The Right State

If the left in this country can not see what Iran is doing and is planning on doing, they are truly blind. For the last three years liberals have called for the United States to pull the troops out of Iraq. (Whacked out liberals like John Murtha have even proposed re-stationing the troops all the way over in Guam. Obviously he never looked at a map) For the last few years Iran has directly and indirectly interfered in the affairs of Iraq (and denying their involvement) After three years of this constant whining about Iraq by the Democrats, along with their willing accomplices in the MSM, the American people have finally turned against the war. Still, I would imagine a majority of Americans could not even state why the US needs to pull out without regurgitating cut-and-surrender talking in the media. Just the US needs to leave because Katie Couric, Keith Olbermann, or some other liberal talking head said so. These talking points do nothing but hurt America.

Seeing blood in the water, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has come clean with his plans for Iraq.

“The political power of the occupiers (of Iraq) is being destroyed rapidly and very soon we will be witnessing a great power vacuum in the region,” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.

 

“I can tell you there will be a power vacuum in the region. We are ready with other regional countries, such as Saudi Arabia, and the people of Iraq to fill this vacuum.”

“They are trapped in the swamp of their own crimes,” Ahmadinejad said. “If you stay in Iraq for another 50 years nothing will improve, it will just worsen.”

Sometimes I wonder who is quoting whom. If I had someone read me the quote, I don’t think I would be able to tell the difference between quotes from Democrats or from our enemies. That alone should scare all Democrats, but it doesn’t.

Now the Iranian President tells us what he will do when we leave, which is what Republicans have been saying all along. He will occupy Iraq. If you think the Middle East is dangerous now, just wait until Iran takes over. It will make 9/11 look small and insignificant in comparison.

The Democrats have hobbled the President in conducting this war at every turn; from the ‘warrentless wiretaps’ fake scandal, to trying to close down Gitmo, to accusing US soldiers of torture, to….you name it. They have denounced the US and our soldiers here in the US and overseas. They have called our troops murderers (John Murtha). They have called our troops terrorists (John Kerry). They have said that we can not win (Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and others). They have called our troops stupid (John Kerry again). They have railed against the President in a time of war. They have called for a deadline for troop withdrawal. They have done everything they can do to rally the terrorists and demoralize our troops. The simple truth is that the Democrats own defeat. They want defeat for the US in order to make short-term political gains at the ballot box. And then when Republicans call them on it, the Dems say we are questioning their patriotism. And yeah, I guess I am. I will question the patriotism of anyone whose words places greater danger on our troops. I will question the patriotism of anyone whose vile words of hate are used against us by our enemies. I will question the patriotism of anyone who calls our troops murderers and terrorists. And I will question the patriotism of anyone who supports terrorist ‘civil’ rights over the safety of our troops.

Herb Denenberg of ‘The Bulletin, a Philadelphia family newspaper says it most succinctly.

In 2007, we are also in a two-front war against Iran, Syria, and other terrorist groups such as al-Qaida. But we are not fighting back. Instead, we are at best ignoring and denying the reality of what’s happening and at worst waving a white flag (Sen. Harry Reid), denying we’re under attack (ex-Sen. John Edwards) or in appeasement mode (Sen. Barack Obama).
One of the reasons we can be oblivious to the fact that we are under attack is our so-called mainstream media, which I’ve often described as anti-American, anti-military, anti-conservative, anti-Bush, pro-terrorism and pro-America’s-enemies. It deals in biased and fraudulent journalism that is so distorted and one-sided that it denies us a real picture of the world.

My message to Democrats is simple: wake up. Ahmadinejad wants to take over the Middle East and spread hisIslamic Revolution to the world. This will be the first step in a never ending cycle of violence against the West, and it will all begin in Iraq. And to think, all of this would start because of a power vacuum when America leaves too early. So wake up, Democrats! When America’s enemies are delighting in our ‘defeat,’ something is wrong. We can either face our enemies head on, or we can start running. Of course the only problem with running away is that you never know when to stop.

Tags: Democrats, Iran, Iraq, War by Chuck
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The Democrats are so used to rewriting history.  It is truly amazing how they can play both sides of the fence so easily when it comes to bashing the President.  In the aftermath of the report by the Iraq Study Group, the Dems are out in force saying the report was what they were saying all along.

Democrats on Wednesday praised a bipartisan report on Iraq as a step forward, with key senators calling it a rebuke of White House policy.

The newly released report says the United States must change its Iraq strategy to tackle a “grave and deteriorating” situation there that could lead to chaos.

Sen. Carl Levin, the incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, took a jab at the White House.

