell the difference. It is obvious.”
I replied, asking, “Those in power in Israel have chosen mutual destruction because they are defending their country from attack which is their right according to every international law and treaty? Your world is upside down.”
My friend replied asking if I thought that “mutual destruction is their right? Now whose world is upside down?”
Things were getting very interesting. I could sense that this discourse would lead somewhere important. And maybe I could understand finally how and why he thought in a way that I simply could not comprehend.
I replied that I had never suggested such a thing (that mutual destruction is either party’s “right”).
I asked, “Are you suggesting that self-defense is equivalent to mutual destruction?”
His response was instructive. “Yes, you are finally starting to see the light. In the long run, (making war) in self defense or any reason=mutual destruction. Both sides are engaging in a conflict that NEITHER can win.”
My friend concluded by writing, “They are both engaged in hurting themselves. This is insane and evil. It is important for everyone to understand that what is going on over there has got to stop.”
What was happening here? My friend, an otherwise brilliant and caring fellow, was deeply confused about the morality that characterized the aggressor and the defender (or victim). For him, conflict itself was evil and any party engaged in it was “wrong” regardless of the fact that they were defending themselves from attack.
This moral confusion does not allow him to differentiate between right and the wrong in the midst of conflict, the attacker and the victim. I finally began to understand. My friend could not, would not, make a moral stand and identify aggressor and victim, both were in the wrong, because both were in conflict. This irrational approach to the world is contrary to all of human history and contrary to our own experience of 9/11 and our post-9/11 world.
In his mind the United States is wrong to be in Iraq, though we have freed an entire country from despotism and are building a nascent democracy in a region that has never known freedom. Our several thousand casualties are mourned by us all. The cost in treasure and blood is high. However, in the context of previous wars the cost has been comparatively low in the bloody calculus of war. Consider: at Antietam 5,000 casualties in 15 minutes; at Cold Harbor 5,000 casualties in ten minutes; at Franklin 7,000 casualties in 4 hours. Comparatively, the war for Iraq has been astoundingly low in casualties after conquering the country, fighting a brutal insurgent enemy, and having some 3,000 American’s killed in 5 years of war there to keep the country free and to prevent its return to barbarism and tyranny. This does not include the ongoing fighting in Afghanistan where fighting has been increasing lately. If we are successful in Iraq and Afghanistan, our futures are all brighter as are the Iraqis and Afghan people’s and that is why we fight.
There is the complaint (and demand) that the soldiers must come home- now! But the war is not over, and to leave would create a vacuum that would be filled by our enemies nullifying every gain, and showing our hardened and callous enemies that we are weak. The context of history shows that restructuring countries and cultures is time consuming-WW2 ended in 1945, but US forces are still in Germany, and still in Japan.
During World War 2 the refrain had often been “this is why we fight”. The country was reminding itself that the horrifically high costs of fighting Nazism and Japanese Imperialism in blood and treasure were justified. Our current war is much different.
9/11 was a far more horrific attack than Pearl Harbor. After Pearl Harbor the entire society of the United States was mobilized for war. But since our enemies now do rarely wear uniforms but turbans and beards and burkhas, and a book, the response has been quite different. The West has long been in conflict with Islam. Wars have been fought in the past between the West and Islamic expansion, this current conflict is the newest campaign in a centuries old conflict of attack and defense. Now, we in the United States who look mainly to the future are faced with an enemy who looks to the future only as a means to return to the distant past. This is an enemy we can barely understand… but slowly it is sinking in with some of us that their goals are contrary to our own survival as a nation and a people, and that they will do anything and everything to achieve them. Fundamentally, their goal is the destruction of our society, culture, religions, and way of life. How many beheaded Americans, and blown up office towers does one need to understand the goals of the enemy?
My disturbing but enlightening correspondence with my friend got me to reading and research. How can my friend be so confused? The answer is complex and simple. Please watch the video posted at the end of this thread. I found it very enlightening and very important.
I read “The Closing of the American Mind” by Allan Bloom. Professor Bloom makes a convincing case that the culture and our higher educational institutions are to blame for my friend’s moral confusion. Our universities teach inclusiveness, to the exclusion of all else, and political correctness - we mustn’t offend, we mustn’t suggest that our culture is superior, that our way of life of government is better than some other form(s). This could cause offense or upset. So it must be avoided. But the fact remains that our system is by far superior to most other forms currently in existence or those that have passed into history. It ought to be no crime to suggest it, or state it.
Our enemies see this pervasive almost bizarre desire in American society to be inclusive, to not offend as one of our greatest weaknesses. They exploit this flaw in our culture and political and legal institutions and our rampant moral confusion to undermine our society, sow dissent and legitimize their own cruelties and destructive and malicious goals. Our enemies have a long-term horizon that we can barely even conceive.
Albert Einstein was the greatest thinker of the 20th century. A native German who fled the rise of Nazism, Einstein’s mother tongue was German. When he died in 1955 his last words were heard, but not understood. I compare the modern American left with Einstein’s nurse.
“He died in his sleep at a hospital in Princeton, New Jersey on April 18, 1955, leaving the Generalized Theory of Gravitation unsolved. The only person present at his deathbed, a hospital nurse, said that just before his death he mumbled several words in German that she did not understand. He was cremated without ceremony on the same day he died at Trenton, New Jersey in accordance with his wishes. His ashes were scattered at an undisclosed location.”
