Toujour's Prey

2003-04-11T23:10:00.000-04:00

Ignorance of U.S. history called threat to security -- The Washington Times

Widespread ignorance of American history among students and teachers at high schools and colleges is a major threat to the nation's security, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author David McCullough told a Senate panel yesterday.

"We are raising a generation of people who are historically illiterate" and ignorant of the basic philosophical foundations of our constitutional free society, the past president of the Society of American Historians said.

"We can't function in a society if we don't know who we are and where we came from."
Mr. McCullough said a group of high school students was asked if they could name the American Revolutionary War commanding general at Yorktown when British Gen. Charles Cornwallis surrendered. "More than half guessed Ulysses S. Grant. More than 6 percent said it was Douglas MacArthur. They were guessing," he said.

"Why is it important if you don't know the facts about Yorktown? It means you have no idea it was the last battle of the Revolutionary War — the longest war in our history except the Vietnam War. Why is it important to know who George Washington is?" he said. "If it hadn't been for George Washington, we wouldn't have won the Revolutionary War. Without George Washington, we wouldn't have the Constitution that we have and we wouldn't have the presidency that we have."

2003-04-08T22:01:00.000-04:00

Colonel T.R. Fehrenbach, by way of Phil Carter

"Americans in 1950 rediscovered something that since Hiroshima they had forgotten: you may fly over a land forever; you may bomb it, atomize it, pulverize it, and wipe it clean of life--but if you desire to defend it, protect it, and keep it for civilization, you must do this on the ground the way the Roman legions did, by putting your young men into the mud."

2003-04-08T21:37:00.000-04:00

Stanley Kurtz

When you take a good hard look at the reality of the Democratic party's position on the war, it is exceedingly difficult to imagine entrusting the safety of this country to the opposition. If you accept the logic of the current conflict, it is difficult to see how the Democrats can be trusted with power. Even a bellicose and overly optimistic democratizing neocon is reformable (or at least controllable). Nancy Pelosi and her constituents are not.

2003-04-07T18:29:00.000-04:00

THE SECRET WAR By RALPH PETERS

Much has been written about the seismic effects this war will have on the cruel, moribund states and societies of the Middle East. And we are, indeed, rewriting the region's future.

But we will soon be able to rewrite its past, as well. Access to Iraqi intelligence archives and the interrogation of high-level prisoners will enable us to reconstruct the secret history of the Middle East over the past 35 years.

The secret police, diplomatic and executive archives will hold information on all the region's secret deals, as well as on the private lives and personal corruption of virtually every leader, cabinet member and senior military officer throughout the Middle East. The psychological effects of our access to those archives and to former regime officials anxious to tell all will be even greater than the practical information we accumulate.

No Arab leader will know what was or wasn't in those files. Each will have to fear the worst. President-for-life X will always have to wonder what we know as we sit across the negotiating table.

The destruction of Saddam's regime will result in the greatest intelligence coup in history.

2003-04-07T17:46:00.000-04:00

Victor Davis Hanson on Iraq

These are difficult times of jarring, instantaneously broadcast images of friendly fire, civilian casualties, the tragic deaths of brave journalists, accidents, and wrongheaded analyses of discredited politicians and pundits. But if we keep our heads, stay true to our values, and persevere in our military mission, we will get through this final stage fine — and have done a great and rare good both for us and millions abroad.

2003-04-06T17:42:00.000-04:00

The Calgary Sun
France's largest corporation, TotalFinaElf has huge interests in Iraq's oilfields. Total's biggest single shareholder is Montreal's Paul Desmarais, whose youngest son is married to Chretien's daughter. Desmarais Sr., is also a director of Total, along with other ranking members of France's establishment. It's hard to believe the Desmarais/Chretien families haven't discussed their investments in Total, and Total's investments in Saddam's Iraq.

2003-04-05T18:41:00.000-05:00

USS Clueless

What will be revealed about the horror of life in Iraq will more than justify the war. There have been fragmentary stories already, which hint at revelations to come. It seems that every town in Iraq had its own chamber of horrors, which people disappeared into and only screams emerged from. It will eventually become clear that the Baathist regime in Iraq will rank with the Khmer Rouge as among the most brutal and barbaric governments of modern times.

2003-04-05T13:52:00.000-05:00

Translator reaches out as an unofficial ambassador

By DENNIS O'BRIEN, The Virginian-Pilot

© April 1, 2003

NASIRIYAH, Iraq -- He is one of the most-wanted men in town.
He is Lance Cpl. James Tillmans -- full-time Arabic translator, part-time U.S. ambassador to Iraq.
Every time this company of Marines comes across a suspicious Iraqi or discovers a stash of documents, the call goes out for Tillmans.
``Get the translator up here!'' Capt. Greg Grunwald yells into the radio several times a day.
And up rolls Tillmans' four-man translation team in their specially designed intelligence-gathering vehicle -- with ``Jolly Roger'' written in Arabic on the side. Tillmans says he interviews between 30 and 40 Iraqis a day.

2003-04-05T09:05:00.000-05:00

UNION JACK 'PROTECTION

"The troops want British flags for identity purposes to ward off US planes," Charles Ashburner, managing director of United Flag Traders, told the newspaper.

"We had a load of them (British troops) in before the war and they seemed more scared of the Americans than the Iraqis. They didn't want them just for show - they wanted them for protection," he said.

"After all, they are killing more of our boys than the enemy," he added.

Friendly fire, isn't. How many allies can America really count on? Not enough to be killing them by accident. The American way of war values aggressivenesss, independence, and delegation of authority to the commander on the scene, consequently we have a higher tolerance for blue on blue casualties than the other forces with which we share the battlefield. We do not burn our trigger pullers when they screw the pooch because we want them to keep pulling those triggers, but we gotta do something to keep from whacking good guys. My solution: require the commander of the individual who put the ordnance on the friendlies to go to that unit and ritually amputate a finger and put that finger in a little box and formally present it to the friendly unit commander.

2003-04-02T21:08:00.000-05:00

Prouder Than Ever

The decency, the humanity, the intelligence, the sheer raw competence and training of American soldiers conducting the most technologically complex military campaign ever conducted is simply dazzling. This is about which the world should be experiencing true shock and awe.

2003-04-02T19:00:00.000-05:00

BBC NEWS | Europe | French plea as cemetery defaced

The defaced Etaples cemetery is one of the biggest in northern France. Around 11,000 fallen British soldiers are buried there. It lies near the site of several wartime hospitals.

2003-04-02T18:53:00.000-05:00

First Baghdad, Then Paris

"Rest in Peace", we say. R.I.P. adorns many gravestones. Thousands of English-speaking soldiers who died in France to defend it, or to liberate it, apparently cannot rest there in peace. Their very presence is resented; cold and silent, drawing no breath, they speak loudly and deliver a message that the French do not want to hear, against which there are no arguments.

They bear mute testimony to the fact that the French could not defend themselves. Because of their presence and their inability to speak, they puncture French pretensions to greatness. They represent irrefutable proof that the French have had to rely, again and again, on us for salvation, but we have not had to rely on them. In the last 200 years, no English speaking nation has ever required French help to defend itself.

Tens of thousands of Aussies and Canucks and Yanks sleep forever in the cold soil of France. But there are no French military cemeteries in Australia or Canada or the US.

