Principle of Honor

It should come to no surprise that the man who declared his Presidency would be defined by being a “Uniter not a Divider” and then used every opportunity that presented itself to divide America would spit on the tradition of the Office of the Presidency when traveling abroad.

While I have thought his actions were born of incompetence, I am slowly coming to the realization that Mr. Bush is an evil man.  Not because I disagree with his actions, which I do, but because his motivations are  seem to stem from a desire to promote himself at the expense of the country that he swore an Oath to his God to protect.  Mr. Bush has not only failed to do protect this country, but has actively taken steps to insure that it remain in a vulnerable state in order to deliver himself a second term, and his party political control.

Mr. Bush seems to take delight in surprising his political opponents by taking measures that one would presume would be off limits.  For a lame duck President give a speech on the foolishness of his party’s political opponents proposed tactics or direction they wish to proceed is fairly commonplace.  For a President to do so while addressing a Foreign Government, on Foreign Soil, at the celebration of an Ally’s Memorable Anniversary is contemptible.  For Mr. Bush to invoke the Nazi experience to a Nation that was founded by the survivors of the Horrors of the Holocaust, proves that Mr. Bush indeed has no morals in the pursuit of his Party’s power.

It was a speech that should have negated the message of Bin Laden, who is held as unaccountable for his crimes as it seems Bush is.  Bin Laden used the anniversary of Israels 60th year to legitimize the ideology that Israel is an occupier of Palestinian Land.  As such he and those of his ilk would continue to fight the Israeli’s and of course the Americans.

Mr. Bush who had decided that Bin Laden is not as large a threat to the United States as a weakened dictator in Iraq.  This same Mr. Bush has now deemed that a Democratic President is more dangerous to the United States rather than the enemies that we face.  Perhaps if Mr. Bush pursued Al Qaeda with the intensity that he has sought to undermine the Constitution, perhaps we would not have to worry about being seen as weak for negotiating.

Then again if memory serves me correctly, it was the Cold Warrior Ronald Reagan who tuck tail and ran when Hezbollah attacked a Marine barracks in Lebanon, and was also willing to have negotiations with our enemy the Soviet Union, as well as his Presidential predecessors.  What Mr. Bush fails to understand, concede, or fathom is that by talking you lose nothing.  Now it is true that we should not speak with Hezbollah, or have high level contact with Hamas - but speaking with recognized, if not legitimate, governments opens channels to challenge ideology.

Perhaps the example can be made that the Israeli’s are much like the Iranians themselves, as Israel has a Palestinian population seeking independence, so too does Iran have to deal with a Kurdish population seeking their own independent and sovereign government.  What would the reaction be if Western Powers were to support the Kurdish movement?

The United States has been successful in engaging its enemies.  The successes in Foreign Policy proves this point.  The United States had engaged the Soviet Union politically and via proxy, militarily.  This led to the fall of a system that sought to minimize the individual and suppress the rights of Humanity.  The United States engaged China diplomatically, then economically and was able to call this burgeoning Super Power an ally of sorts.

Mr. Bush has been a catastrophic experience for our country, and has left a tainted mark upon the seal of the President.  It is a shame that as we close in on 8 years of his term, we have yet to witness him being Presidential.  Now it may be to late, but it would be nice if he acted as though he was aware of the Principle of Honor.

Response To a General

So here be the rantings of a crazy General whose support for all things Bush are very amusing.  My rebuttal follows his letter, so ahve fun reading.

BY: JIM CASH, Brig. Gen., USAF, Ret.

I recently wrote about the war in Iraq and the larger war against radical Islam, eliciting a number of responses. Let me try and put this conflict in proper perspective.

Understand, the current battle we are engaged in is much bigger than just Iraq . What happens in the next year will affect this country and how our kids and grandkids live throughout their lifetime, and beyond. Radical Islam has been attacking the West since the seventh century. They have been defeated in the past and decimated t o the point of taking hundreds of years to recover. But they can never be totally defeated.
Their birth rates are so far beyond civilized world rates that in time they recover and attempt to dominate again.