“The report represents another blow at the policy of ’stay-the-course’ that this administration has followed,” the Michigan Democrat said. “Hopefully, this will be the end of that stay-the-course policy.”

Levin, referring to Democrats’ election victory in November said, “the American people rose up against staying the course in Iraq, because it was not working.”

In the run-up to the mid-term election, the Democrats called for the US to pull out of Iraq or to re-deploy all of which means only one thing: cut-and-run.  How Carl Levin can say that a document, which is pushing for the US to stay in Iraq, could possibly be the same as their position of running away?  The differences between the two positions could not be starker.  The Bush administration called for the US to win (this is a word the Democrats should look up in the dictionary) in Iraq, the Democrats called for the US to leave.  The Iraq Study Group has also called for the US to stay in Iraq. Not quite the same thing.

Then Levin made this incredibly idiotic comment.

“Only a political settlement by the Iraqis can end the violence in Iraq, and the military force that we have there cannot do that for the Iraqis,” said Levin, who spoke after a briefing on the report by its co-chairmen.

Levin was not alone in advocating a negotiated or ‘political settlement.

Democrat Sen. Joseph Biden, who said that although he didn’t disagree with anything in it, he has “concerns about what may not be in the report relating to urging the Iraqis to have a political settlement.”

Today is December 7, the anniversary of the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.  I wonder if President Roosevelt thought about a political settlement with Japan afterwards.  There was not a chance he would have entertained such an  outrageous thought.  If the Roosevelt had advocated ‘a negotiated settlement,’ many in Congress would have called for his impeachment.

There was a time when the Democrats wanted and understood winning.  President Wilson did not want a negotiated settlement in WWI.   President Roosevelt did not want a negotiated settlement during WWII.  But there was a world leader who lauded his efforts at negotiating with Adolph Hitler before the start of World War II and that was Neville Chamberlain.  His position is much like those of in the Democratic Party today.  Give in, cut-and-run, give up and leave.  Chamberlain’s appeasement made Germany that much harder to defeat.  The Democratic plan of leaving, appeasement, and quitting in Iraq would make the extremists that much harder to defeat as well.

Like the Balkins before WWI, the Middle East is the new powder keg of the world.  Added to the mix is Iran and Syria, who are sending, funding, and training terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan.  They are killing our troops, spreading their version of Islamic extremism around the world and creating chaos in a region already on the brink outright war.  These are the people with which the Democrats want to negotiate?

It is impossible to negotiate with Islamic extremists who are trying to kill us.  To negotiate now would be the same as giving up, leaving, or cutting-and-running.  It is too bad that the Democrats are not like their predecessors of the past.  The difference between the two can be tied to one word: win.  The old Democrats knew what the word meant.  The Democrats today believe the word is too divisive to use.  After all, we don’t want to make the terrorists feel bad.  They have feeling too, you know.

President Roosevelt would roll over in his grave if he found out how his party had become the new Neville Chamberlains, always ready to give appeasement a chance.

Tags: Democrats, Iran, History, Iraq, War by Chuck
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What is the US to do with Iran?  We have a two fold problem with the Iranians: continued interference in Iraq and their insistence on building a nuclear program.  The Iranians have been thumbing their collective noses at the world community for years.

In Iraq, using proxies, the Iranians are arming terrorists for the purpose of killing American and British troops is well documented.  Even more alarming is Tehran’s insidious link with Osama bin Laden’s terrorist group by trying to move al-Queda in a direction that is beneficial to them and harmful to the west.

But intelligence officials have been most alarmed by reports from Iran that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is trying to persuade al-Qa’eda to promote a pro-Iranian activist to a senior position within its leadership.

The Iranians want Saif al-Adel, a 46-year-old former colonel in Egypt’s special forces, to be the organisation’s number three.

Al-Adel was formerly bin Laden’s head of security, and was named on the FBI’s 22 most wanted list after September 11 for his alleged involvement in terror attacks against US targets in Somalia and Africa in the 1990s. He has been living in a Revolutionary Guard guest house in Teheran since fleeing from Afghanistan in late 2001.

Alarm over al-Qa’eda deepened yesterday with a Foreign Office warning that the group was determined to acquire the technology to carry out a nuclear attack on the West.

A senior Foreign Office official said that the terrorists were trawling the world for the materials and know-how to mount an attack using nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

Then there is Tehran’s threat to finish its nuclear program.  Despite warnings from the UN not to continue their enrichment process, Iran has rejected all efforts to defuse the situation.