For this crime, for speaking the truth about French weakness and decline so eloquently by not making a sound, not even our military dead can be tolerated; the French must lash out and punish even those who gave everything they had for France.

Our war dead have been targeted because they can no longer fight back.
There can be no greater demonstration of the blackness of the French soul than this desecration.

2003-03-31T20:38:00.000-05:00

NEALZ NUZE

To many on the left, victory over the Republicans in 2004 is more important than victory over Saddam Hussein in 2003. They know that a coalition victory in Iraq will strengthen President Bush. Another feather in the cap of a Republican president is too great a price to pay for many on the left for a liberated Iraq. Democrats are watching the polls carefully. When their pollsters tell them the time is right, that Americans are weary of the losses and the war, they will most certainly turn on President Bush with relish. They're just waiting for the right moment. Most of them, that is. There are some eager-beavers like Charles Rangel who are already out there saying that American troops are being sent to Iraq to "kill women and children."

2003-03-31T19:02:00.000-05:00

How tankers have fun with reporters

2003-03-31T18:15:00.000-05:00

Battlefield Europe

Think of France as a kid who loves and knows basketball -- how to dribble, shoot and make plays as well as anybody in the world -- but who stopped growing at 5 feet, 5 inches. France loves the game of power politics, and it wants to play in the big leagues, but it's too short for prime time. France hopes the European Union will grow into a superpower that, under French leadership, will challenge the U.S. for world leadership.

A pro-American EU is France's worst nightmare.

2003-03-31T17:34:00.000-05:00

France is Not a Western Country Anymore

Six million Muslims live in France, at least ten per cent of them are radical Islamists poised on the edge of violence. And these radical Muslims have allies on both the extreme Left and the extreme Right. France is not a Western country anymore, it is now the leader of the Arab/Muslim world. Israel has to know France is its main enemy. The United States has to understand they have nothing to expect from today's France except nastiness, treason, and cheating.

2003-03-31T17:26:00.000-05:00

David Horowitz

The war in America’s streets is not about "peace" or "more time for inspections." It is about which side should lose the war we are now in. The left has made crystal clear its desire that the loser should be us. Even if the left had not made this explicit, a "peace" movement directed at one side makes sense only as an effort to force that side to retreat from the battle and lose the war. Which is exactly what the Columbia professor said. If this is patriotism, what is treason?

2003-03-30T17:28:00.000-05:00

Eject! Eject! Eject! HISTORY

Today we are at War. The future is dark and filled with uncertainties. We are at a time of great peril and momentous decisions are being made by the hour. We know history is being written before our very eyes. No one knows how things will turn out – only history will know.

Yet history can often show where we are going by showing where we have been, in the same way that a ship’s wake extending to the Southern horizon is a sure sign of a Northward course.

This is really profound. Read the whole thing.

2003-03-30T13:22:00.000-05:00

The Command Post Op/Ed- A Warblog Opinion Collective

Iraqi paramiltary feces fired machine guns at fleeing civilians in Basra as America waited for demonstrators to flood the streets in protest of the atrocities.

And waited.

Despite their legendary, even mythical concern for Iraqi children, ANSWER, CAIR, NION and the rest remained silent. For once.

However, other groups of dedicated young activists vowed to show their concern by holding violent counter-demonstrations. These violent, shadowy groups go by various names, including the "British 7th Armored Brigade" and the "335th Expeditionary Fighter Squad".

Basra City-councilman Bob Muhammed said "I may not agree with these protestors' point-of-view, but I'll defend their right to say it." He was immediately taken outside and shot.

2003-03-30T12:58:00.000-05:00

Victor Davis Hanson

Have these people any intelligence or shame?

2003-03-29T21:55:00.000-05:00

Garofalo To Be Lowered Into Shredder

President George W. Bush today issued a fatwa on actress/comedian Janeane Garofalo, calling on "all noble Americans to hunt down the godless dog Garofalo and bring her to me alive." Bush then pressed a button on a large industrial plastic-shredding machine behind him, into which a pair of Secret Service agents slowly lowered a futilely struggling lamb hooves-first. "This is the fate of all who oppose me," Bush intoned over the grinding of the shredder and the anguished shrieks of the gradually dismembered animal.

2003-03-27T20:08:00.000-05:00

The Lemon ! -- Anti-War movement warns of "Dangerous Quagmire".

-- Leaders of the anti-war movement announced Tuesday that as the war progressed in Iraq, the movement was headed into a "dangerous quagmire". Angela Hassle-Moore, leader of a recent protest march stated, "We have lost our focus. What are we really trying to accomplish here? Are we fighting for the U.S. to stop the war after it has already started? Are we trying to get another recount of the 2000 election? Are we just bitching and moaning?" Angela added, "If we don't know what our goals are, how will we know if we've won? How many more of our best and brightest youth must throw away their free afternoons and weekends on this hopeless cause?" LOL

2003-03-27T19:48:00.000-05:00

So who can be called pro-war? -- Thomas sowell

Those who do not understand what an ongoing price has to be paid continuously to remain free are not only quick to balk at any costs they have to pay or any restrictions they have to endure, they are also quick to attribute cheap motives to those who have the responsibility to make the hard decisions required to protect us from the dangers that the blind refuse to acknowledge.

2003-03-27T19:24:00.000-05:00

Ann Coulter

American forces have taken two-thirds of Iraq and are fast advancing on Baghdad. Thousands of Iraqi soldiers have surrendered or disbanded, thousands more have been captured, and thousands more have been killed. Meanwhile, American forces have suffered less than two dozen deaths. One can gauge the success of the war by the increasingly gloomy expression on Dan Rather's face. Indeed, Saddam's lieutenants are so demoralized that they have turned to lashing out at the Jews. Saddam's Vice Despot Tariq Aziz says the war is being fought only to "create something called greater Israel." Aziz seems to be positioning himself to run for Congress as a Democrat.

2003-03-27T19:10:00.000-05:00

United Press International: Marines pull feint, lure enemy into trap

"OK, are we having fun yet? I know it's miserable, but we're all in the same boat. Keep your spirits up, keep your guard up," 1st Sgt. Bill Leuthe of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines told troops as he moved down the line of armored tracks carrying his charges.
"I know it was cold last night, but so what. Heat up for MRE's, guys.. It will hit the spot."

2003-03-26T22:09:00.000-05:00

Why Some Americans Blame America

So, you weak and cowardly protesters, as you exercise your constitutional right of free speech; and you Hollywood useful idiots, as you eagerly showcase your Grand Canyon-size stupidity; and you despicable, lowlife Democratic senatorial bastards: When you criticize our president in this time of war for cheap political positioning, remember how your words of dissent cut the hearts and souls of the parents of our brave soldiers who just sacrificed their sons and daughters for your ungrateful but safe and free asses.

2003-03-26T20:00:00.000-05:00

TCS: Glenn Reynolds - New Class Challenged

. . .anti-Americanism, and the various manifestations of . . .Transnational Progressivism, are most common among people who, well, have state-supported managerial or intellectual jobs, the people who made up . . . the "New Class" of bureaucrats and managers in the old Communist world. Not surprisingly, the New Class was deeply concerned with matters of status and position, and deeply opposed to things that might have led to competition on merit. There's nothing new about such a view, which predated communism: . . . it's an attitude that even in the nineteenth century was characteristic of anti-capitalists and anti-semites - and, nowadays, there's a lot of overlap between anti-capitalists, anti-semites, and anti-Americans.