There are eight terror-sponsoring countries that make up the grand threat to the West. Two, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, just need firm pressure from the West to make major reforms. They need to decide who they are really going to support and commit to that
support. That answer is simple. They both will support who they think will hang in there until the end, and win. We are not sending very good signals in that
direction right now, thanks to the Democrats.

The other six, Afghanistan, I raq, Iran, Syria, North Korea and Libya will require regime change or a major policy shift. Now, let’s look more closely.

Afghanistan and Iraq have both had regime changes, but are being fueled by outsiders from Syria and Iran. We have scared Qaddafi’s pants off, and he has given up his quest for nuclear we apons, so I don’t think Libya is now a threat.

North Korea (the non-Islamic threat) can be handled diplomatically by buying them off. They are starving. That leaves Syria and Iran. Syria is like a frightened puppy. Without the support of Iran they will join the stronger side. So where does that leave us? Sooner or later, we are going to be forced to confront Iran , and it better be before they gain nuclear capability.

In 1989 I served as a Command Director inside the Cheyenne Mountain complex located in Colorado Springs, Colorado for almost three years. My job there was to
observe (through classified means) every missile shot anywhere in the world and assess if it was a threat to the US or Canada . If any shot was threatening to
either nation I had only minutes to advise the President, as he had only minutes to respond.

I watched Iran and Iraq shoot missiles at each other every day, and all day, for months. They killed hundreds of thousands of their people. Know why? They were fighting for control of the Middle East and that enormous oil supply.

At that time, they were preoccupied with their internal problems and could care less about toppling the west. Oil prices were fairly stable and we could not see an immediate threat. Well, the worst part of what we have done as a nation in Iraq is to do away with the military capability of one of those nations. Now, Iran has a clear field to dominate the Middle East, since Iraq is no longer a threat to them. They have turned their attention to the only other threat to their dominance, they are convinced they will win, because the US is so divided, and the Democrats (who now control Congress and may control the Presidency in 200 have openly said we are pulling out.

Do you have any idea what will happen if the entire Middle East turns their support to Iran , which they will obviously do if we pull out? It is not the price of oil we will have to worry about. Oil WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE to this country at any price. I personally
would vote for any presidential candidate who did what JFK did with the space program; dec lare a goal to bring this country to total energy independence in a decade.

Yes, it is about oil. The economy in this country will totally die if that Middle East supply is cut off right now. It will not be a recession. It will be a depression that will make 1929 look like the “good-old-days”. The bottom line here is simple. If Iran is forced to fall in line, the fighting in Iraq will end over night, and the nightmare will be over.

One way or another, Iran must be forced to join modern times and the global community. It may mean a real war - if so, now is the time, before we face a nuclear Iran with the capacity to destroy Israel and begin a new ice age.

I urge you to read the book “END GAME” by two of our best Middle East experts, true American patriots and retired military generals, Paul Vallely and Tom McInerney. They are our finest, and totally honest in their assessment of why victory in the Middle East is so important, and how it can be won. Proceeds for the book go directly to memorial fund for our fallen soldiers who served the country during the war on terror. You can find that book by going to the internet through Stand-up America at www.ospreyradio.us or www.rightalk.com.

On the other hand, we have several very angry retired generals today, who evidently have not achieved their lofty goals, and insist on ranting and raving about the war. They are wrong, and doing the country great harm by giving a certain political party reason to use them as experts to back their anti-war claims.

You may be one of those who believe nothing could ever be terrible enough to support our going to war. If that is the case I should stop here, as th at level of thinking approaches mental disability in this day and age. It is right up there with alien abductions and high altitude seeding through government aircraft contrails. I helped produced those contrails for almost 30 years, and I can assure you we were not
seeding the atmosphere. The human race is a war-like population, and if a country is not willing to protect itself, it deserves the consequences. Nuff-said!!!

Now, my last comments will get to the nerve. They will be on politics. I am not a Republican. And, George Bush has made enough mistakes as President to insure my feelings about that for the rest of my life. However, the Democratic Party has moved so far left, they have made me support those farther to the right. I am a conservative who totally supports the Constitution of this country. The only difference between the United States and the S outh American, third world, dictator infested and ever-changing South
American governments, is our US Constitution.