“The Iranian nation is about to take its final step in the nuclear issue,” the official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

The president has previously said Iran would celebrate its nuclear achievements by the end of the Iranian year, which falls in March 2007.

Iran now operates two experimental chains of 164 centrifuges, which can be used to make fuel for power plants or material for warheads

They continue to insist their collection of centrifuges is for peaceful nuclear energy, but the IAEA document many problems with the Iranian nuclear program, like providing access to records and explaining how they acquired highly enriched uranium.

In its latest report on the Iranian nuclear program, the International Atomic Energy Agency, based in Vienna, said Tehran is moving ahead with its efforts to purify uranium while refusing to answer basic questions about its atomic program.

For instance, the report said Iran has failed to provide full access to records needed to confirm its claims in June of having enriched uranium to a level of 5 percent, which is suitable for reactors.

The report also said inspectors have made no progress in resolving the origin of previously discovered traces of highly enriched uranium, which can fuel atomic bombs. In September, the agency disclosed the discovery of the particles on a container from a waste storage site at Karaj, not far from Tehran, but withheld judgment about where the material came from and whether it could be linked to a secret nuclear-weapons program.

Finally, the report said inspectors recently have found traces of yet another unexplained particle — plutonium — on samples from containers at Karaj and is assessing a response from Tehran about its origin. Plutonium, like uranium, can fuel nuclear weapons.  (emphasis added by TRS)

The US can do nothing diplomatically including the placing of sanctions on the rogue regime without the help of the other members of the UN Security Council.  Both Russia and China have been reluctant to provide more than meaningless words.  The problems Iran is giving the rest of the world abounds.  Iran continues to supply the terrorists in Iraq who are killing American soldiers.  Iran is also believed to be trying to acquire nuclear weapons.  And they are providing a safe haven for terrorists and al-Qaeda including two of Osama bin Laden’s sons.

During the Cold War, the struggle between United States and the USSR never came to direct war, although a couple of smaller skirmishes took place (Korea and Vietnam).  The US maintained a wary attitude towards the Soviet Block nations and took steps to block their attempts to spread communism around the world.  This became known as the ‘Domino theory.’  The US took solace in the fact that we stopped communism without having to go to war with the Soviets.  In the same way, we have a struggle against radical Islam in the world today.  While not actively admitting it, the US has engaged in several skirmishes with the Iranians—Iraq, Afghanistan, and the US embassy in Tehran.  We have been at war with them for some time, just not directly.  Iran is one of the countries who is actively supporting and financing much of the terrorist activity in the world today.  With Tehran’s insistence on its ‘peaceful’ nuclear ambitions, the US must be ready for a new Cold War, this time against Iran. A rogue regime with ties to terrorists and has nuclear ambitions is something the US just can not abide by.  They must be stopped, otherwise we may lose a lot more than 3000 as we did on 9/11.

Those who have the time, there is a long but very interesting post on BlackFive in which Subsunk responds to a letter, most likely from an Iranian.  It is a very enlightening post in which Subsunk defines why Iran is not being honest about its enrichment program.  Well worth reading.

Tags: Terrorism, Iran by Chuck
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George W. Bush gave a speech before the American Legion in Salt Lake City, Utah. He started the speech with some of the things he has done for veterans and then continued on why we need to stay involved in the Global War on Terror and how Iraq is a central part of that war. Here are some of the points of his speech as I watched it on Fox News.

President Bush has raised VA benefits by 75% since 2001.

Terrorists are enemies of freedom. They see freedom as a threat to their twisted view of Islam.

Veterans have seen this kind of war before when battling Nazism. This war will be long but will end in the defeat of the terrorists.

We are in a war we did not ask for but a war we can, will, and must win.

Iraq is a central front is the GWOT.

During the cold war we supported Middle Eastern dictatorships who did not like communism. These dictators repressed their people and terrorism was born. Terrorists have killed Americans at the World Trade center (twice), the Marine barracks in Lebanon, Khobar Towers, and the USS Cole. (He listed others) The lack of freedom in the ME made the area an incubator for terrorism. We do not treat terrorism as a law enforcement matter. We will face terrorism there so we do not to face them here in our own country.

Those who harbor terrorists will be on our list.

We will support democracy in the ME (Middle East). All people have the right to determine their own destiny. Freedom is a gift from the God Almighty. Freedom is the antitheses of terror.

We will support freedom and modernization. By doing this we will ensure our children are safe.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban supported and protected the terrorists who attacked us. Within a few weeks we defeated them and helped the people to have democracy. Our enemies saw progress, and fought against it. They attack the free institutions, they will fail. The future of Afghanistan belongs to the Afghan people.