A common thread among anti-semitism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Americanism is the fear of being outdone by people willing to work harder. It's not surprising that such a fear exists among a disproportionate number of those who take state-supported jobs. It's thus not surprising, then, that New Class sensibilities are so often anti-American and anti-capitalist, and increasingly (or perhaps I should say, once again) anti-Semitic, too. The New Class, in this regard, as in many others, is like the old haut-bourgeoisie.

2003-03-25T21:58:00.000-05:00

NO 'BAGHDAD BLOODBATH' By RALPH PETERS

Once the last die-hard Saddamites are corralled in Baghdad (and, perhaps, in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, a city that just brings out the nuclear side of my character), we're going to work 'em like history's biggest cat batting around a blind, three-legged mouse.

2003-03-24T19:15:00.000-05:00

WINNING BIG By RALPH PETERS

We're winning, the Iraqis are losing, and the American people have executive seats for what may prove to be the most successful military campaign in history.

2003-03-23T22:00:00.000-05:00

MISSION STATEMENT

For those of you that chat on Yahoo, go check out the profile for toujour_pret1836 and you will better understand my mission. It's French, meaning "Always Ready," and I am always ready to Coulterize Liberal/Leftist/Socialist/Collectivist/Marxist-Leninist/DemocRAT Friends of Saddam. The War On Terror is being fought in all dimensions; land, sea, aerospace and cyberspace and I am a self-appointed, unpaid Homeland Defense counter-psyops volunteer, seeking high quality cut & paste material for your use in confronting and defeating the America-haters who adhere to our enemies, providing them aid and comfort. Please feel free to use whatever you find of value here in your own battles against the seditionists and Fifth Columnists who infest the political and current events chat rooms and discussion forums.

2003-03-23T15:13:00.000-05:00

CHEM ROUNDS FOUND IN AL KUT

Can you count to 10, clever Hans? Somebody is going to get slimed. I pray the casualties are light, and they can pull the unit out and do a deliberate decon. That would be the worst kind of hell to be forced to continue the mission with VX all over everything. If they slime us we would be justified in nuking them, if we can find a suitable target.

2003-03-23T14:34:00.000-05:00

WE HAVE BEEN INFILTRATED

A US Army engineer soldier chucked those grenades into the 1st Bde/101st ABN Div TOC last night. The soldier's name is Asan Akbar. This dumbass has really screwed hundreds of good troops with dark skin and Muslim-sounding names. Wonder if Akbar ever met Muhammed the DC Sniper?

2003-03-23T12:49:00.000-05:00

RUSSIANS SELLING JAMMERS AND NIGHT VISION DEVICES TO IRAQ.

Get in line, Putin. We'll get to you.

2003-03-23T12:16:00.000-05:00

HAS THERE EVER BEEN A GREAT POWER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD THAT AGONIZES OVER POWs LIKE WE DO?
Al Jazeera TV has shown footage of American soldiers, including a female, being interviewed by their captors, in violation of the Geneva Convention. Some of the prisoners apparently were executed.

We have fought savages before (see Comanches, Apaches,.Sioux, Moros, Japanese, North Koreans). War is hell. There WILL be war crimes trials at the end of this war. I hope they hang 'em, firing squad is an honor they don't deserve, and lethal injection too prissy.

2003-03-22T05:36:00.000-05:00

Unless You're The Lead Dog, The Scenery Never Changes

FOX News has been showing me the back of an M-113 Armored Personnel Carrier with a big 02 on the ramp. They just recently got out of the desert sand and got up on the hardball (paved road). I can almost smell his diesel exhaust. These video phones are amazing. This is like watching police chase videos. These video phones serve much the same purpose as the camcorder on the dash. I didn't think much of this embedded journalist business. I was wrong. This is brilliant. The whole world is watching. Everybody with a TV has gone to war. WE are riding on that track. That is OUR column motor marching to Baghdad. Never before in the history of warfare has the civilian population been connected this intimately with its defenders. God, I am proud of them, and damn I feel old.

2003-03-22T04:40:00.000-05:00

3rd Brigade — 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) Used to be called the 197th Infantry Brigade. The $1.97. Bite the bullet. Keep an eye out for 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor (1/A/2-69 AR) and a tank with the bumper number A-21.

2003-03-22T03:27:00.000-05:00

The Iraqis are certainly acting as if they are headless
By Mark Steyn

Whatever happened in that bunker on Thursday morning, the Iraqis are certainly acting as if they're headless. In a tyranny such as Saddam's, local commanders are careful not to show initiative. They do what they're told and, if they're not told, they do nothing. That seems to be what's happening in much of Iraq.

2003-03-20T05:48:00.000-05:00

NYPOST.COM Post Opinion: Oped Columnists: THE WAR THAT WILL CHANGE THE WORLD By RALPH PETERS

Europe is the continent of words; our world is one of action. We are shaping tomorrow, while those who mock us cling to discredited yesterdays. Our instincts are good, our motives are sound and our standards of behavior are the highest in the history of nations. Who shall lead the way, if we do not?

2003-03-17T18:03:00.000-05:00

Marine Predicts Brief Bombing, Then Land Assault (washingtonpost.com)

CAMP COMMANDO, Kuwait, March 16 -- Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, who commands more than 85,000 Marines and British troops poised to attack, said his force would target Iraq's 51st Mechanized Division with 130 fighter jets and about 75 attack helicopters, then rush in on the ground to seize southern Iraq.

Conway told his troops not to worry about peace protests at home, pointing to a poll showing that 71 percent of Americans want to get the Iraq situation resolved now. "When we invade Iraq," he added, "that'll go up to 91 percent. And you know how I feel about it? Piss on everybody else."

2003-03-16T13:56:00.000-05:00

How Worried are Democrats on the Eve of Possible War?

Imagine you're some Democrat Caucus-goer in Iowa. Here's how you think: If things turn for the worse -- that is, if Saddam falls quickly -- we Democrats are screwed. If the war goes 'well' -- lots of U.S. casualties, planeloads of body-bags, quagmire in Baghdad, etc -- we Democrats have a shot at the White House next election. If the war goes 'badly' -- U.S. troops hailed as liberators, Saddam swiftly defeated, dancing and singing in the streets of Baghdad, victory rallies in New York, Chicago and L.A., etc. -- we Democrats will have an awful lot of 'splaining to do.

2003-03-16T12:33:00.000-05:00

How to Deal with a Peace Protestor:
1. Listen politely while this person explains their views. Strike up a conversation if necessary and look very interested in their ideas. They will tell you how revenge is immoral, and that by attacking the people who did this to us; we will only bring on more violence. They will probably use many arguments, ranging from political to religious to humanitarian.
2. In the middle of their remarks, without any warning, punch them in the nose.
3. Then the person gets up off the ground, they will be very angry and they may try to hit you so be careful.
4. Very quickly and calmly remind the person that violence only brings about more violence and remind them of their stand on this matter. Tell them if they are committed to a nonviolent approach to undeserved attacks, they will turn the other cheek and negotiate a solution. Tell them they must lead by example if they really believe what they are saying.
5. Most of them will think for a moment and then agree that you are correct.
6. As soon as they do that, hit them again. Only this time hit them much harder. Square in the nose.
7. Repeat steps 2 - 5 until the moron realizes the futility of such a philosophy."

