California Conservative

First of all — for those of you who have been following “The U.S. Coast Guard and the War against Terrorism” — there will be another installment next week. I want to comment on a recent issue of Time Magazine….

Time recently spun out another piece of misinformation, weaving facts, falsehoods, and editorial together into a convoluted web.
Below please find excerpts from a recent Time article, and my analysis and responses.

From the article “Chasing the Ghosts:”

“Two and a half years since the U.S. invasion, nine months after the election of a government in Baghdad and weeks before millions of Iraqis will vote on a constitution that threatens to further split the country, this is the reality of the beleaguered U.S. mission in Iraq: a never-ending fight against a seemingly inexhaustible enemy emboldened by the U.S. presence, the measure of success as elusive as the insurgents themselves.”

First of all, a constitution “splits the country”? I thought that the purpose of a constitution was to unify the country? The country is already divided by various sects and the purpose of the constitution is to bring them together. Yes, Sunni’s have been resistant, but what about the leading cleric who recently called for putting an end to the death of Iraqi’s? Second, as for the “seemingly exhaustible enemy” the reason that the enemy seems exhaustible is because we have killed hundreds of terrorists, from the neighboring countries, and they keep pouring across the porous borders. And what of the idea of a pullout? Will the murdering terrorists really stop? If you have any doubts, go to Michael Savage’s web site, and look at one of the beheadings of innocent civilians. I viewed two of them, and I wish I hadn’t. It has taken weeks to get the grisly images out of my mind. Yes, I am glad that I now better understand the enemy. These beheadings were the most hideous and gruesome things that I have ever seen. The United States did not start this. George Bush did not create the wound, he only pulled the bandage back to reveal the infection. It is Al-Qaida we are fighting in Iraq, and if you doubt this keep reading.

The article continues…

“For months, the intractability of the fighting and Iraq’s momentum toward civil war have caused a gradual but still manageable erosion in public support for the Bush Administration’s stick-it-out strategy, which depends on training Iraqis in sufficient numbers to take over combat duties and allow U.S. troops to begin pulling out. Senior U.S. officials say it could take a decade to quell the insurgency, with successful withdrawal years away. But the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina and the massive price tag for rebuilding the Gulf Coast have ratcheted up the sense of urgency among lawmakers and some Administration officials about finding an exit strategy.”

So now a natural disaster, and finances determine our national security? How about the exit strategy being, “when the area is secure”? Doesn’t anybody realize that if we pullout now, UNLIKE Vietnam, we will be fighting again, either here or over there? The writer goes on…

“In a TIME poll taken 10 days after the hurricane, 57% said they disapproved of President Bush’s handling of the war; 61% said they supported cutting Iraq spending to pay for hurricane relief. Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita downplays those figures, asking, “What is it worth to avoid another 9/11?” But privately, Pentagon officials acknowledge that the reservoir of public faith in the war effort is running dangerously low. “The issue of American staying power is forefront in our minds,” says a military officer. “Everything has costs.”With the public increasingly unwilling to pay those costs, the U.S. faces hard questions.”

Cutting national security to rebuild New Orleans? If our nation is not secure we may face unnatural disasters that make New Orleans look like a walk in the park! And talk about paying for the War against Terror? What about the 2,000 people killed at the World Trade Center? What about the 1900 killed in Iraq? Isn’t their blood infinitely more valuable than our tax dollars? Should we abort the mission just because we need to tighten our belts a little to continue? Isn’t America still one of the richest nations in the world? What about cutting foreign aid? What about cutting welfare programs? What about getting rid of some of the freebies that create a dependency on the US Government, and hinder the genuine self-reliance our citizens need to develop to succeed? It continues…

“Can political success still be salvaged from an unwinnable military fight after the series of failures (see following story) that have marked the U.S. enterprise in Iraq? How can the U.S. extract itself without compounding the damage done to U.S. interests in the region? After a month in the al-Qaeda-dominated Syrian border region, TIME spent 10 days on the front lines of the war, having lived with U.S. and Iraqi troops as they prepared for the battle of Tall ‘Afar, one of al-Zarqawi’s biggest strongholds and, intelligence officers say, a place where he was detected in recent weeks. Waiting for the Americans were hundreds of hardened local fighters, small bands of foreign zealots and, in the notorious Sarai quarter of the city, a labyrinth of medieval alleyways laced with booby traps and roadside bombs. Two weeks after the start of the offensive, the military claimed more than 200 insurgents killed. But field commanders and top intelligence officers acknowledge that the U.S. is no closer to subduing the insurgents and the threat they pose to Iraq’s stability. Although dozens of al-Zarqawi’s fighters may have died in Tall ‘Afar, the U.S. and Iraqi forces were unable to prevent others from getting away. In its tempo, ferocity and politically compromised outcome, the story of Tall ‘Afar stands as a parable of the dangers, dilemmas and frustrations that still haunt the U.S. in Iraq. Despite the temporary tactical gains made by the U.S.’s 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, the battle refreshes doubts about whether anything resembling victory in this war can still be achieved.”