In Lebanon, the UN forced Syria to leave. Hezbollah maintained a government within a government in the south. There they attacked Israel. The world community supported new democracy in Lebanon. Terrorists have no place in a free and democratic Lebanon.

Iran funds, arms and advises terrorists. They have had a hand in Iraq by arming and training the insurgents. They defy the UN. Nations are working together to stop Iran’s nuke program. It is time for Iran to make a choice, but there must be consequences and they must not be allowed to have nukes.

Iraq had an evil regime in Saddam Hussein. He defied UN, hid his WMD program, and shot at US and British planes enforcing no fly zones. Saddam is nowon trial. With the tyrant gone, the world is better off without him. Iraqi people have cast ballots, drafted a constitution, elected a government, in spite of the terrorists. Terrorists want to drive the US out of the ME to impose their dark vision on the ME. They use IEDs and assassinate leaders. Terrorists have failed to stop Iraqi democracy and they will fail to halt America or hinder their resolve.

The US commanders in Iraq say the country in not in a civil war which is only supported by a few people. 12 million voted in the last election. People have come a long way. Prime Minister Maliki says, “Iraqis have tasted freedom and they will defend it.” America is a patient nation as long as Iraq makes the necessary moves towards democracy. PM Maliki can count on the US.

I am giving the commanders a lot of latitude to fight this war. We are training Iraqi soldiers, police, and helping them become more capable. We will defeat the enemies of a free Iraq.

We can not expect immediate success. The American government is determined to help them succeed.

There is a lot of politics in Washington over the war in Iraq. Terrorists from all over the ME have come to Iraq to battle democracy. So much for a diversion. Iraq is central to GWOT. Pulling out now would be disastrous. Doing so would turn them over to Iran, and the terrorists would have new sanctuaries funded by oil. If the terrorists are not defeated there, then we will fight terrorists here in our streets. General Abizade says if we leave, they will follow us back here.

We will not leave until victory is achieved. It will require more sacrifice. And it will be a crushing defeat to our enemies. The world is watching, the forces of freedom will prevail. We have a choice. We can let the ME continue on its course and a generation from now the ME will have even more terrorists and WMDs as well. Or we can turn region into a democracy, a model for the rest of the ME to see, where neighbors do not attack their neighbors, where people have a voice in their government.

I see a day….when democracy will prevail. Freedom is always worth the sacrifice. Victory still depends on the resolve of the American people and patriots who are willing to fight for freedom. Will give our soldiers all the resources they need to accomplish their mission.

The President briefly spoke about Cpl. Adam Galvez which largest and longest applause. This guy is a true American hero. (as a side note, Adam’s brother father said it best, “You either support the war, or you don’t support the troops,” Tony Galvez said.)

This was a great speech the President gave. It was long on substance and short on hype. In brief, he said that Iraq is central to the GWOT, this will be a long war, a war we must win. I hope this new set of speeches President Bush gives this week will wake the American people up to what is at stake: the very security of the United States.

Tags: Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism, Iran, President Bush, Politics, Iraq, War by Chuck
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Is there any wonder many Republicans do not like John McCain?  Laura at the Wide Awake Café says “I’m sure my children grew up thinking that “jerk” meant the rude person who drove his car right into my parking place……..

I have a new definition for jerk now: John McCain.”

McCain claims he is a Republican, but on several occasions he has acted more like a Democrat stabbing his party in the back.

The White House on Wednesday was playing down a remark from Republican Sen. John McCain a day earlier in which he said the Bush administration had misled Americans into believing the Iraq war would be “some kind of day at the beach.”

McCain, a longtime defender of the war, said he still does not believe it’s wise for the U.S. to start withdrawing forces from Iraq, but the administration should have been more forthcoming about the challenges the military would face there.

“I think one of the biggest mistakes we made was underestimating the size of the task and the sacrifices that would be required,” McCain said. “Stuff happens, mission accomplished, last throes, a few dead-enders. I’m just more familiar with those statements than anyone else because it grieves me so much that we had not told the American people how tough and difficult this task would be.”

The problem?  President Bush never made these comments.  He has consistently told the American people that this war would be long and difficult.  McCain is well aware of this fact.  He is playing to the crowd.  When a Republican starts acting like a Democrat, we are all in trouble.  We have heard the same old song and dance from the cut-and-run Democrats for three years now.  It is not any more believable now than it was back then.