2003-03-16T09:34:00.000-05:00

Sgt. Stryker's Daily Briefing: War Archives

This is a story told by Army General Tommy Franks, Commander in Chief of Central Command.

I ended a recent operations briefing for a lot of our folks over there (in Afghanistan) by discussing some of their morale issues. I related to them about a recent tour I had with the American Ambassador when we went around inspecting all of our Marines deployed in their fighting positions.

I reminded all of the assembled officers that Marines live in holes and don't have a house to live in like 'heavy forces'. No tanks or lots of tents to sleep in. They carry their 'house' on their back and they live infighting holes. Although the Marines had just lost a buddy (in a Humvee accident), their spirit was 'uplifting'.

A question posed by the Ambassador to a Marine drove this point home. The Ambassador asked a young Marine private sitting in his hole, "How is it here?" The Marine answered, "Kind of like the beach without water, Sir."

The Ambassador then asked, "If you could get something, what would you like to have?" I related to all of our folks assembled there in front of me that most of us would have answered, a hot meal, a cot, a hot shower, but this Marine private said, "I could use some more ammunition, Sir."

OO-rah! Semper Fi! Carry on.

2003-03-16T07:48:00.000-05:00

Battle Island

You don't wanna let us use the bases WE built to protect YOUR asses? Fine. Screw you. We'll just build us an island off your coast and to hell with you.

2003-03-15T21:16:00.000-05:00

ROBERT TEESDALE

we fight, some, there, now, or we will have to fight much more, here and there, later.

2003-03-14T00:02:00.000-05:00

USS Clueless - Playing Old Maid

It's important to make clear what the issue really is. This isn't about whether there's going to be war in Iraq; that's beyond dispute. We are going to attack; we're going to win. Everyone knows it. Equally, there's no way that the UNSC will formally approve a new resolution to authorize that war, which means that when we do so, the UN will be finished as an important international body. So none of the wrangling is about those issues.

What the struggle really has been about is who's going to be blamed for destroying the UN, and who will politically dominate the EU. The French are trying to set us up for killing the UN. They want both the US and UK to take the blame. That's because the French are trying to create the European Union as a diplomatic and economic power opposed to the US, which is sufficiently big to actually represent a "counterweight" to the US, because they fear our currently-unmatched economic and political and military power. The French are deeply nervous about a unipolar world; they want to unite Europe against the US.

2003-03-11T22:18:00.000-05:00

Our World-Historical Gamble

The modern liberal world system has permitted the growth of power in the hands of those who have not had to cope with reality in order to acquire this power: it has simply been given to them, out of the sense of fair play prevalent among Western liberal societies. Iraq was paid for its oil, which in return paid for its weapons - and both were produced by us, to be used against us. But this, tragically, has had the unintended consequence of diminishing the value of the sense of the realistic in the eyes of those who have thus acquired their power and wealth - a fact just as much in evidence in the behavior of Saudi Arabia as in that of Iraq. It is the re-enactment, on a world-historical scale, of what has been done by many well-meaning Americans in the case of their own children - by giving them so much, we have robbed them of that indispensable sense of the realistic that can only be achieved by the head-on collisions with the irremovable object called the real world. We have nourished their fantasies, instead of forcing them to face the facts of life.

2003-03-08T18:01:00.000-05:00

Oliver North

For reasons that have escaped most Marines, the Pentagon has provided press credentials to a significant number of foreign journalists. Unfortunately, many of the international media appear to have an overt hostility to the subjects they are covering.
One female correspondent from a European news service was overheard asking -- or was it telling -- one of the Marines that she had "never seen so much bravado, machismo or arrogance" in her life. The young NCO listened and appeared to mull over her grievance before replying, "Yes ma'am, that's why they call themselves U.S. Marines."

2003-03-08T17:57:00.000-05:00

Charles Krauthammer

Iraq has stretched our military, political and diplomatic resources to the limit. The only alternative policy is to temporize, to make a series of concessions to North Korea as a way to buy time.

2003-03-08T03:23:00.000-05:00

Neo-sovereignty

We cannot control the proliferation of mass destruction weapons without a single center of power that is prepared unilaterally and without consultation to protect the world's now existing monopoly of such weapons. But since no classical sovereign nation can possibly become such a center of power either through freely given consent or through conquest, this means we either go back down the ladder of civilization or else we go another step up it-and this next step is neo-sovereignty.

2003-03-07T19:17:00.000-05:00

Britain's role is crucial in next stage of war on terror - Iran

The war on terror is not simply about destroying the Taliban and taking down Saddam; it is a far more complex operation. The President has carefully set about action in ascending order of difficulty. First the Taliban. Then Saddam. Then the next step, Iran - the world's leading financier of terror. North Korea will be left to China to deal with, with Mr Bush making clear to China that, if it does not take its responsibilities seriously, Japan will be given nuclear weapons.

2003-03-07T19:06:00.000-05:00

USS Clueless - Deadly mushrooms

World War IV began on September 11, 2001. And like the other three world wars, this one will be fought everywhere on the planet and will involve most of its nations and peoples in one way or another before it's through.

al Qaeda is an enemy, but it is not the true source of danger to us. al Qaeda is like a deadly mushroom; it sprang up and killed some of our people. But mushrooms come from a buried bed of mycelia, from hidden rot. You can get rid of mushrooms when you see them, but as long as the mycelia mass is still there, others will appear.

Now that we have made the transition to being willing to fight this war, again because of a direct attack on us, we will not just fight against the individual group which was responsible for that attack. We will work on eliminating the overall danger which faces us. In this case, that means not just getting rid of mushrooms; it means eliminating that mycelia from which they spring. For if we remove the al Qaeda mushroom, more like it will spring up and kill more of us. Now that we're fighting, we have to fight to really finish this war so that we don't have to fight it again.

The real enemy in this war is the rot in Arab culture. It is because they are failures, and know that they're failures, but blame us for it and have started lashing out.

2003-03-04T19:13:00.000-05:00

OpinionJournal - PEGGY NOONAN

This is the Democratic paradox: You want so much to run America and yet you seem not so fond of Americans.

This is long, but good.

2003-03-03T20:55:00.000-05:00

AndrewSullivan There is a solid and passionate base among many blue-staters that opposes this war at least in part because they oppose George W. Bush. At some point in the last few months, in fact, being anti-war clearly became a defining cultural moniker for an entire sub-population. Almost the whole academic class, the media elites, the college-educated urbanites, the entertainment industry and so on are now reflexively anti-war. Worse in fact: there is very little argument or debate going on in these sub-populations, simply an assumption that war against Saddam is wrong, and that all right-thinking people agree about this. Obviously, the polls suggest that this sub-population is not a majority, but they are a powerful and increasingly angry minority. If the war hits snags, they will redouble their efforts to humiliate the president. I don't think their anger will be abated if the war goes well either. They will merely find a new reason to hate Bush.