It seems that so much is happening, so much that is so clear and so important, but simply cannot be seen by so many. It’s almost as if a great segment of the country has become Einstein’s nurse and the world is utterly unintelligible to them.
There is more of course.
An angry, deeply confused columnist in the Philadelphia Inquirer today posted a piece stating that the United States has “sinned”, and that “America doesn’t deserve to celebrate its birthday.” Mr. Satullo suggests that we have betrayed the July 4th “creed”, and that we have trampled the vows we have made as a country. He says that we must “put out no flags” on the 4th, and that we mustn’t sing patriotic hymns as “we deserve no Fourth this year”. Mr. Satullo demands that we all “atone” for our “sins…in quiet and humility”.
Can there be a more disrespectful, clueless, bitter, partisan, out-of-context screed anywhere published in the country more abysmal and disgusting than this tripe from a disaffected Utopian in Philadelphia - for July 4th during time of war?
Where is Mr. Satullo’s condemnation of our enemies? Where is the congratulations for our brave military men and women? Where is the acknowledgment of our current economic difficulties and tribulations? Where is the appreciation for the greatness of this country?
I ask all of my readers to cancel their subscription to the Philadelphia Inquirer. I ask any reader who advertises in the Philadelphia Inquirer to cancel all business relationships with that company.
Otherwise intelligent people like Mr. Satullo, apparently have no context in which to judge the actions of the United States; have little understanding of international events and their complexities, have a minimal grasp of conflict and of warfare and of history.
Abraham Lincoln, considered by many to be the greatest President in our history might have closed the Philadelphia Inquirer for sedition, had Mr. Satullo been published in 1862 or 1863. Mr. Lincoln actually did close newspapers for sedition in Baltimore. I am not suggesting that Mr. Satullo be censored, or the paper closed.
I am hoping instead that a groundswell of public revulsion will greet the Philadelphia Inquirer in the coming days and months so that they are impacted where it hurts the most for them - in their pocket books. If every reader of that publication were to abandon it- that would be perfectly acceptable to me.
Undermining our will to fight, supporting our enemies who want us all dead or enslaved - during wartime - is an abysmal thing and ought not to be countenanced. Mr. Satullo is certainly welcome to his mistaken opinions, but he should understand that most Americans do not concur with his self-hating and ignorant ideas. In fact, most Americans most assuredly find his article reprehensible and worthy of strong criticism.
The moral confusion of my friend, and the obvious self-hatred and ignorance of the Philadelphia Inquirer columnist are not isolated or rare events.
This deeply confused and morally corrupt approach to the world, based on a slanted mis-education from our universities overrun with leftist activist “educators” to a culture that demands a legitimazation of philosophies having even our own destruction at their core, and the diminishment of our martial abilities and a revision of our recent and distant pasts so that we will not fight, because as my friend has stated, “fighting is wrong” is a hideous response to attack and will not sustain us. We must accept that the world is not Utopia, and likely will not be, ever. IF however, Utopia is possible, we must defeat evil first in order to bring it about, yes?
But we must fight - there is no alternative.
Can one convert a Nazi? Can one convince a Hitler that world domination is not the best course? Can one overturn centuries of hatred and arrogance with words, when the world is overrun with swords and bombs and guns - and a book that instructs adherents to “kill the unbelievers”? We are almost too sophisticated for our own good. Too many of us cannot conceive that there can be so many millions who believe that “unbelievers” (us!) must die, that no form of religion is acceptable to them but theirs and that no form of law or society can exist but theirs.
How can it be that 9/11 was not “enough”? Do we require another attack before the country will unite and fight against this horrific philosophy whose goal is our destruction and enslavement? I pray not.
We are in an existential fight. To quit, or undermine our will to fight, is the end of all things.
There is right, and there is wrong; there is evil and there is good. Our country G-d bless her has the finest government ever conceived, and blessed by our brave men and women who protect our way of life and guided by the brave and selfless of ‘76, of ‘12, of ‘61, of ‘18, of ‘41, of ‘65 and now in 2008 we have our path, we have our heroes, we have our cause. G-d help us all.
Because so many cannot see evil does not mean that it does not exist; because so many cannot see the greatness in their own country does not mean it is not great. Happy 4th of July, and G-d Bless America.
The horror, violence, and cruelty of war is occasionally interrupted by deeds of extreme humanitarian bravery and compassion. When these stories are shared, they raise the hairs on the back of one’s neck, and can bring one to tears.
In particular when men show compassion to their enemies it tends to reawaken the soul and remind one that in the midst of war and bloodshed and cruelty, the human heart - the foundation of civilization - is still alive and still motivates men to do deeds of valor for those they would otherwise destroy.
The Civil War is rife with such stories. Three come to mind: First, the selfless bravery and compassion of Sergeant Kirkland at Fredricksburg who will forever be remembered as the “Angel of Mayre’s Heights”. Risking his life to bring water to his wounded foes in blue, Confederate Sgt. Kirkland showed everyone there and thereafter that compassion did not die in the War.
