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A**easing the A**easers
All of the spluttering outrage by the Obama campaign and that slobbering mob of media mutts chasing Barack’s bus, the “Strayed Truth Express,” about Dubya’s spot-on reference to appeasement in his address commemorating Israel’s 60th anniversary, leads us to the clear conclusion that the politically correct Left has declared yet more of our natural language off limits to all except themselves. Conservatives may no longer under any circumstances apply the terms appease or appeasement to members of the Democrat Party and especially not to presidential candidates or other leaders of that party. When our president stood there resolute before the world and forthrightly declared that negotiating with those who publicly assert their dedication to Israel’s annihilation is an exercise in appeasement comparable to Chamberlain’s deadly pussyfooting with Adolph Hitler, it was enough to send the entire dumpster-diving media into a frothing fit. How dare he call Obama an appeaser? How dare he imply that Democrats are the party of appeasement? Never mind that he didn’t, the most important result of their rabid reaction is that it puts us on notice how quickly words and expressions are being removed from the general American lexicon by those champions of free speech, the Liberal Left. No longer is it permissible for anyone not among the Leftist elite to utter these terms, appease, appeaser, appeasing and appeasement without feeling the wrath of the outraged appeasers who constitute a significant majority of the Democrat Party and the entirety of the Mendacious Media. Today we have witnessed the forced transmutation of those formerly acceptable words into a form found to meet with approval by liberals: The “A” Word. And like the “N” Word, public use of which is reserved exclusively to black rappers, comedians and any black thug addressing one of his own race, but totally forbidden to whites of any stripe, the “A” Word may be used only in its original, full, linguistic form by liberals and Democrats (yes, I realize the redundancy and the irony.) For the rest of us, in spoken form it is the “A” Word and when putting it on a written page, such as this, it must be in this form, a**ease, without those plosive P’s which, you know, must sound a bit harsh and aggressive to the multiculturally sensitive ears of those a**hole a**easers on the a**peasing Left who are looking for every possible way to a**ease Al Qaeda, Achmadinejad or anyone else who might threaten to annihilate them unless offered ongoing signals of a**easement. Makes about as much sense as P**ce at any P**ce. Ask any I**ian, er, Native American. |
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Contributed by Russ Vaughn on May 16, 2008 at 11:01 AM in Obamanation, Politics, Russ Vaughn, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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CH!CKEN SH!T
The Gray Dog’s Note: The following is inspired by a flurry of links I found in my email today, courtesy of Rurik, and today’s post, “I Guess Our Only Leaders Now Are In Uniform,” at one of my favorite BLOGS, Seaspook’s Rants. I am not pretentious enough to believe I am an authority on all matters military. I certainly have no expertise or specific knowledge which would allow me to formulate judgments about our top command structure as it pertains to such characteristics as leadership, strategic thinking or performance. I can only offer my less than expert opinions based upon anecdotal reporting and my less than perfect ability to gauge character based upon observing someone on a television screen. Having never let personal limitations prevent me from opining in the past, I am loathe to begin now, so here goes: FIRE ROBERT GATES NOW!! How in the hell can we expect this man to prosecute a global war on terror if he doesn’t have the stomach to mix it up with Carl Levin. Of course I’m referring to Gate’s feckless decision to withdraw Peter Pace’s re-nomination for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs last week because Sen. Levin, D-MI, threatened that the confirmation process for Pace would be contentious. What an absolute crock. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Gates asked Levin for his pick to replace Pace. |
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Contributed by The Gray Dog on June 20, 2007 at 07:03 PM in Caring about our troops, Current Affairs, G W Bush, Politics, The Gray Dog, US Marine Corps, US Navy, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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A Modest Proposal II
The front page of the WaPo for Sunday, 6-3-07, has a story regarding the dismaying increase of killings of Americans in Iraq that has accompanied the recent surge. Aspects of the article are equally applicable to the Afghan theater. It begins like this--
The article correctly points to the armor-piercing weapons known as explosively formed projectiles as a major factor in the new killing spree. As mighrt be expected, there is no mention of Iran, which has been identified as the source of these deadly new IEDs. Let it be known that--in the right circumstances--the MSM can bow to administration policy in the way it presents the news. It would seem that the Department of State has ditched the Bush Doctrine in favor of creating the appearance of reaching out to the main state-sponsors of terrorism, Iran and its lackey, Syria. For the time being, at least, aggressive action to protect the lives of American troops is on the back burner. This has to change, and the current modest proposal is intended to suggest a possible mode of defense, which might be termed "Operation Bellwether." The basic technology of robotically-controlled vehicles is already well developed as, for example, in the popular spectacles called demolition derbys. Why not create robotic unarmored Humvees that could precede military convoys by, say, fifty yards or so? To make them irresistible to the IED crowd, they could have generals' stars painted on the sides, and fly flag-rank pennants on the front fenders. Visible personnel could be realistic rifle-toting dummies. On the other hand, why not dress up prisoners in US Army uniforms, and let them serve as decoys? We have an ample supply of Al-Qaeda types in military detention centers. We hear constantly of how badly mistreated they are. Why not put them out of their misery by letting their comrades dispatch them to Paradise? There is ample precedent for this sort of thing. The Red Army in World War II regularly marched Gulag prisoners through German minefields in front of their armed troops. If that practice ever led to prosecution of Russian officers as war criminals, it is a well-kept secret. Admittedly, prisoners captured in combat are different from common criminals. Questions regarding Geneva Conventions--however irrelevant they may be in the light of the actual status of detainees--are sure to arise if the details became known. Strict secrecy would have to be maintained. Operation Bellwether would be a natural for detachments of Special Forces, who are not renowned for blabbing to reporters. The story merits careful reading. It ends with a quotation from a British expert on Iraq, Toby Dodge:
Wouldn't it be nice if these officials and analysts were less resigned to the prospect of losing lots of lives, and more disposed towards the "creative destruction" for which the capitalist world is justly famous? |
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Contributed by 72nd TCS on June 3, 2007 at 02:35 PM in Afghanistan, Current Affairs, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, John "72nd TCS" Werntz, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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This Is Really Too Much
Believe it or not, the Fantasy Factory in Langley, Virginia is about to waste its time and our money on a National Intelligence Estimate assessing the impact of climate change on national security. They did it once at the behest of Al Gore, back when he was Veep. Now they are going to reprise the farce at the instigation of Rep. Eshoo [D., Caliifornia]. Readallabahdit, in the Washington Post .