2003-03-02T10:21:00.000-05:00

Real Clear Politics -- Commentary

Even the most ardent antiwar types admit Hussein is a liar, human rights abuser and violator of international law - which is why they choose to shift the focus back to the real target of their animus.

The left's blind hatred of George W. Bush has many roots (he's a moron, a cowboy, a corporate shill , a bigot, he stole the election, etc), but collectively it runs so deep both at home and abroad that it compels them to ascribe to the President - against all history, logic and evidence - the most cynical and scurrilous motives for action in Iraq. These range from oil to a personal vendetta to world dominance and imperialism. They say the President is the one who is lying, the one hiding things from the public, the one manufacturing evidence against Hussein.

Certainly, a reasonable case against action in Iraq can be made - though I don't think it can be made honestly without addressing the possible costs of inaction. Yet very few on the left actually argue against Bush's policy, instead they argue against the man.

And they do this for two simple reasons. First, it's always easier to attack the person than to attack the underlying merits of their policies. Second, ever since Bush's popularity skyrocketed after September 11, the left has a vested interest in diminishing his personal stature.

At home, Democrats are desperate, not to find a way to insure Hussein's full and complete disarmament but to energize their base to win an election. Hence the incredible array of cognitively dissonant rhetoric from major Democratic party candidates and officeholders.

In Europe, France and Germany have for weeks been going to extraordinary lengths to stem Bush's (and Blair's) influence around the globe. This includes throwing NATO into a crisis and now, even as we speak, contemplating the public repudiation of a resolution they both signed onto just four short months ago.

As with most debates, trust is a critical component of whether you are swayed by someone's argument. The left doesn't like George W. Bush, and they don't trust him. And to an unfortunately large number of those on the left, that's pretty much all that matters

2003-03-02T10:07:00.000-05:00

Jonathan Rauch --Social Studies

The public perceives Democrats as less capable and trustworthy than Republicans on national security. That's the bad news. The worse news is that the perception is grounded in reality.

2003-03-01T22:42:00.000-05:00

The Arab/Muslim Nazi Connection
Fascinating read. Arafat is related to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.

2003-03-01T12:48:00.000-05:00

Sizing up the Iraqi army

Good intel here.

2003-02-28T21:27:00.000-05:00

R. Emmett Tyrrell

A sizable proportion of the politically committed in America today are not propelled by principle or by fact but by the deep emotional satisfaction, indeed the peace of mind, that they derive from beating hell out of an opponent.

The wellspring of American politics, at least Democratic politics, is contempt -- contempt for the wretches who call themselves Republicans.

Democratic activists are not fetched into the peace movement by the cool rationality of the United Nations or humane sympathy for Saddam. They just cannot stomach a protracted alliance with the Bushies.

2003-02-25T19:45:00.000-05:00

Winds of Change.NET: Follow-Up: Protecting Soldier's Kids

The true evil of the Anti-American Left is that they see America as evil and anything they do to oppose it as virtuous.

2003-02-25T18:53:00.000-05:00

Peter Beinart -- Wall Street Journal

The activists in the Democratic Party -- the people who stuff envelopes, attend caucuses and breathe life into presidential candidacies -- loathe the coming war with Iraq. Their natural suspicion of American military power, already far greater than the public's as a whole, has been exacerbated by deep mistrust of the Bush administration and horror at the explosion of anti-Americanism around the world. The Democratic base is as hostile to this war as Republicans were to Bill Clinton during the struggle over impeachment.

2003-02-24T16:57:00.000-05:00

How Insidious Political Correctness Can Be

As the brilliant black social critic Shelby Steele observes, there is in this country a pervasive “adherence to good racial manners,” which dictates, among other things, that on matters of racial sensitivity blacks hold the moral upper hand; and that even when whites feel themselves blameless, the appropriate response to such a challenge is to defer, retreating in sober self-reflection, if not outright apology. In fact, for an increasing number of us, this is a key part of the problem—and one that should be called by its rightful name: condescension. Far from helping us address the many morally complex and deeply divisive issues involving race, it has the opposite effect of silencing those who question the liberal orthodoxy and otherwise cutting off meaningful dialogue.

2003-02-23T21:06:00.000-05:00

Battle of Aiken hit by storm, campers injured

2003-02-23T20:43:00.000-05:00

Flame War In The Macon Telegraph

Published Monday February 10, 2003

Aiding The Enemy

Mr. Simpson asked in Thursday's Viewpoints: Why do those who support a war in Iraq call those who do not support it unpatriotic or un-American? Since when has dissent become traitorous? Well, our country is at war, and efforts to impair, impede, obstruct and degrade your country's war effort aid the enemy. The forces have been committed. Everything that happens now affects their ability to succeed. Dissent divides the home front, demoralizes our troops and offers hope to the enemy that America will be paralyzed and unable to fight.

"Pacifism is objectively pro-fascist," George Orwell wrote in 1942. "This is elementary common sense. If you hamper the war effort of one side you automatically help out that of the other."

2003-02-23T20:34:00.000-05:00

Flame War In The Macon Telegraph

Published February 12, 2003

Not a fascist country

I read with concern the letter written by Mr. Burger about being an aide to the enemy if you are not pro war. In other words, if you are not for the state, you are an enemy of the state.

It sounds as if he had better move to a fascist country very soon so he could be treated more to his liking. While he's at it, he may want to read up on his history. The last I heard, we have freedom of speech in this country.

Douglas Pennington

Lizella

2003-02-23T20:21:00.000-05:00

Flame War In The Macon Telegraph | 02/17/2003 | Viewpoints for Monday

Mischaracterization

I read with amusement the letter written by Mr. Pennington Wednesday mischaracterizing my remarks Monday on aiding the enemy. There is no requirement to support the war. Just don't think you can without challenge "Blame America First," cast aspersions upon our commander-in-chief's motives and work to preserve your country's enemies. In other words, given two opposing forces, one that retards the progress of one advances the other.
Don't be anti-war and pro-Saddam and surprised when your patriotism is questioned. That this simple logic escapes Mr. Pennington does not surprise me.

It sounds as if he had better move to France, Germany or Belgium very soon so he could be with his fellow travelers.

2003-02-23T19:34:00.000-05:00

Flame War InThe Macon Telegraph | 02/19/2003 | Viewpoints for Wednesday

A lowered IQ

In consecutive letters to this page Mr. Burger has twice invited Mr. Pennington to leave the state because he doesn't share Burger's belief in the infallibility of the commander-in-chief.
Often the level of debate on these pages sinks to the level of school-yard shouting matches. And it is always someone who isn't mature enough to actually debate the issue who resorts to name calling (Burger calls Pennington "pro-Saddam") and seems to think it ever so witty to suggest that someone they disagree with move to another state or country.

What these people fail to realize is that if everyone who disagrees with them left the state there would be no one in the state with an IQ above the speed limit.

Jim Sandefur
Lizella

2003-02-23T19:32:00.000-05:00

Flame War In The Macon Telegraph | 02/21/2003 | Viewpoints for Friday Truth's not their friend

Mr. Sandefur of Lizella stated Wednesday that I have twice invited his long-time companion Mr. Pennington, also of Lizella, to leave the state. He is incorrect. I have only suggested that Mr. Pennington relocate once. I did not call Mr. Pennington "pro-Saddam." I encouraged him not to be "pro-Saddam." The truth is not an insult, although it is often painful, which is perhaps the reason these gentlemen use it so sparingly. To quote French President and Weasel-in-Chief Jacques Chirac, "they missed a good opportunity to keep quiet."