Confederate Lt. James Graves has a special yet largely unknown place in Civil War history. After the Battle of Glasgow, Missouri, late in October of 1864 Lt. Graves was commanding a detachment of Confederate Cavalry escorting Union prisoners to a place of parole. Graves had some 50 mounted men with him to escort the approximately 25 Union officer prisoners in his charge.
He was soon challenged by Bloody Bill Anderson, the notorious bushwhacker and murderer of Centralia infamy. Anderson demanded that Graves surrender the Union officers to him and his men. It was clear that Anderson was planning to kill the Federals. Graves refused.
What happened next is one of the most astounding and special events of the entire War. Graves approached the Union prisoners and told them that Anderson, who they all knew for the cruel man that he was, had demanded them, and that Graves had refused. He informed the Union men that he would fight Anderson and his men, who Graves considered outlaws, rather than surrender his Union escort.
Graves gave the men in blue weapons and a Union flag. The Confederate cavalry escort and the Union officers formed a line of battle together and faced Anderson’s 300. As they advanced, the bushwhackers withdrew, and the Union men were delivered safely to their destination. Never before or since had Union and Confederate soldiers been in line of battle together.
Documentation regarding this event is available in the Official Records and elsewhere though it is scant and difficult to locate. A medal was struck after the War and presented to Graves by these Union officers. Graves traveled from the South to St. Louis to accept this, from what I understand to be, astonishingly beautiful medal.
Someday soon I hope that this superb and very important story will be told in its entirety so that the entire country can learn of the special qualities of our Civil War soldiers of both sides. Most importantly in this time of political division, war, and the ongoing threat of terror it is important for all Americans to see that our history has superb examples of cooperation, compassion, bravery, and a central unifying idea of what is right and what is so very wrong. Identifying a direct threat to both his own command and his escort of enemy officers, Graves defended them rather than walk away and give them up to be killed. This astonishing act of bravery and thoughtfulness is largely unknown, but it deserves a much wider audience.
Another superb example of Civil War compassion under fire comes from Kennesaw Mountain, June 27, 1864:
“It was during this battle that one of the noblest deeds of humanity was performed. Colonel W. H. Martin of the First Arkansas of Cleburne’s division seeing the woods in front of him on fire and burning the wounded Federals, tied a handkerchief to a ramrod and1 amidst the danger of battle mounted the parapet and shouted to the enemy: “We wont fire a gun till you get them away. Be quick.” And with his own men he leaped over our works and helped to remove them. When this was done, a Federal major was so imprssed’ by such magnanimity that he pulled from his belt a brace of fine pistols and presented them to Colonel Martin with
the remark,
“Accept them with my appreciation of the nobility of this deed.”
(Battles and Sketches of the Army of Tennessee, B.L. Ridley, 1906, p319)
Our Civil War seems to have many such stories of compassion and care that one side showed to the other. In fact, an excellent book was written recently on this subject, and I recommend it: My Brother’s Keeper: Union and Confederate Soldiers’ Acts of Mercy During the Civil War by Daniel Rolph (Stackpole, 2002).
WW2 may have similar numbers of stories of compassion and mercy between enemies, but they seem few and far between.
I was sent an email by a friend the other day that I would like to share with you. It originated from a North Carolina shop’s Web Site (Classic Arms) to which I give credit and appreciation here.
I present this story in it’s entirety, and unedited. It is a special thing, and I hope that you will be as affected by it as I was. It is comforting to know that in the middle of the horrific brutality that was the Civil War and WW2 there were warriors on all sides who retained their sense of humanity and compassion and were able to see, if only for a short moment, a brief yet very important moment, that those on the other side were human just like them, and deserving of something better than death. More importantly still, these heroes were brave enough to risk their own lives to help their fellow men even in the midst of mortal combat.
-Daniel Mallock
Chivalry In The Air
As told by Jim Brodie
For Military Appreciation Day
Florida House of Representatives
April 19, 2007
I would like to tell you a story.
A true story of Chivalry, Gallantry, Courage and Compassion.
I hope you will enjoy it and share it with the special people in your life.
At Dawn on the morning of December 20, 1943, American Army Lieutenant Charlie Brown piloted his B-17 bomber into formation and joined nearly 400 others from the 8th Air Force in England to bomb a German fighter factory in Bremen. It was his first mission as pilot in command of this 30 ton 4 engine heavy.
Charlie was 21 years old. His crew of ten were all in their late teens and early twenties. They had worked together and they had trained together…they were more than a crew… they were a team.
The bomber stream crossed the North Sea with American P-47 fighters as escorts. The fighters would stay with them for as long as they had range. But when the fighters turned back to refuel the bombers were on their own.
As they crossed the German coast they were attacked by defending ME 109 fighters.
The Messerschmitt ME 109 fighter was a world class, single engine aircraft, …fast, maneuverable and deadly … armed with machine guns and cannon. The two forces clashed and fought all the way to the outskirts of Bremen. During the action Charlie’s bomber sustained numerous hits wounding several of the crew and knocking out one engine. They were able to stay with the formation but as they approached the target, German anti-aircraft guns opened up. Charlie’s plane was hit again, destroying the Plexiglas nose and wounding the bombardier.
