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Iraq, Afghanistan, and Treason:
September 23, 2002:
This is not part of my philosophy. It is about our current ongoing
world situation. It is about war and broken promises. It is about
people who seem to be traitors.
There can now be no doubt in anyone's mind that Bush intends to make war on Iraq. He has cajoled the congress and the American people into supporting him. He has put all other business aside and hammered on his single theme without letup. He had dedicated his whole administration to this phobia about Saddam Hussein. He has, I am sure, several reasons for this concentration on Iraq. Let us not forget that a war with Iraq would misdirect attention away from a failed domestic policy and our failure in Afghanistan.
Err you leap on me, there is one point I want to make immediately. I have said it before, but my critics have forgotten it and will conveniently do so again. The point is, I agree that Hussein has to go. I also agree that Qaddafi and several other oppressive dictators have to go. My argument is about timing, commitments, and resources. That is all it's about.
Nonetheless, we are going to war now. Each day, our administration becomes more and more rabid about it. Two months ago, no one was even thinking about Iraq, because nothing has really changed there, but oh the power or rhetoric from a worldwide public forum. The masses are so easily swayed by it. And, what have we except masses, even in the UN? The world community is caving in. Tony Blair was just the first domino to fall.
Now, the United Nations has fallen to Bush's rhetoric. They have put a lot of pressure on Iraq to comply with weapons inspection. I don't think it will matter. George means to go to war. He will find an excuse before the election. After the election, he will not have the support of congress. No one in that region wants a war. That is why they bullied Saddam Hussein into complying, but Bush won't give up. He has made up his mind. It will not matter what Hussein does. George has to fix up dad's unfinished business.
Now, let's look at broken promises, commitments, and our real unfinished business. I believe one goal of these administration people is to misdirect attention away from our failures. We made war of-a-sort on Afghanistan. We destroyed their government and what was left of their infrastructure. When you destroy a government, you create an implicit commitment. We have an implicit commitment to the Afghani people. In fact, Bush acknowledged that commitment. He promised a Marshall plan to the Afghan republic.
Nothing happened with the Marshall plan that Bush promised to these people because he did not do anything. There was no formal aid forthcoming. As a result, Afghanistan is in chaos. Even with a well meaning bandit chief in charge, nothing good has happened. Drug dealers still rule the countryside. Roving bandit gangs make war on each other and innocent people are being murdered every day. Al-Qaida still operates at will. Even the capital city, with American armed guards, is not safe. Children are starving. Old people are starving. There are no farms being tilled and winter is approaching. We have failed in Afghanistan. The Malthusian shadow is looming over that land.
Now we will make war on Iraq. I have no doubt that our fine American fighting people will prevail. We will be victorious in battle. Iraq will fall. Then we will have another implicit commitment. We will have several millions more of helpless human dependents. Will we keep our commitments to them as well as we did to the Afghans?
If we do not step up to our commitments, we will have won the war and lost the peace. That is what we have done in Afghanistan. We are losing the Afghani people. The Afghan people need wells, farming tools and help in rebuilding their homes. Meanwhile, they desperately need an interim food supply. In a few months, when millions are starving, we will lose those people to another gang of thugs and the cycle will begin again. It seems we should have learned this lesson when we helped them drive the Russians out. When you create and leave a power vacuum, it will be filled. It will not be filled by nice people. It will be filled by strong, mean people.
Since our government has not seen fit to mobilize for World War Three, we currently have very limited resources. With no respect at all due, I will suggest that we begin using our resources to keep the commitments already created, that we refrain from creating additional commitments until we have done that. I will further suggest that we begin to mobilize for World War Three before we plan and implement the next engagement; before it is too late.
Why not leave the strategy and tactics to the generals in the field. The task of the administration is not to plan field strategies and tactics. The task of a leader is to plan and set goals. Our leaders have not done that. We have no domestic policy and no real foreign policy. Telling people to go spend money is not a policy, nor is a vendetta a policy. The most important goal should be to democratize the world and make it safe. That requires a long range plan and a people dedicated to that plan. To be dedicated, we must first have a plan. I do not see one.
Am I being unfair to our government? People will argue that during the crisis of September 11, the people in the current administration behave very well. They responded very thoughtfully, responsibly, and quickly, making good decisions. Thus they are good people who should be supported. I will respectfully submit, everyone that I know of did the same on that fateful date and most of them were not politicking. Almost everyone will behave well in a crisis. There is an enormous body of evidence to support that notion. The measure of a man is not how he behaves in a crisis, it is how he behaves in his day to day business and activities. In that, the administration does not measure up.
I have no objections to fighting this war. I believe it to be the most necessary and most dangerous war we will ever fight. I simply want to win. I believe that to win we must have a plan and execute it systematically with the resources necessary to carry it out. A time of world crisis, is no time for slap and dash methods, nor is it a time for vendettas. It is a time for mobilization, careful planning, and methodical execution. World War Two is the example we should be using.
That is all I currently have to say on Iraq and Afghanistan, but I need to add some thoughts about treason and those six American Yemenites arrested in Lackawanna. From the news reports, it seems they are all American citizens. The reports also indicate that they trained to be Al-Qaida terrorists. One, it seems, admitted as much. The argument in the Detroit arab community seems to be that they are good boys. The training was just and adventure. Boys will be boys, you know.
Sure!
I am not smiling. If the news reports are true, what these "Boys" have done is tantamount to treason. If so, they should hang. I know they will not be charged with treason or hanged. Instead, they are now charged with providing material support to terrorists. The problem is, our founders made treason almost impossible to prove in court. I know why they did that, but I think it is time to change the law. King George has been dead a long time. His ghost should no longer be haunting us.
In another case, Pakistan has handed over Ramzi Binalshibh along with four other suspects to the United States. Here is a guy, we have hard evidence against. We have his recorded braggadocio to a reporter. His own words should be enough to convict him in any court. So let's do it to the max.
I am a patriot and I believe very much in my country. For those
of you who have concluded that I am just an anti-Bush, anti-Rumsfeld,
anti-Ashcroft curmudgeon, that's and easy jump. It just ain't
so. I am an American who believes strongly in law and thoughtful
government. When those guys do the right things, like gathering
evidence before the arrest, I will be the first to support them.
However, when they violate their trust and violate the law as
they have been doing quite regularly, I will not support them.
I will be a very vocal critic. Take it or leave it.
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