McCain is a certified war hero having fought in the Vietnam war.  Consequently he was shot down and spent several years as a POW.  By everybody’s admittance, we did not know what we were getting into when we took over for the French after losing the Battle of Dienbienphu.  Our mindset was formed by the ‘domino theory’ that one country falling to communism would lead to another.  But in Iraq, things are different.  We had intelligence data from all over the world which said Saddam was developing WMDs.  We know he did have them at one time and have no evidence he destroyed them.  We know he harbored and supported terrorists.  And we know if we left Iraq today, Iran would take over.  So to say that the President mislead the country is misleading at best, deliberately lying at worst.  Iraq is not Vietnam and yet McCain acts as if it was.

The Arizona Senator must on some level believe that attacking the President on the war like a Democrat will help him win the Presidency in 2008.  But if he keeps attacking George Bush, he doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the Republican Presidential Primary, much less the Presidency.  He claims that leaving Iraq now would be even more dangerous.  Come on Johh, you can not have it both ways.  For a long time John McCain has snubbed the Republican Party becoming a media darling in the process.  Only lately has he become more ‘conservative.’  In the end the Senator may see Republicans snub him.

Tags: Iran, Democrats, Terrorism, History, President Bush, Politics, Iraq, War by Chuck
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Iran is playing games with the UN, the United States, and the European Union.  The question remains, do we have the guts to stand up to them and demand they obey international law.

Iran said Tuesday it was ready for “serious negotiations” on its nuclear program, but a semi-official news agency reported the government was unwilling to abandon nuclear enrichment — the key U.S. demand.  (emphasis added by TRS)

Wow!  Now that is negotiation.  Iran waits until the UN deadline to stop producing nuclear material before telling the world, “We are ready for real negotiations whenever you are.”  Do they really think we are that stupid?  Forget that question.  Obviously they do think we are that stupid, otherwise they would not have told us they were ready for serious negotiations.

At the end of WWII, Japan tried the same stunt.  They continually stalled all negotiations by asking for clarifications, adjusting minor points, and by making unacceptable counter offers.  Once the Truman administration realized Japan was not seriously considering any of the administrations proposals, the decision was made to drop the atomic bomb on select Japanese cities to end the war with a minimum of casualties.  Japan did not think the US was serious in their negotiations; a mistake which cost them dearly in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Iran is playing the same type of game, believing the US is a paper tiger and too tied up in Iraq and Afghanistan to do anything about its nuclear program.  Right now the US has plenty of time to let diplomacy take its course, something we could not do with Japan in 1945 since we were at war.

The game Iran is playing is dangerous to them, to us, and to the rest of the world.  Unfortunately the rest of the world can not see the dangers posed by one of the members of the ‘Axis of Evil.’  We have fought two world wars in which this nation has had to pull Europe’s chestnuts out of the fire.  In this world of integrated societies, it remains difficult for the US to maintain the space provided by the oceans separating us from other nations.  So instead of being able to withdraw from world affairs as we would like to do, we forced to interpose ourselves in Europe’s, Asia’s and Middle Eastern affairs.  9/11 showed us just how small the world really is and how we can never truly withdraw from it.  Once again the world turns to us to fight evil, right wrongs, and save the world.  That way they can criticize us when things do not turn out just right or when other nations complain about our heavy-handedness.

And within the United States we have our own ‘fifth column’ while we are fighting the world’s wars.  The Democrats are all too happy take swipes at the President as he is conducting a war, bashing our troops and accusing them of all manor of atrocities while they are in harm’s way, and siding with our enemies in this crucial war.  They are willing to sacrifice long term security for short-term gain.  Their goals are no secret, they want power.  To them, the world’s problems like dealing with Iran can wait.

This brings us back to what we can do about Iran, given the political situation in the world and in the United States.  It looks like China, Russia and France may not back us on placing sanctions on Iran.  Once again the United States and their stalwart ally Great Britain must be prepared to face the dangers posed by Iran alone, if need be.  And once again we will have sacrificed our blood and capital to bring down a danger the rest of the world, including our own ‘fifth column,’ is too scared or too weak to face.  If we do not face Iran now, starting with economic sanctions, the problem will only grow.  The world almost waited too late in determining Germany was a danger, we do not need to wait as long with Iran.

Tags: Democrats, Terrorism, Iran, History, Politics, War by Chuck
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There is every indication that Iran is anxious for a fight, any kind of fight to show the world they are a force to be reckoned with.  But I to believe Iran just wants to flex their new found muscles is rather shortsighted.  They have much grander plans than just prestige on the world stage.  They believe they are destined to conquer the world.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has already indicated a willingness to destroy one of our best friends in the Middle East, Israel, when he admitted his country was arming Hezbollah.  Currently he is thumbing his nose at the world community when the UN asked them to abstain from trying to acquire nuclear weapons.  Ahmadinejad has insisted his country is not trying to make nuclear weapons, but Iran’s religious leaders insist they have the right to these kinds of weapons.