They could have turned back,
they should have turned back
but that’s not what THIS crew was all about.
They stayed with the mission and dropped their bombs directly on the target.
They were unable to keep up with the formation as it turned back toward England.
Alone as a straggler they were an easy target. Once again the German fighters attacked. Machine gun and cannon fire tore through the airplane.
The American gunners fought back bravely …all 10 machine guns blazing. Charlie flying his bomber directly into the oncoming Germans as if it were a fighter, employing tactics no bomber was built for.
The one sided battle lasted far longer than anyone could have expected, one German fighter destroyed, another probable…but the flying fortress and the crew were being shredded…Charlie was hit in the right arm.
At 25 thousand feet the controls of a second engine were shot away and the bomber’s oxygen supply was destroyed. Without oxygen the crew and pilot lost consciousness and the bomber spiraled toward earth 5 miles below.
The Germans scored it as another kill and raced off after the main bomber formation. Charlie’s B-17 continued its lumbering death spiral.
Miraculously the out of control bomber was spiraling slowly enough that the pilot regained consciousness in time to get control of the airplane and leveled off at 150 feet.
Charlie ordered his co-pilot to prepare the crew to bail out if he could get enough altitude for the parachutes to open. The co-pilot came back and told him of the dead and wounded crew and the horribly damaged airplane. They were in no condition to bail out.
Charlie replied, “that’s okay, I can’t get any altitude anyway”,…throw everything overboard to lighten the load”…parachutes, life rafts, machine guns. A third engine was now acting up.
As they flew, their course took them, unknowingly, over a Luftwaffe fighter base.
On the ground German fighter Ace, Lt. Franz Stigler was having his Messerschmitt fighter re-armed and re-fueled. He had already shot down two of the American bombers that morning adding to his long list of what would be 28 aerial victories.
He could not believe his luck, here was another target and he went off to bag number three for the day which would surely earn him the Knight’s Cross presented by the Furher himself!
As Franz sped toward his target his experience told him to do it just right, even though this American was alone and a straggler, he had been shot down by B17’s before and he had the wounds to show for it.
As he approached from the rear Franz noticed how low and how strangely the bomber was flying. The closer he got the more amazed he was that it was flying at all.
It was terribly shot up. He determined he would get as close as possible…..his 30 mm cannon and machine guns ready…..his finger on the trigger. As soon as the tail gunner would raise his guns Franz would blow them out of the sky and go home a hero….once again.
Closer….still closer….yet, no reaction from the crippled bomber. The much faster fighter flew by in a wide arc without firing. Franz noticed the tail gunner was dead… blood was everywhere.
He saw the courageous American crew struggling to save their comrades and a valiant young pilot trying to keep his airplane flying.
As the German fighter passed, them the entire crew was horrified. They were helpless; they were doomed…and they knew it…they were all about to die.
The defender of the Reich circled back, still in amazement that this bomber could remain airborne. He approached again and did not fire. This time slowing down enough to fly in formation on Charlie’s right wing.
Charlie, bleeding from his wound looked in horror, could not believe what he was seeing. The two 20 something warriors stared at each other, each other, each taking the measure of the other airman…the planes just a few feet apart.
He signaled Charlie to drop his landing gear, land in Germany and surrender. Charlie, either not understanding, or still groggy, just glared back. He refused to give up his ship on his first mission as pilot in command.
Again, Franz, using hand signals, ordered the American pilot to land and be taken prisoner. Charlie refused.
Franz thought to himself, “I can’t murder this brave but helpless crew and their “cowboy ” pilot, but we are still way inside Germany and if I leave them alone they will be dropped by the next fighter or flak gun”.
So, in an act of great compassion and chivalry and risking facing a firing squad, German Lt. Franz Stigler escorted American Lt. Charlie Brown’s bomber to the North Sea coast. He pointed toward England…then he saluted, said “happy birthday cowboy” rolled his fighter into a hard right turn and headed back to base never to breathe a word of what had happened.
He flew an incredible 480 combat missions… was credited with 28 victories and 40 more probables. He survived bring shot down 17 times.
Charlie and the crew were in total disbelief. This gallant German knight had given them life. They continued across the North Sea, crash landing on the coast of England.
Charlie continued to serve his country throughout the war flying 30 more combat missions over Germany and retired from the Air Force as a Lt. Colonel. He and his crew related their story to the Army brass and were told, “Bury it”, your mission is classified Secret “we are at war, son… there are no gallant Germans”. But Charlie and the crew never forgot the chivalrous airman who gave them back their lives.
That should be the end of the story…but it’s not.
Forty five years later in 1988, Charlie attended a reunion of his WWII bomber squadron and told his story. Fifty seven children and grandchildren had been born to the surviving crew of Charlie’s bomber. The press was there and a reprint of the story was eventually published in a German fighter pilot’s magazine.
A year later, in December of 1989, Charlie received a five page type written letter postmarked Surrey, British Columbia. In the letter was a precise description of the air action over Bremen Germany on December, 20 1943…details that only Charlie knew, such as aircraft markings, time of day, precise battle damage and even the wave salute.