This Republic (note I did not say Democracy) is the longest standing the world has ever known, but it is vulnerable. It would take so little to change it through economic upheaval. There was a time when politicians could disagree, but still work together.
We are past that time, and that is the initial step toward the downfall of our form of government. I think that many view Bush-hating as payback time. The Republicans hated the Clinton ’s and now the Democrats hate Bush. So, both parties are putting their hate toward willingness to do anything for political dominance to include lying and always taking the opposite stand just for the sake of being opposed.

JUST HOW GOOD IS THAT FOR OUR COUNTRY?
In my lifetime, after serving in uniform for Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Ca rter, Reagan, and Bush I have a pretty good feel for which party supported our military, and what military life was like under each of their terms. And, let me assure you that times were best under the Republicans.

Service under Jimmy Carter was devastating for all branches of the military. And, Ronald Regan was truly a salvation. You can choose to listen to enriched newscasters, and foolish people like John Murtha (he is no war hero), Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Michael Moore, Jane Fonda , Harry Reid, Russ Feingold, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy, and on-and-on to include the true fools in Hollywood if you like. If you do, your conclusions will be totall y wrong.

The reason that I write, appear on radio talk shows, and do everything I can to denounce those people is simple. THEY ARE PUTTING THEIR THIRST FOR POLITICAL POWER AND QUEST FOR VICTORY IN 2008 ABOVE WHAT IS BEST FOR THIS COUNTRY. I cannot abide that. Pelosi clearly defied the Logan Act by going to Syria , which should have lead to imprisonment of three years and a heavy fine.

Jane Fonda did more to prolong the Vietnam war longer than any other human being (as acknowledged by Ho Chi Minh in his writing before he died). She truly should
have been indicted for treason, along with her radical husband, Tom Hayden, and forced to pay the consequences.

This country has started to soften by not enforcing its laws, which is another indication of a Republic about to fall. All Democrats, al ong with the Hollywood elite, are sending us headlong into a total defeat in the Middle East, which will finally give Iran total dominance in the region. A lack of oil in the near future will be the final straw that dooms this Republic. However, if we refuse to let this happen and really get serious about an energy self-sufficiency program, this can be avoided. I am afraid, however, that we are going in the opposite direction.

If we elect Hillary Clinton and a Democrat-controlled congress, and they carry through with allowing Iran to take control of the Middle East, continue to refuse development of nuclear energy, refuse to allow drilling for new oil, and continue to do nothing but oppose everything Bush, it will be over in terms of what we view as the good life in the USA.

Now, do I think that all who do not support the war are un-American … of course not. They just do not understand the importance of total victory in that region.

Another failure of George Bush is his inability to explain to the American people why we are there, and why we MUST win. By the way, it is not a war. It is martial law that is under attack by Iranian and Syrian outside influences, and there is a difference.

So, what do I believe? What is the bottom line? I will simply say that the Democratic Party has fielded the foulest, power hungry, anti-country, self absorbed group of individuals that I have observed in my lifetime. Our educational system is partially to blame for allowing the mass of America to be taken in by this group.

To win wars, you must put boots on the ground. When you put boots on the ground, soldiers are going to die. A President must make the war decision wisely, and insure that the cause is right before using his last political option.

However, CONTROLLING IRAN AND DEMOCRATIZING THE MIDDLE EAST IS THE ONLY CHOICE IF WE ARE HELL- BENT ON DEPENDING ON THEM FOR OUR FUTURE ENERGY NEEDS.

-Rebuttal-

The fact that this Gen. now resides in Montana offers a clue to his being out of touch. However his criticism of the Democratic Party is largely misplaced. The dynamic that was existent within the Middle East was that Iraq was the check upon the natural hegemony that Iran is within the region. The area is called the “Persian” Gulf rather than the “Arabic” Gulf for a reason.

While he is correct in the assessment that the war on terror is larger than Iraq it was the neo-cons that decided that settling an old score against an old enemy was more important than the country’s self interest. The build-up to the war was filled with talk of how short the war would have been, and the memories of the immense success in Dessert Storm was very much fresh in the mind of the American people.