Under the provisions of the Non-Proliferation Treaty Iran has an obligation to not try to acquire nuclear weapons.  The obligations of both nuclear nations and non-nuclear weapons are quite clear.  Iran is supposed to open its nuclear facilities and promise not to make or buy nuclear weapons.

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also referred to as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), obligates the five acknowledged nuclear-weapon states (the United States, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, France, and China) not to transfer nuclear weapons, other nuclear explosive devices, or their technology to any non-nuclear-weapon state. Non-nuclear-weapon States Parties undertake not to acquire or produce nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive devices. They are required also to accept safeguards to detect diversions of nuclear materials from peaceful activities, such as power generation, to the production of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. This must be done in accordance with an individual safeguards agreement, concluded between each non-nuclear-weapon State Party and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Under these agreements, all nuclear materials in peaceful civil facilities under the jurisdiction of the state must be declared to the IAEA, whose inspectors have routine access to the facilities for periodic monitoring and inspections. If information from routine inspections is not sufficient to fulfill its responsibilities, the IAEA may consult with the state regarding special inspections within or outside declared facilities.

The United States and Great Britain have taken their obligations seriously.  Thus far Russia, China, and France have been reluctant to upholding theirs.  The UN Security Council is great at issuing threats but is very weak when it comes to enforcement.  This is all because of the unwillingness of the weak-kneed three to hold countries accountable.  As a result Iran seems to believe they can do anything they want with the Security Council unwilling to act.  It is particularly disturbing that Iran has decided to forgo any inspections.

Diplomats close to the U.N. nuclear watchdog said its inspectors were denied access to an underground site under construction where Iran plans industrial- scale production of enriched uranium, adding to the tensions.

A senior diplomat said blocking inspectors this way could be a violation of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty since the U.N. inspectors have a right to verify design information during the construction of a nuclear facility.

If the UN had any guts, they would immediately place sanctions on Iran for this breach.  Instead I expect more wringing of their hands with more promises of aid and more threats of sanctions.  But these threats will be without teeth.  Iran continues to insist they are trying to develop nuclear energy, but western countries are dubious since they are the fourth largest exporter of oil in the world.

Like anybody who studies this part of the world, all of what Iran is doing must be taken in together.  Iran is a haven for terrorists, funds terrorism, and exports terror around the world.  Hezbollah has killed more Americans than any other terrorist group other than al-Qaeda.  They are aiding and arming Hezbollah’s activities in southern Lebanon against Israel.

Iran appears to be actively trying to acquire nuclear weapons.  Ahmadinejad has continually thumbed his nose at the world community, denied the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) admittance to Iranian nuclear facilities in violation of international law.

Iran has also been testing apparently upgraded military, and is now conducting war games.  As a strong regional power, I am sure they were emboldened by Israel’s failure to do much harm Hezbollah.  Israel would be Iran’s greatest threat if war broke out.

And lastly, Iran has begun to use its military to bully others.  Syria is already under the thumb of Iran as a puppet state.  And today comes word that Iran has attacked a Romanian oil rig off the coast.

A Romanian oil rig off the coast of Iran came under fire from an Iranian warship and was later occupied by Iranian troops, a company spokesman said.

The Iranians first fired into the air and then fired at the Orizont rig, said GSP spokesman Radu Petrescu. Half an hour later, troops from the ship boarded and occupied the rig and the company lost contact with the 26 crew members shortly afterward.

Iran is a particularly dangerous country.  Their ambitions will not stop at the water’s edge or with their neighboring countries.  They feel they are destined to be the leader of all of the Middle East.  The mullahs want to bring about a new Islamic state covering and uniting all of the Middle East.  The Iranian mullahs have already expressed a willingness to bring about war in order for the ‘new mullah’ who would conquer the world to come forward.  These are people who want to bring about the Apocalypse.

The world community needs to wakeup.  Iran is dangerous; dangerous to their neighbors and dangerous to the world.  Terrorism and nuclear weapons are only a part of the problem.  The mullah’s ambitions include the whole world.  There will be others falling to the Iranians unless the world community acts and quickly.  Even if Iran temporarily puts off their nuclear plans, the danger is far from over.  Iran is at the very center of the Global War on Terror.