Charlie couldn’t believe it; how could this be possible? He was suspicious, but the details were accurate, the same story told from a totally different perspective. He telephoned Canada; for an hour the two spoke; every detailed was described. Charlie and his wife Jackie flew to British Columbia and met Franz and his wife Helga. In the airport in Canada the two old warriors, now in their 70’s, once again came face to face. They stared at each other; fears and memories that had been locked away came rushing back. With tears in their eyes they embraced.
Franz said, “Happy Birthday Cowboy”, for it was December 20th, 1989.
Franz and Charlie have remained friends ever since and have become as close as brothers.
How Misleading, Questionable “Intelligence†and Partisan “Journalism†Puts Our Country At Risk, Empowers our Enemies, and Undermines our Leadership During Time of War
by Daniel Mallock, BookFolks
The release today of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that suggests that Iran is not working on a nuclear weapons project while it continues to work towards enriching uranium has brought doubt and confusion to the country and to our friends around the world. CNN led early in the day with misleading headlines declaring, “Iran Has No Nuclear Weapons Program.” What is not stated in the hysterical leftist media is that there can be but little doubt as to Iran’s purposes in continuing to develop uranium enrichment capabilities. According to the NIE, the Iranians halted their “program” in 2003. Perhaps they halted the “program” because the United States had invaded their neighbor and brought down their dictator because of Iraq’s purported WMDs and their own researches into nuke development?
The report suggests a denouement to the ongoing Iran crisis - Iran has no program so there is no crisis. This puts the President in a difficult position having to explain to the country, our friends and enemies, that we believe that ongoing uranium research is significant, threatening, and clearly a component in a larger effort to create or acquire nuclear weapons despite the confusing tone of the NIE report. The formal “program” may have been discontinued, but this does not mean that another one does not continue secretly, and that uranium enrichment efforts are not significant.
Confusion in Israel over this NIE must be high. The Israelis continue to maintain that Iran has an active nuclear weapons program. Israel has the finest intelligence agency in the world, and they have been repeatedly and very publicly threatened by the lunatic dictator of Iran with total destruction by “nuclear fire”. It is an existential necessity that Israel take the threats seriously, and act as best they can to counter and remove the threat. Ehud Barak, Israeli Minister of Defense, said today regarding the NEI, “Nevertheless, I say again that Iran is today a central threat on the world and the State of Israel.” Barak went on to say that the NEI made him “smile”. Israel continues to take the threat of Iran very seriously, while leftist propaganda creators in the United States actively undermine our ability to confront our enemies and setup our allies for criticism for the crime of continuing to defend themselves against an evil regime that has promised to attack them when the opportunity arises.
Ahmadinejad has stated on many ocassions that the destruction of Israel and the “defeat” of the United States are two of his main goals. Having the 2nd largest oil reserves in the world why would Iran spend billions of dollars on a “peaceful” nuclear energy program when a more simple approach to energy supply for that country would be to build domestic refining capabilities and infrastructure to support it? A nuclear power program is counter-intuitive and counter productive because of the richness of the oil reserve that they sit upon. However, a militarized program whose goal is the production of weapons for use by them and their proxies does, for them and their stated warlike goals, make a great deal of sense.
An official of the International Atomic Energy Agency obtusely yet proudly stated today in response to the NIE that it “validates the [IAEA’s] statements over the last years that inspectors have found no concrete evidence of an undeclared nuclear weapons program in Iran”. Consider: The absence of evidence uncovered by inspectors is proof only of the lack of evidence uncovered by inspectors. It is not proof nor validation that Iran does not have a highly secret weapons program underway. This is a great flim-flam that helps the Iranians and nobody else. I have no doubt that their efforts to enrich uranium are for military purposes. I get no comfort whatever from the questionable assurances in the NIE report that Iran will not be ready with enough uranium for a bomb for another several years. And then? Then they will have a very public program to develop nukes? Either way, we lose and Israel loses, and the entire civilized community loses. For those on the hard left desperate for confirmation of their bizarre combination of Bush-hating and Utopian anti-pragmatism, this highly political and dangerous NIE could not have come soon enough.
Civilized people do so want the world to operate in a civilized, rational and peace-loving manner - we almost cannot comprehend when countries are overtly belligerent, hateful, threatening, and warlike. But we haven’t any choice, we must accept these countries for what they are, and the world for what it truly is. To choose the opposite is to choose fantasy over reality.
Iran has been an enemy state since they attacked our embassy in 1979 and took our military and civilian personnel hostage and held them for over a year. They have never changed their posture towards us, and we have never exacted payment for this act of war against us. They continue to support and actively participate in, through their own agents (in Iraq and elsewhere) and through their proxies in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, warfare against the United States.
The President now is at a disadvantage as our own intelligence agencies suggest/imply that Iran is no longer a threat and that their nuclear program is discontinued. In the court of public opinion, where so much of this war of civilizations currently plays out we are now on the defensive having to justify our posture and strong language and ramping up of rhetoric and pressure against Ahmadnijad to disarm and withdraw. We have put our friends in Israel also at a disadvantage. Our unified position against Iran, an aggressor state, is now broken.
It seems unlikely that Iran is no longer a serious threat to the United States and our friends. It seems highly likely instead to me that they are continuing their war against us, and keeping their ongoing nuclear efforts closely guarded and effectively secret. In 1982 Israel destroyed Saddam’s nuclear research facility at Osirak. The world heaped criticism upon them and condemned them. Nevertheless, they were right. Israel has a right to defend itself, as do we.