Still unrefuted is my original contention: efforts to impede our war effort aid the enemy; that which retards one side advances the other. In this coming campaign there are only two sides: on the one side stand Saddam, bin Laden, Kim Jong Il and the Axis of Evil; on the other President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, and the coalition of the willing. When you stand with one, you necessarily stand against the other.

2003-02-23T19:26:00.000-05:00

A Flame War In The Macon Telegraph | 02/23/2003 | Viewpoints for Sunday I'm not laughing
While the inane ramblings of Doug Burger are good for a laugh, I'm not laughing at his referring to a person I don't know and have never met as my "long-time companion" just because that person also lives in Lizella. If Burger is implying what I think he is, then I hope he will come out to Lizella and say that to my face.

Jim Sandefur
Lizella

2003-02-20T19:10:00.000-05:00

David Limbaugh

While these antiwar types in America recoil with feigned outrage at the suggestion they're anti-American, when is the last time you heard them praising America? I'm waiting ... Regardless, most of them are useful idiots – useful to Saddam, that is, and idiots if they don't realize it or don't care. But the organizers of the protest care, and they do know what they're doing.

2003-02-19T21:26:00.000-05:00

Thus Spake The Maharushie

When the shooting is over – and it will be over quickly – the world will discover that George W. Bush was 100% right about everything he has been saying about Iraq and Saddam Hussein. I'm going to predict something else too. I fully expect Saddam to destroy some more missiles so that the anti-war crowd and the doves and pacifists can say he's cooperating. He's not cooperating; he's stalling. He's buying time. They're going to have orgasms over this, they're going to think the inspectors are really working, but it's all going to be a show. Eventually, we're going to go in there. I don't know when, but it has to be relatively soon - and the aftermath is the key.

. . . If we go in there and find exactly what Bush has told us is there, or even worse, you can forget whatever is happening now. You can forget whatever PR battles you think are being won or lost. The left worldwide will have been totally 100% discredited, defeated, and destroyed, and it will take them two generations to recover.

This will be the outcome, don't you worry, because Tony Blair would not be staking his whole career on this if he were not certain of what we're going to find when we go in there, and that George W. Bush was doing the right thing. You can track every president or administration that has responded to a public protest march, correspond that administration's success at war, and find abject failure. Bush and Blair are not going to listen to these protestors, and history will prove them correct.

2003-02-17T18:24:00.000-05:00

Jeff Cooper's Commentaries: Vol. 11, No. 2

If one is to hold a war, Mesopotamia is an ideal place to hold it. If you wreck the place very little will be lost.

2003-02-17T17:07:00.000-05:00

Chuck Morse -- The Nazi Background of Saddam Hussein

Read this. Saddam's uncle who is also his father-in-law participated in a failed pro-Nazi coup in 1941, and Saddam hung out with a fugitive from the Nuremburg War Crimes Trials.

2003-02-17T16:52:00.000-05:00

David Horowitz

Today's "peace" movement -- the innocent-intentioned along with the malevolent rest -- is a fifth column army in our midst working for the other side. Already their leaders have warned that if the United States remains determined to oppose this totalitarian evil and stay its intended course, they will act within our borders to "disrupt the flow of normal life" and sabotage the war. This is ultimately the most ominous threat Americans face. Abroad we can conquer any foe. The real danger lies at home.

2003-02-17T16:20:00.000-05:00

Neal Boortz

The US led action against Iraq has given new life to every half-assed communist, socialist, collectivist, anti-capitalist, one-world government, anti-business, anti-free enterprise, mindless anti-American appeaser of tyrants throughout the globe … and it gave no small amount of comfort to Saddam Hussein.

The demonstrators over the weekend fell into one of five categories:
-- The aforementioned socialists, Marxists and their left-wing fellow travelers.
-- Those who hate America and want to see American influenced weakened .. no matter what the consequences.
Supporters of Saddam Hussein and radical Islam
-- Teenagers and young “adults” who don’t know what they don’t know. Uninformed myrmidons at that magic age when they know everything and have the answers to all of the worlds problems.
-- True pacifists would wouldn’t raise a fist to protect their own children.

Hating the United States is the in thing right now throughout Europe. They know that America is the only superpower left, and they also know that their security depends of America’s military might. America is also rich. The standard of living enjoyed by the so-called “poor” in this country rivals that of the average European. Human nature dictates that this reality breeds envy Dependence on the one hand, envy on the other. It’s a sure-fire recipe for resentment and hatred. Here, my friends, is the motivation for many of those anti-war demonstrators you saw on Saturday.

The main organizers of these marches, both here and overseas, were Marxists, socialists, Islamic groups, environmental radicals, anti-globalizations activists, and an organization dedicated to freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Muslim convicted of killing a Philadelphia cop in cold blood .. execution style.

These Marxists, socialists and free-Mumia nutcases want to see America weakened. They know that if they can force America to back down in its efforts to rid the world of Saddam Hussein and liberate the people of Iraq, America will lose influence in world affairs. That, my friends, is exactly what they want. Why stand by and allow a country that embraces an economic system they so despise influence the international political and economic agenda? Many of them aren’t protesting to keep Saddam strong so much as they are to make America weak. The bastion of capitalism and free enterprise weakened .. a Marxist-socialist dream come true.

2003-02-16T20:18:00.000-05:00

The End of Appeasement Bush's opportunity to redeem America's past failures in the Middle East.
by Max Boot

America was strong in resisting Soviet designs on the region but weak in the face of Arab nationalism and Islamic extremism. Indeed, the United States usually sought to make common cause with Arabs and Persians against the Soviet Union. This may have been a sound short-term strategy--it did contribute to the defeat of the Evil Empire--but its unintended long-term consequence has been to leave behind a poisonous legacy of anti-Americanism, despotism, and corruption that poses a stark challenge to the 21st-century world.

2003-02-15T14:03:00.000-05:00

How They Do It And Why - Paul Walfield

Overall, the Left seeks a unified planet, no super power, no rogue nations, and no borders. Everyone living in harmony and dancing with unicorns. On the surface, a noble cause. Unfortunately, there are no unicorns.

2003-02-14T21:00:00.000-05:00

The Real Lessons From North Korea

Today we are faced with a cold, hard fact: North Korea is almost untouchable because the CIA estimates that Kim Jong il has as many as three enriched uranium atomic bombs. These bombs are believed to be something on a par with the Hiroshima “Little Boy” and the Nagasaki “Fat Man.” Such bombs may be small and primitive by today’s standards to be sure, but they are still capable of ruining your whole day. If one of those “devices” were to be set off in Seoul, Tokyo, Okinawa, or even Anchorage and Honolulu, casualties would run into the hundreds of thousands. We have to assume that the CIA does not know the exact whereabouts of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. This is what makes them virtually untouchable; deterrence works on the United States.

2003-02-09T10:43:00.000-05:00

If Not Now, When?

Pacifists never want to oppose evil. They can’t even recognize it — except in hindsight. They grudgingly admit that especially horrible evil may be opposed with force if absolutely necessary. But these examples are always in the past.