Tags: Terrorism, Iran, War by Chuck
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A fragile cease-fire holds over the Middle East following the Israeli-Hezbollah war.  This conflict was different from any of the other conflicts the IDF has been involved in.  From the beginning the IDF and Israeli leadership conducted this war as if they believed it would be as easy as the last time.  There is an old military axiom which states that the losers of the last war learn from it and change tactics; for the winners, it worked last time so it should work again this time.  World War II was conducted in this same fashion.  Germany whom lost WWI changed tactics for WWII.  Trench warfare did not serve them very well so they came up with the ‘Blitzkrieg,’ a fast way of attacking.  The French for their part were content with trench warfare since it worked last time.  As a result the French were quickly overrun by the German war machine.  This war between Israel and Hezbollah is no different.  The terrorists obviously learned from the mistakes of the past as did the rulers of Iran and Syria who supplied them with arms.  As a result the IDF was surprised by the resistance of Hezbollah.  The terrorists have consistently been one step ahead in this conflict.  Israel has not only been one step behind, but have shown an unwillingness to change tactics until the very end.  By then it was too late, Hezbollah had already achieved a moral victory in the Middle East by standing up to the vaunted IDF.

In discussing the war between the two sides, the issue of who won will always creep into the debate.  While not relevant to the discussion of who won, there should be some talk of how each side conducted the war.  Hezbollah for their part were fighting all out in a total war.  They launched rocket barrages on both military and civilian targets indiscriminately.  They wanted to win.  The IDF was fighting a handicap match with one fighting arm and one running leg tied behind them.  The attacks by the Israeli forces were conducted to minimize civilian casualties shown by the dropping of leaflets into the target areas, by calling for civilians on the phone to leave, by stopping a bombing campaign when news of a high number of civilian deaths occurred.  At the same time the Israeli leadership for firm hand on the reins of the IDF, not allowing them to conduct the same type of total war the Hezbollah was conducting.

When discussing who won, it is interesting to see if we are comparing oranges to oranges or apples to oranges, but not necessary.  Whether or not Israeli was in a handicap match is unimportant, whether each side achieved their objectives is.  In comparison this war was much like the American Civil War where the North needed to defeat the South to win while the South only had to not lose.  In Israel’s case they did not achieve their objectives, they did not defeat Hezbollah.  They are weakened but not defeated.  Hezbollah for their part has managed to fight back and remain a force in Southern Lebanon.  So Hezbollah won this latest battle with Israel.  Hopefully Israel has learned their lesson.  The next time, I expect the IDF to go into Lebanon, Iran, Syria or whoever full bore.  I would imagine the next time there will be no debate as to who won.

One of the questions remaining in the aftermath of this war is what has been accomplished?  The short answer is, not much.  Hezbollah is still in southern Lebanon to renew their pursuit of the extinction of Israel.  The Lebanese government has steadfastly denied that they will disarm Hezbollah.  UNIFIL has never kept the peace, nor will they succeed now.  Iran and Syria are still consistently arming their proxies.  All Israel has accomplished is to merely postpone the inevitable.  Eventually Israel will have to take on Iran who has admitted to supplying the terrorists with all their weaponry.  So not much has been accomplished in this war.

Knowing that Iran is the one country who is instigating terror around the world, hopefully the US will have a President who will side with their friends and seek an end to the GWOT by siding with Israel against this terrorist regime.

Tags: Terrorism, Iran, War by Chuck
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Saul Singer writing for the Jerusalem Post has an excellent post regarding the democracies and in particular America’s war on terror.  He describes this cycle democracies go through in confronting any evil or dictator bent on world domination.  It is a cycle which has gone through many, many loops over the years.

·  democracies show weakness;

·  dictators are emboldened and attack;

·  democracies respond slowly, insufficiently, or appease;

·  dictators are further emboldened and attack harder;

·  war;

·  democracies win;

·  start over again… 

This trend can be seen in almost every war in which the west has confronted evil: World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and lately the Global War on Terror.  Somehow the west has managed to come together at the last minute to defeat these threats.  One of the problems with fighting this new war is that the United States is not the same country which fought and won both world wars.  We have become divided with the Republicans on one side who are intent on fighting evil and the Democrats on the other who are intent on ‘understanding’ evil.  The Dems were content to ‘understand’ and gave in to communism at every chance from the ‘80s onward.  They felt that if we took the time to reflect on how we were scaring the communists into building stronger and stronger militaries, then both sides would draw down, take their collective fingers off the nuclear triggers and the world would be a safer place.  The Cold War came to an abrupt end because Ronald Reagan went on a military spending spree which the Soviets could not afford.  The Soviet Union ended without a shot being fired between the major powers.  If the Democrats had their way, America would have embarked on reckless disarmament agreements without reciprocation.  This would have made the Cold War last much, much longer.  Republicans confronted evil, the Democrats did not.