We must not let our guard down vis a vis Iran. They have made threats that must be taken at their face value as serious and deadly threats. Israel must defend itself, and we must never allow such a country as Iran with their stated intentions of our destruction, their active participation in terror and violence against us and our allies to ever acquire nuclear weapons.
On September 6th Israel attacked a Syrian facility and destroyed it deep inside that country. There was very rapidly a dearth of information from either Israel or Syria as to why the attack occurred and the raid’s target. Soon speculation started pouring in from analysts around the world, even from the NYT that Israel had destroyed a partially completed Syrian nuclear reactor. Some called the site a bomb plant,a cache, a facility, but all agreed that it was a nuclear site. The silence about this attack both from Israel and Syria and the Arab world in particular is deafening. For Israel, discussing the attack is not important - only that it was successful. For Syria admission that they had an active nuclear weapons program would show the world that the threat is real, and that Israel is justified. For now the silence continues, but when it breaks and the world is conclusively shown that the Muslim/Arab dictator bomb is not a myth but a reality will the civilized societies of the West unite against this horrific threat?
Iran and its looney dictator are making great propaganda strides and political hay with this gift basket of the NIE dropped on their laps just in time for the Christmas holiday. The Iranians believe that this NIE vindicates their obviously false claims that their nuke program is for peaceful purposes only. This is a great propaganda victory for them.
The NIE does in no way prove anything but that no active nuclear weapons “program” has been found definitively yet by US intelligence agencies. However, these same agencies admit that Iran continues uranium enrichment efforts whose results will likely mean the creation of a nuclear weapon when that “program” is complete.
The word “hood-wink” seems apropos here. A “program” doesn’t now currently exist, apparently because the intel agencies can’t find one, but the “program” of uranium enrichment continues? This entire scenario is completely illogical and plays into the hands of the Iranians who will hold the world hostage with their nukes the moment they acquire them. And before that day, they may well give their bombs to their surrogates so that Israel and the United States will be attacked.
This is a massive public relations disaster for American and Israeli efforts to contain Iran’s overtly belligerent and nuclear ambitions. 1984 is 2007, December 4th to be precise - with “Big Brother” apparently somebody else’s Little Brother!
Because we don’t know for sure, because the NIE represents a “best guess” approach, we are obligated to continue investigating so that definitive proof of the existence or absence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program is found. Our stance should be strong and, despite the empty assurances of this NIE we should assume that Iran continues its nuclear gambit and when they acquire the bomb they will hold the world hostage and use the weapons that they create or purchase. We should work with Israel and all of our friends around the world publicly and secretly to thwart the acquisition of nuclear weapons by any group or country that works for and promises our destruction as does Iran. To do anything else would be folly.
How Misleading, Politically Motivated Intelligence and Partisan Journalism Puts Our Country At Risk, Empowers our Enemies, and Undermines our Leadership During Time of War
by Daniel Mallock, BookFolks
The release today of the National Intelligence Estimate that suggests that Iran is not working on a nuclear weapons project but continues to work towards enriching uranium has brought doubt and confusion to the country and to our friends around the world. CNN led early in the day with misleading headlines declaring, “Iran Has No Nuclear Weapons Program”. What is not stated in the hysterical leftist media in the country is that there can be but little doubt as to Iran’s purposes in continuing to develop uranium enrichment capabilities. According to the NEI, the Iranians halted their “program” in 2003. Perhaps they halted the “program” because the United States had invaded their neighbor and brought down their dictator because of Iraq’s purported WMDs and their own researches into nuke development.
The report suggests a denouement to the ongoing Iran crisis - Iran has no program so there is no crisis. This puts the President in a difficult position to explain to the country, our friends and enemies, that we believe that ongoing uranium research is significant, threatening, and clearly a component in a larger effort to create or acquire nuclear weapons. The formal “program” may have been discontinued, but this does not mean that another one does not continue secretly, and that uranium enrichment efforts are not significant.
Confusion in Israel over this NEI must be fairly high. The Israelis continue to maintain that Iran has an active nuclear weapons program. Israel has the finest intelligence agency in the world, and they have been repeatedly and very publicly threatened by the lunatic dictator of Iran with total destruction by “nuclear fire”. It is an existential necessity that Israel take the threats seriously, and act as best they can to remove the threat. Ehud Barak, Israeli Minister of Defense, said today regarding the NEI, “Nevertheless, I say again that Iran is today a central threat on the world and the State of Israel.” Barak went on to say that the NEI made him “smile”. Israel continues to take the threat of Iran very seriously, while leftist propaganda creators in the United States actively undermine our ability to confront our enemies and setup our allies for criticism for the crime of continuing to defend themselves against an evil regime that has promised to attack them when the opportunity arises.
Ahmadinejad has stated on many ocassions that the destruction of Israel and the “defeat” of the United States are two of his main goals. Having the 2nd largest oil reserves in the world why would Iran spend billions of dollars on a “peaceful” nuclear energy program when a more simple approach to energy supply for that country would be to build domestic refining capabilities and infrastructure to support it. A nuclear power program is counter-intuitive, counter productive because of the richness of the oil reserve that they sit upon. However, a militarized program whose goal is the production of weapons for use by them and their proxies does make a great deal of sense.