Pacifists in the 1930s opposed rearmament, despite the rise of Hitler, pointing out that no Genghis Khan was at the gates. Pacifists in the 1980s opposed rearmament, despite the growth of the Soviet empire, pointing out that no Hitler was on the horizon. Pacifists today oppose rearmament, despite the rise of global terrorism, pointing out that the Soviet empire is no more.

Pacifists recognize evil only when it’s too late, and somebody else has fought and bled to destroy it. That is, pacifists are mere spectators in the struggle between good and evil, and often they cheer for the wrong side.

2003-02-05T13:32:00.000-05:00

Aid & Comfort to the Enemy

The buzzing of peace activists will not deter us in this war, I believe, because they represent a fringe minority view. They are out of touch with most Americans who fully support the war on terrorism and will come to support military action against Iraq should we go there.

The demonstrators have, like the Vietnam War protestors, given aid and comfort to Saddam Hussein and the terrorists. While the U.S. and U.K. military build up near Iraq is sending one very clear message – lose the weapons of mass destruction or face this formidable military force – the demonstrators are sending an equally clear (to them) message that we lack the political strength and will to carry through with our military threat.

The great irony of the anti-war movement is they would surely not be tolerated in the very countries they try to protect. Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea and China would simply crack them over the head or shoot them the minute they hit the street in protest.

The peace activists have the freedom and right to protest against U.S. military action precisely because the U.S. military they so hate has successfully fought tyrants and evil empires throughout our history.

2003-02-01T20:09:00.000-05:00

Carol Johnson: Emuse - Message To The Democrats

You have become the Haven of Celebrities; you elect self-righteous, power-hungry hypocrites like Hillary; and your current pool of 2004 front-runners reads like a Who's Who list from Losers R Us. But that's not the worst of it. You don't seem to understand that the vast majority of Americans support the War against Iraq. That we see the quibbling re: the UN Resolutions for what it is. You cannot see the threat that Iraq poses? Where have you been for the last decade? The best you can come up with is parodying the damn French and demanding 'more proof'. One can only conclude that it is because you feel you have to oppose the Republicans on war because they are Republicans -- and this lame reason is the best you can devise.

2003-01-30T21:17:00.000-05:00
NEALZ NUZE
Here’s a scenario that sends Democrats diving under their beds. Bush launches the military action against Saddam. Soon after the first cruise missiles strike their targets one of two things happens. Either (a) Saddam flees into exile and the Iraqi army throws down its arms; or, (b) Iraq’s army refuses to fight and some of Saddam’s advisors take care of their most vexing problem. American armed forces move into Saddam to restore order and to stand guard over the orderly transition of power to a new Iraqi regime. Within weeks our armed forces do what the Inspectors haven’t done; they find vast stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons and the hard evidence of a nuclear weapons program. They also find incontrovertible evidence of connections between Saddam and Al Qaeda terrorists. The American people, even those who opposed the action, come to the realization that Bush was right, and that he has quite possibly saved America from further terrorist attacks.

2003-01-25T19:59:00.000-05:00
USS Clueless - Sweet scent of early delivery
"Bush is as unfettered from short term public opinion as it is possible for him to be. It doesn't matter right now how much support he has; all that will be important is how much support he has in 18 months, during the 2004 election campaign.

2003-01-25T14:44:00.000-05:00
Who Pays For These Demonstrations?

We know who stands behind International A.N.S.W.E.R.: the mindless totalitarians of the WWP. Who stands behind them? Americans have a right to know, and if these phony peaceniks really desire respectability, they should be willing to publicly account for their financing, especially for air travel and hotel hospitality enjoyed while they serve as camouflage tourists in states committed to terrorism.
There can be no place in the United States for "peace" activism bought and paid for by the evildoers.

2003-01-23T23:07:00.000-05:00
Crossing The Line
Something to keep in mind, as we move towards the war with Iraq. Two presidents -- Clinton and Bush -- have asked for authorization from Congress to go to war with Iraq and received it. Both political parties voted to give the president the authority to fight. The President has sent 150,000 troops to the Middle East, who are now in harms way. In sum, the war process has already begun. The American people through the democratic process have authorized it. The forces have been committed. Everything that happens now affects their ability to succeed. To actively oppose America's war effort at this point in time is to show contempt for the democratic process and the will of the American people.
It is worse. It is to divide the home front and to offer hope to the enemy that America will be paralyzed and unable to fight. It is to strengthen our enemies and increase their ability to hurt us at home and abroad.
To attack in extreme and malicious and mendacious terms the credibility of the United States by claiming -- as demonstrators on Saturday did -- that America is a terrorist state, that "the Axis of Evil is Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld," that America's motivation is oil, that Iraq is innocent -- is to provide war propaganda for the enemy whose only result is to sap the will of the American people, to make it more difficult to defend themselves and the world at large from the mass murderer in Baghdad. To volunteer to go to Baghdad and obstruct America's war effort is to join the other side.

All of these manifestations of hostility to America's war are not dissent but a form of treason. To actively oppose a democracy in the midst of a war is to betray its people and to stab its military in the back. Those who do it are despicable. Those who defend them are at best confused and at worst their cowardly allies, who share their hostility to America but haven't the guts to admit it.

2003-01-23T21:02:00.000-05:00
The Anti-war Movement: Socialists by Any Other Name
It is a fair and reasonable assertion that none of the estimated 100,000 protesters that marched on Washington, D.C., voted for Republican candidates in the last election. What is more disturbing, given the extreme anti-Americanism and, in most cases, sheer stupidity on display this past weekend, is that many of these protesters have found a home in the present Democratic Party.

2003-01-22T05:47:00.000-05:00
WorldNetDaily: Dems expose impotence on national security The Dems are in danger of simply becoming irrelevant to American politics because they are incapable to dealing with national security.

2003-01-21T21:04:00.000-05:00
Davis Horowitz, FrontPage magazine.com
The so-called "peace movement" today is led by the same hate-America radicals who supported America’s totalitarian enemies during the Cold War. They marched in support of the Vietcong, the Sandinista Marxists and the Communist guerrillas in El Salvador. Before that they marched in behalf of Stalin and Mao. They still support Castro and the nuclear lunatic in North Korea, Kim Jong-Il. They are the friends in deed of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. They share a common view of America as the "Great Satan." They believe that it is America – not tyrants like Saddam Hussein – that inflicts misery and suffering on the world. The targets of the 9/11 terrorists were Wall Street and the Pentagon. These were the targets of American radicals long before.

2003-01-19T15:54:00.000-05:00
The Trotskeyite Marxist-Leninist long-haired hippy commie pinko fags from A.N.S.W.E.R. & W.W.P.
Transterrestrial Musings
Oh, wait! The light goes on above the head. Now I get it.
It's a very simple algorithm. If the US government is for it, they're a'gin it, and vicey versey. Very reliable predictive technique.
And it tells you all you need to know about this group, and their fellow travelers.
Now here's a question to ponder. Can a group whose basic premise seems to be that the US government under its constitution is the source of all evil in the world, and that all of its initiatives are to be opposed, in a knee-jerk fashion, be said to be in any way patriotic?
Hey, I'm just asking...