The GWOT is no different.  After the 9/11 attacks, the US came together in mutual anger towards those who killed so many of our own people.  Of course the cohesiveness was short lived.  Republicans looked outward while the Democrats engaged in collective navel gazing.  George Bush saw the world for what it was, teetering on the edge of an abyss.  For far too long this country had ignored radical Islam and now we were paying for that oversight with American lives.  President Bush not only went after the terrorists in Afghanistan, but he found other enemies of America who were helping terrorists.  The Democrats on the other hand, were asking themselves what we as a nation had done to engender this hatred towards us.  This self absorption would cost even more American lives.

What President Bush needs to do is to continue fighting against terrorism.  There are those in this country, Democrats, who do not want us to fight, who want us to withdraw inward, to make ourselves safe by not doing things which make others not like us.  The problem is there will always be those who do not like us because we are a rich country. President Bush is fighting and pursuing terrorists even though other countries are trying to hender our advancement.

As the security situation deteriorated, Iraqis made impressive strides toward democracy, for which Americans also deserve credit. If Iran and its vassal, Syria, have failed to derail Iraq’s political progress, they have succeeded in something no less important: derailing America’s prosecution of the global war.

Since 9/11, America had always had an offensive objective. First it was Afghanistan, then it was Iraq. When Saddam was captured, Libya also fell into line, which was a nice bonus for toppling the regime in Iraq. But despite what Bush said on the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003 - “Any outlaw regime that has ties to terrorist groups and seeks or possesses weapons of mass destruction is a grave danger to the civilized world - and will be confronted” - Iraq became the end, not a step, in a war that had not yet been won.

The US and the entire western world is at war with terrorism.  We were not the only ones attacked by terrorists.  These Islamic radicals are out to destroy the entire western world and place it under an Islamic regime.  The war against global terror is just beginning, not ending.  There are still those like Iran and Syria who are intent on spreading their hate around the world. 

The choice is between Bush returning to lead America and the world now, or waiting for a drumbeat of terror, or a mega-9/11, to restart the American-led campaign to confront jihadist regimes. We cannot avoid the war phase of the grand historic pattern, because the war has already begun, but we can win it before it becomes much more costly.

They must be stopped if the world is going to be a safer place.  At this point we can either continue the assault on terror and the nations who support terror or we can return to our self-absorption.  Navel gazing at this point only makes our necks more exposed to terrorists.  

Tags: Democrats, Terrorism, Iran, History, Politics, War by Chuck
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What is it about terrorists that so enthralls CBS and the rest of the MSM?  Dan Rather said the time he spent with Fidel Castro was the most exciting time in his life.  Dan interviewed Saddam Hussein and enjoyed his time with the dictator describing him as honest and intriguing.  And now Mike Wallace’s interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmaddinejad was one of his most memorable?

Twenty-seven years after a chilling sit-down with Ayatollah Khomeini that was one of Mike Wallace’s most memorable, the CBS newsman snagged an interview this week with current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Teheran. (snip)

Of Ahmadinejad, Wallace said, “He’s an impressive fellow, this guy. He really is. He’s obviously smart as hell.”

Wallace said he was surprised to find that the Iranian president was still a college professor who taught a graduate-level course.

“You’ll find him an interesting man,” he said. “I expected more of a firebrand. I don’t think he has the slightest doubt about how he feels … about the American administration and the Zionist state. He comes across as more rational than I had expected.”  (emphasis added by TRS)

Now he is quoting Ahmaddinejad, calling Israel the ‘Zionist state.”  It is truly embarrassing when a formerly ‘respected’ news correspondent gushes all over a terrorist who is the leader of a terrorist nation.  How quickly the MSM forgets all of the terrorist acts Iran has been involved in, especially those against the United States.

I still remember the 444 days Iran, and Ahmaddinejad, held our embassy people hostage.  I still remember the suicide car bomb which killed 241 Marines on a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.  The attack was committed by Hezbollah with the help of Iran.  I remember the Army Colonel who was kidnapped and tortured to death by Hezbollah with the help of the Iranians.  But none of this seems to bother Mike Wallace.

With the way Wallace gushing all over him, I just hope the Iranian President brought a towel to dry himself off.  For his part, I would bet Ahmeddinejad was happy too.  He just received a softball interview with a reporter who loves and admires him.  It is really despicable when our news media can not be Americans first and interviewers second.

Tags: Iran, Bias, War by Chuck
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