One official of the International Atomic Energy Agency, obtusely yet proudly stated today in response to the NIE that “validates the [IAEA’s] statements over the last years that inspectors have found no concrete evidence of an undeclared nuclear weapons program in Iran”. Consider: The absence of evidence uncovered by inspectors is proof only of the lack of evidence uncovered by inspectors. It is not proof or validation that Iran does not have a highly secret program underway. This is a great flim flam that the Iranians have somehow successful created. They have now sowed great doubt in the world community tapping into the hatred of war and violence and conflict that so underlies most of the civilized societies of the west. I have no doubt that their efforts to enrich uranium are for military purposes. I get no comfort whatever from the assurances in the report that Iran will not be ready with enough uranium for a bomb for another several years. For those on the hard left desperate for confirmation of their bizarre combination of Bush-hating and utopian anti-pragmatism, this highly political and dangerous NIE could not have come soon enough.
Civilized people do so want the world to operate in a civilized, rational and peace-loving manner, we almost cannot comprehend when countries are overtly belligerent, hateful, threatening, and warlike. But we haven’t any choice, that is how the world truly is, and we must accept it for what it is, not what we want it to be. Iran has been an enemy state since they attacked our embassy in 1979 and took our military and civilian personnel hostage and held them for an year. They have never changed their posture towards us, and we have never exacted payment for this act of war against us.
The president now is at a disadvantage as our own intelligence agencies speculate that Iran is no longer a threat and that their nuclear program is discontinued. In the court of public opinion, where so much of this war of civilizations plays out we are now on the defensive having to justify our defensive posture and strong language and ramping up of rhetoric and pressure against Ahmadnijad. We have put our friends in Israel also at a disadvantage. Our unified position against an aggressor state broken.
It seems unlikely that Iran is no longer a serious threat to the United States and our friends. It seems highly likely to me that they are continuing their war against us, and keeping their ongoing nuclear efforts closely guarded. In 1982 Israel destroyed Saddam’s nuclear research facility at Osirak. The world heaped criticism upon them and condemned them. Nevertheless, they were right. Israel has a right to defend itself, as do we.
We must not let our guard down vis a vis Iran. They have made threats that must be taken at their face value as serios and deadly threats. Israel must defend itself, and we must never allow such a country as Iran with stated intentions of our destruction to acquire nuclear weapons.
On September 6th Israel attacked a Syrian facility and destroyed it deep inside that country. There was very rapidly a dearth of information from either Israel or Syria as to why the attack occured and the raid’s target. Soon speculation started pouring in from analysts around the world, even from the NYT that Israel had destroyed a partially complete Syrian nuclear reactor. Some called the site a bomb plant,a cache, a facility, but all agreed that it was a nuclear site. The silence about this attack both from Israel and Syria and the Arab world in particular is deafening. For Israel, discussing the attack is not important - only that it was successful. For Syria admission that the had an active nuclear weapons program would show the world that the threat is real, and that Israel is justified. For now the silence continues, but when it breaks and the world is shown that the Muslim/Arab dictator bomb is not a myth but a reality will the civilized societies of the West unite against this horrific threat?
Iran and its looney dictator is making great propaganda strides and political hay with this gift basket dropped on their laps just in time for the Christmas holiday. The Iranians believe that this NIE vindicates their obviously false claims that their nuke program is for peaceful purposes only. This is a great propaganda victory for them. The NIE does in no way prove anything but that no active nuclear weapons “program” has been found definitively yet by US intelligence agencies. However, these same agencies admit that Iran continues uranium enrichment efforts whose results will likely mean the creation of a nuclear weapon when that “program” is complete. The word “hood-wink” seems apropos here. A “program” doesn’t exist, apparently because the intel agencies can’t find one, but the “program” of uranium enrichment continues? This entire scenario is completely illogical and plays into the hands of the Iranians who will hold the world hostage with their nukes the moment they acquire them. And before that day, they may well give them to their surrogates so that Israel can be attacked. This is a massive public relations disaster for American and Israeli efforts to contain Iran’s overtly belligerent and nuclear ambitions. 1984 is 2007, December 4th to be precise with “Big Brother” apparently somebody else’s Little Brother!
Because we don’t know for sure, because the NIE represents a “best guess” approach, we are obligated to continue investigating so that definitive proof of the existence or absence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program is found. Our stance should be strong and, despite the empty assurances of this NEI we should assume that Iran continues its nuclear gambit and when they acquire the bomb, they will hold the world hostage. We should work with Israel and all of our friends around the world publicly and secretly to thwart the acquisition of nuclear weapons by any group or country that works for and promises our destruction as does Iran. To do anything else would be folly.
An Unpleasant International Relationship in Which Orwell’s 1984 becomes Reality.
by Daniel Mallock, BookFolks
Our hypocritical sham relationship with Saudi Arabia is a national shame. As an illustration of an ally one could do little worse than Saudi Arabia in their relations with the United States. A relationship of desperation on our part if ever there was one, this double-speak “friendship” is both desipicable and dangerous.