2003-01-19T15:37:00.000-05:00
ScrappleFace: 289 Million Americans Avoid Peace Rallies
289 Million Americans Avoid Peace Rallies
(2003-01-19) -- Police across the nation estimate the crowd that avoided yesterday's anti-war demonstrations at about 289 million. Americans from coast-to-coast voted in absentia against criticizing the Bush administration for Iraq's failure to comply with U.N. resolutions.

Anti-anti-war demonstrators gathered in grocery stores, shopping malls and private homes to proclaim their disagreement with protestors marching in the streets of Washington D.C. and San Francisco.

"Going about my regular Saturday routine is my way of saying I disagree with the radical left-wing agenda of the anti-Bush crowd," said college student Melanie Sampson, who spent the day preparing a term paper for a literature course.

Police reported no unusual problems with the droves that stayed away from the protests.

"It was a normal Saturday in America," said one Sheriff's deputy.

2003-01-19T12:51:00.000-05:00
Them vs. U.S.
"It is the fate of great powers that provide order to do so against the background of a world that takes the protection while it bemoans the heavy hand of the protector."

2003-01-18T16:45:00.000-05:00
Interactivist Info Exchange | International Action Center - "Peace Activists" with a Secret Agenda?
Quite long, but fascinating expose of the Trotskyite origins of the American anti-war movement. There really IS a Fifth Column, and these people are part of it. McCarthy was right.

2003-01-17T23:26:00.000-05:00
The "peace movement" isn't about peace
The people of Iraq and North Korea, to pick two random examples, have not been at peace inside their own countries in decades. They share among them hundreds of millions of man-years - and woman- and child-years - of misery, oppression, murder, tyranny, torture, starvation, internal and external terrorism and even slavery, in thrall to the cruel men who ruthlessly rule them.

The wars that these illegitimate governments have waged against their own people and other nations draw not the slightest whimper of protest by "peace" activists, who travel to Baghdad to denounce America and give comfort to the brutal tyrant, Saddam Hussein.

It's past time we understood that western "peace" activists are not interested in peace. They are not for peace.

The two main camps of the peace industry

The Down With America camp - This is the smaller camp active in America. It denounces any and all things American for no other reason than that's what they do. To them America is bad, every place else is good, especially non-European places. (Europe is suspect, but is tolerated because it is no longer religious. One of America's chief faults is that Americans are still religious.) The oppressions and slaughters that people of color regularly wage upon one another is of no interest to this camp except as another thing to blame upon America.

The Political Identity camp - The larger camp is equally uninterested in peace. Its motivation is pure, partisan politics. It is universally liberal to outright leftist, but not pacifist. Its members do not object to war per se, they mainly object to war being waged by the wrong people; their support of or opposition to military force depends almost exclusively on whether their party is the one wielding it.

Together, these two camps comprise the "peace movement" in America today. It is not possible to grant to either camp the courtesy of good intentions. The DWA camp is virulently anti-American, and therefore pro-fascist, pro-tyranny and pro-oppression, all of which are states of war, not peace.The political identity camp sees peace and war through the lens of whether their own political faction holds power. If so, war may be good. If not, war is always bad.

There are no good intentions to be found anywhere among them.

2003-01-17T21:09:00.000-05:00
It's the Regime, Stupid!
The US government made America contemptible by letting Saddam survive the rout of 1991, his people’s revolt against him, economic sanctions, countless bombing raids, and the CIA’s fabled ineptitude, and now by suffering Saddam’s claim to leadership of the Arab world. Almost as contemptible have been all the instances in which the US government has saved the murderous, corrupt, Palestinian Authority from Israel’s retribution, allowed Yasser Arafat to claim, correctly, that US intervention on his behalf was his victory, and then suffered his movement’s role in anti American terrorism. The US government’s failure to act against Arab regimes in response to decades of terrorist acts by Arabs on behalf of Arab causes, its bombing and economic sanctioning of Iraqis who obviously had not done America harm, its fruitless hunt for small fry terrorists, and even cruise missile strikes against a Sudanese pharmaceutical factory, are powerful evidence that enmity against Americans is safe. Contempt is the bite that the jackal inflicts on the stricken or befuddled lion. By earning it, America has given its enemies a cheap, heady, substitute for courage.

2003-01-17T21:03:00.000-05:00
Ann Coulter -- Democrats Beat the Bushes for Another Terrorist Attack
Refusing to conceptualize the idea that terrorists are often foreign-born, liberals take umbrage at the idea of protecting the country at the point of its greatest vulnerability. Welcoming illegal immigrants is treated like a friendly neighbor program. Democrats are reduced to making a series of baseless charges while ignoring the real issues because the real issues would be a threat to their voter base.

2003-01-15T21:28:00.000-05:00
Dr. Alexandr Nemets -- The New Korean Crisis, Part III
"Russia and Red China – the real Axis of Evil – are the puppet-masters of Pyongyang. It is they who have goosed Kim Jong-il to act up like a petulant baby as a way to slow down and distract the focus on Iraq."
Kim is evil, but he is merely a marionette in the hands of Jiang Zemin and Vladimir Putin. Eventually, it is necessary to recognize that the "second front" was created by Moscow and Beijing.

2003-01-15T20:42:00.000-05:00
LEE HARRIS -- Marx Without the Realism: The intellectual roots of America-bashing
America-bashing is anti-Americanism at its most radical and totalizing. Its goal is not to advise, but to condemn; not to fix, but to destroy. It repudiates every thought of reform in any normal sense; it sees no difference between American liberals and American conservatives; it views every American action, both present and past, as an act of deliberate oppression and systemic exploitation. It is not that America went wrong here or there; it is that it is wrong root and branch. The conviction at the heart of those who engage in it is really quite simple: that America is an unmitigated evil, an irredeemable enormity.
This is the specter that is haunting the world today. Indeed, one may even go so far as to argue that this America is the fundamental organizing principle of the left as it exists today: To be against America is to be on the right side of history; to be for it is to be on the wrong side.

2003-01-14T20:34:00.000-05:00
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. -- North Korean scorecard
. . . arms control and similar “processes” cannot genuinely contain a government like North Korea’s. This is not simply because it is difficult to devise and implement effective verification arrangements when dealing with the quintessential closed society. It is inherent in the fact that regimes like that of Kim Jong-Il have nothing but contempt for the rule of law -- and for those who put stock in such concepts. Accordingly, deals struck with such regimes are, by their nature, exercises in Western self-deception.

2003-01-13T20:26:00.000-05:00
To Pyongyang Via Baghdad . . . the most important step President Bush could take to contain North Korea's nuclear ambitions is to end the charade of inspections and speed up the war in Iraq.

2003-01-11T10:33:00.000-05:00
North Korea Goes South
Bush officials have been flirting with the idea of offering North Korea a promise that the United States would never attack it. That is a terrible idea. The words of the government of the United States mean something. To promise not to attack someone who is holding a gun to your head and demanding such a promise is more than a symbolic act reminiscent of appeasement. It IS appeasement. And in the nuclear age it is a particularly bad idea.

2003-01-10T20:51:00.000-05:00
Jonah Goldberg
"Pacifism is objectively pro-fascist," George Orwell wrote in 1942. "This is elementary common sense. If you hamper the war effort of one side you automatically help out that of the other."