This line really makes me mad, “unwinnable fight” and “series of failures.” Thanks alot, you pansy reporter! Why don’t you and your cynical buddies get stop sipping your Latte’s, get out of your air-conditioned offices and pick up an M16 of your own and see what you can do! Better yet, let’s just pull out, close our eyes, and hope the terrorists just go away!

Unwinnable war? So now the writers of Time will predict the future for us- and at that according to a liberal, pessimistic worldview? Do they have a crystal ball over there they are consulting? Why don’t they state some mathematical odds of victory/loss, some kind of objective standard to validate a denigrating remark like that? What are the odds of victory? What were the odds a newly formed army and a bunch of militia could whup the Brits in the Revolutionary war? We won that one, didn’t we? Isn’t it true that for every soldier we lose (God rest their souls) we are killing hundreds of terrorists?

Is that analogy a stretch? The American Revolutionary War and the War against Terrorism? Both involve a power across the sea trying to control us, the first by acts of war, violating our rights, and taking our freedoms, security and money, the second by acts of terrorism, and taking our security, peace of mind, our money, and most of all by murdering innocent civilians; including women and children.

Finally, toward the end of the article, we see the words “foreign” and “al-Zarqawi.” That means Al-Qaida. Yes, this is difficult. Yes, more money and blood must go into the battle. But our enemies will not give up, and they will show us no mercy. Al-Qaida declared war on the US under Clinton’s presidency, so this pre-dates George Bush. Also, this will continue after George Bush finishes this term as President.

To balance out the Time article, here’s a little something I found on the web. The lie of the mainstream media is…
1) Terrorists are actually insurgents
2) They are Iraqi citizens
3) They are fighting for their country
4) They are doing it willingly.

In the article below you will see..

1) Terrorists are nothing but terrorists
2) The terrorists are often foreigners
3) They hate America, and are willing to kill Iraqi’s and destroy Iraq in the process.
4) Terrorists kidnap Iraqi citizens, and force them to carry suicide bombs.

Read this article:

Suicide bomber forced to act
Sept. 18, 2005
Release A050918h
Captured suicide bomber forced into mosque by terrorists

BAGHDAD, Iraq – The interrogation of a suicide bomber Sept. 16 revealed to Coalition forces that terrorists allegedly kidnapped, drugged, abused and forced the bomber to enter a mosque with the purpose of killing innocent Iraqi citizens during religious services.

The suspected Saudi expatriate and Iraqi citizen said he was kidnapped from a field near his home by terrorists in early September. The bomber stated he was blindfolded, tied up and placed in the trunk of a vehicle and transported through a series of safe houses before he was forced into the suicide bombing.

“The U.S. medical examination of the bomber is consistent with his story and characterization of his treatment,” said Col. Billy J. Buckner, spokesman for the Multi-National Corps.

The suicide bomber was transported by his captors to a mosque in Tuz, where he was told he would become a good Muslim and go to heaven if he carried out the task. The man said he did not want to enter the mosque before terrorists forced him to. The man then seized the opportunity to run out of the mosque while his captors were not paying attention. The man was apprehended by Iraqi police just moments after another suicide bomber detonated a bomb outside another mosque in the city.

“The kidnapping of this man further demonstrates the desperateness of AMZ and his ability to execute his strategy,” said Buckner. “He knows he can’t win against Iraqi security and Coalition forces and is therefore willing to use innocent Iraqi citizens to further his cause to disrupt the election process and prevent a free and democratic Iraq.”

Don’t be fooled by the mainstream media. This war is winnable — because it must be won, and because our military can win it. Many on the left are nothing but idealists, peaceniks, and socialists- who have this utopian idea that if we stop fighting the terrorists will stop fighting.

This is simply not true.

Cross-posted at RightFielder

This entry was posted on Monday, October 17th, 2005 at 7:33 am and is filed under Iraq, Media, Military. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.