Having the largest oil reserves on the planet makes Saudi Arabia an important trading partner, a critical partner in fact. But is their hysterical brand of Wahabism which encourages anti-Democratic and pro-Jihadist ideas beneficial to anyone but our enemies? It is certainly no benefit to us, their nominal “friend”. Can a friendly country be truly friendly when they support philosophies that seek our destruction?
A recent abomination of a “legal case” from Saudi Arabia shows the massive abys that exists between that country and our own society. In this case, a young woman and her male friend were abducted and gang-raped by ten men. The rapists were all given light sentences of several years in prison - this is appalling enough but most eggregiously the woman victim is also to be punished - with 200 lashes no less!! What kind of twisted justice can suggest that punishment of victims is a reasonable or rational response to a crime? The United States has been very critical of the Chinese government over the years for their human rights failings, their harsh treatment of the Falon Gong cult (which showed their political muscle by staging a 10,000 strong sit-down strike in front of Communist Party headquarters in Peking in April of 1999 which stunned the Chinese government), and many other reasons. This conflict between Chinese policy and American ideals has brought us close to direct conflict on several ocassions most recently when China captured one of our aircraft, and held 24 of our personnel hostage just prior to 9/11. This incident is little discussed now but it illustrates the very heightened tensions that exist between the two mega powers of the world ocassionally whose concepts of justice, morality, and good conduct are so different. And yet, in the face of this appalling miscarriage of justice and obvious abuse of human rights, our government remains silent!
Yet where are our “Women’s Rights” groups? Where is NOW? Where are the feminists who should be shouting daily from the rooftops of the country about the abysmal conditions for their sisters in Saudi Arabia? If you do a search on the NOW website you’ll find articles on this subject, but this is not the classic feminist activism that we used to see on issues closer to home, say about the “glass ceiling” and how unpleasant (in their opinion) American men can be. Why aren’t American and European feminists and human rights folks out in the streets shouting and demanding reform in Saudi Arabia?
Our fake ally Saudi Arabia are actively opposed to America on the one hand while gladly selling us their oil on the other. Saudi involvement in terror activities according to one analyst “is indisputable”. Even after 9/11 when Saudi killers killed our countrymen we continue to go on as if nothing is wrong. But so much is wrong.
If the Saudis want to have a society that we consider anti-thetical to our own, that is their business, but we ought to let them know that we aren’t pleased. And here we go right back to the original point - Saudi Arabia sits on top of the largest oil reserve in the world. Because we need their oil, we can say and do little to influence them, or effect change. Can there be a more frustrating American relationship with a foreign power than this?
Why do we continue to be hostages in this farcical and ugly relationship? Where are our great chemists announcing a replacement for fossil fuel? Where are the great inventors with their solutions to the alternative energy enigma?
Many voices have spoken on this and related matters. Michelle Malkin and many other conservative writers have discussed this issue of our fake friendship with our most important oil supplier. Daniel Pipes, a leading thinker and writer on Middle East relations wrote a particularly insightful piece called “The Scandal of US-Saudi Relations”. Pipes is correct, our relationship with Saudi Arabia is indeed a scandal, but alas we can do nothing because we so desperately need their oil. We are like a country of crack addicts desperate for crack, and we will do anything and say anything and accept any insult or violence upon us if only the supply of crack is uninterrupted.
Our Relationship of Weakness Comes with a Very High Price
Slowly, our national spine is diminished. Our need for oil, the foundation of our national economy, overrides our morality, ethics, and better judgement so that CNN can state the following disgusting news that “Shying away from criticism of key ally, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called the case and the punishment ’surprising’ and ‘astonishing’.” Punishing a gang rape victim is just surprising and astonishing to our state department?? What happened to American outrage, spine, vigor?? When do we end this national soul destroying addiction to oil and the high price in treasure and national character that goes with it?? Rapid development and deployment of alternative fuels and a replacement for fossil fuel oil is nothing more than a patriotic duty. America has the greatest chemists in the world - let’s them show their “stuff”!
Even presidential candidate Clinton (much to her credit) now joins the building outcry against this Saudi crime against a victim of crime describing it as an “outrage”. This pronouncement may likely be the bravest moment of her political career. As a conservative it is almost painful to have to suggest such a thing, but… well done Hillary! All of our political leaders across the spectrum should condemn this travesty and cruelty. The fact that as of this writing only Hillary Clinton has spoken out loud and clear on this matter is another illustration of our political spinelessness.
A society flush with money (from us, of course) but not burdened with a humanitarian or democratic foundation is an out of control society. This deep confusion of justice, this fallacy of our fake ally must end. Speak the truth! This case is not about any form of “justice” that we Americans could acknowledge as such.
Justice for the Victim of Gang Rape - In Saudi Arabia She’ll Get 200 Lashes
In the court “proceedings” against the unfortunate rape victim, a judge said to her,”You were involved in a suspicious relationship and you deserve 200 lashes for that.” There is no reason, no morality, and no ethics that can explain this bizarre and abhorent approach to justice. But then again, these folks are our “friends” and we need their oil. It is long past time for a serious change in the way our “friendships” work and far past the time to end this slavery to oil in which we are all victims.