It was easier to strike at an enemy that we knew was located, rather than looking for a true threat. This was the political gamble the Bush Administration took, hoping to give Bush the second term his father never received. The proper respect and did not consider unintended consequences. This would include the actions that Iran’s government would take with the United States having a field army in both countries that border Iran.

That would of course be to use their influence within the Shia’ population in Iraq, in order to bog down the US army having to deal with insurgent attacks, which were what the Viet-Con used to great effect in the Vietnam War. This would also consist of the Israeli Military taking preventive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, leading to the current situation where civil war is boiling over once again in Lebanon. Not to mention the “alliance” between North Korea and the Syrian government taking the shape of a Nuclear Facility in Syria.

The war in Iraq has weakened our position because of the damage to both our credibility to the danger that Fundamental Islam does represent to the World. It has also given the Iranian government the benefit of getting rid of a rival that they have faced since the Islamic Republic was founded, and hopes that they may institute such a government in Iraq, and the Middle East.

This was a problem that both parties had a share of, the Republicans for pushing for such an arrogant and misinformed plan, and the Democrats who did nothing to oppose it.

As for “Democrats getting even” so far as hating Bush, it was the Republicans that likened Max Cleland, a man that lost three limbs while serving in Vietnam, to Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, by a man that never served in the military.

The deficiency of the Republican Party, has been their desire to claim Lincoln, but not follow his words, “Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it”. Rather the Neo-Con ideology is that because we are the Super Power we are able to do as we wish.

The situation we face is because of the lack of diligence of the Bush Administration to craft a workable policy, and the weakness of the Republican Members of Congress, who cared more of preserving Republican Unity rather than the Balance of Power that was mandated by the Constitution they claim to wish to preserve.

The Democrats, as seen by Clinton having more legislation passed with a Republican Congress, are much less built for party unity as they are representative of the various diversity that is the United States. It was the Bush Administration’s duty to make not only the case for war, but to make sure the American People would be supportive despite casualties.

It’s Legacy Time People

There comes a time in most everyones life, where they face undeniable facts that they let an opportunity slip away.  The girl that got away, the job that would have been great, the dream career - you sulk for a while, say a few choice words and move on.  It is time for someone close to, and in a private manner tell Hillary that this is her time.

The nomination for the Democratic Party’s Candidate for President has slipped from her grasp.  The question is, with so much of media and the political world having a dislike of her, what to do now.  She has been lampooned as someone who will continue to run for the nomination even on Inauguration Day.

The legacy of this campaign will be of a woman candidate who found one glass ceiling that was unable to be broken.  It will also be remembered for being poorly mismanaged and having an air of entitlement to it.  Both of these reasons are why she finds herself in this condition.

What Hillary needs to do now is to preserve her legacy against those who would seek to do it much more damage, so they can feel better about themselves and their failures during the Presidency of her Husband.  Should Hillary continue to keep the fight and continue to run a campaign against Obama, she will be pointed to as the cause of John McCain’s election to the Office of the President of the United States.

Hillary will be vilified as the cause of the Democratic Party fracture which will be an excuse that will be thrown out, regardless of its validity, as to why Democrats failed to win the White House.  Should that happen her career as a Senator will be placed in great jeopardy and she will have truly carpet bombed a very notable career.

Senator Ted Kennedy can understand the nature of legacies.  He has been a part of the family that has been both romanticized due to the eloquence of the words that his brothers Jack and Bobby spoke, as well as the despicable nature that they were taken from us.  Senator Kennedy launched bids to be in the Oval Office as well, and was met with defeat.  It was then he decided to make his legacy in the Senate, where he has been the lion for social justice and progressive legislature.

It is when the realization that a dream has been destroyed, that the quality of ones self is revealed.  One can become bitter, and vindictive in order to make others suffer in order to soothe one’s own pain.  I call these people Republicans.  Then there are those who see that the moment is greater than them, and while they feel they would do a better job, any movement forward would benefit us, as the policies in place now are not working.

So shape up, cause It’s Legacy Time People