The story continues...
Yes, indeed. The world's oldest institution of representative government--in continuous existence, that is--solemnly voted to enshrine the thoroughly discredited "hockey stick" as a major strategic guideline, and the boss of all our intelligence agencies heartily agrees. Don't they have anything better to do? In the opinion of one disgruntled curmudgeon, it is high time that the Joint Chiefs met to debate a question of grave import: Is the attempt to rescue this nation from the consequences of the frivolity and stupidity of its elected rulers a game that is worth the candle? Or should we simply dissolve the defense establishment and all go fishing? |
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Contributed by 72nd TCS on May 12, 2007 at 01:02 PM in Current Affairs, Dem Dumbness, John "72nd TCS" Werntz, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Republicans for Bugout
The NYT of Thursday, May 10 ran a story by Carl Hulse and Jeff Zeleny entitled "G.O.P. Moderates Warn Bush Iraq Must Show Gains ." The lead paragraphs tell the sad tale --
The eleven participants included Rep. John Boehner, the House Minority Leader, who came along as an observer. Prominent among the other six named in the article were three who joined Democrats to vote in favor of the infamous H. Con. Res. 63 [February 16, 2007], expressing disapproval of the Bush-Petraeus surge policy. Just for the record, those three were Tom Davis [VA], Mark Kirk [IL], and James T. Walsh [NY]. The reporters tell us that Tom Davis distinguished himself by informing President Bush that his approval rating had fallen to 5% in one section of his district, the Virginia 11th, a D.C. bedroom community. Would that section perchance be inhabited by swarms of government drones and paid-up members of the AFSCME? (Sheer invidious speculation, that.--Ed.) The reporters also note that three of the seven named refused to be interviewed after the meeting. The silent three--consigned to historical oblivion along with the anonymous four--included Mark Kirk, plus Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri and Ray Lahood of Illinois. What's the problem, valiant tribunes of the people? Don't you want the folks at home to know how you stood up to Bush? This story provides little to cheer supporters of the war on jihad. At best, one can smile wanly at the thought that three of the eleven--being notorious doves--are atypical of the Republican party, and four others were so obscure as to be deemed unworthy of mention by the Newspaper of Record. The tenor of the meeting, on the White House side, conformed to the Beltway consensus that the coming summer is make-or-break time. Secretary of Defense Gates made that quite clear--
Message: If things go well by September, we may get really serious about winning and send another 10 brigades. If not, we'll begin to extricate. To venture a prophecy: it is now carved in granite that the Sunni insurgents and Al-Q in Iraq will treat us in late summer to a spectacular display of fireworks, slaughtering Iraqis by the hundreds. The moving finger writes... Webmaster's note: I have some related links, and will be adding more soon, in my 2007.05.10 Dem Perfidy // Islamism Delenda Est Roundup. |
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Contributed by 72nd TCS on May 10, 2007 at 12:06 PM in Current Affairs, Iraq, John "72nd TCS" Werntz, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Too Darn Dumb to Win?
It hurts to say this. Harry Reid may be wrong when he says we have lost the war, but he's very nearly right. We are on the verge of losing it. Not for any of the reasons cited by war opponents. We are losing quite simply because the PR efforts of this administration, from the White House through the State Department and Pentagon all the way down to the bottom--the CIA I mean--are hopelessly inept. Consider first President Bush, who consistently blows it. The latest example is the statement he issued to accompany his veto of the Dems' "slow bleed" Supplemental Appropriations Bill. He had a wonderful opportunity to really lay into them. He had a golden chance to hold them up to the public scorn and ridicule that they richly deserve. Instead, he settled for a brief, smirking, namby-pamby statement to the effect that the Dem bill was a "recipe for chaos and confusion." I have a message for you, Mr. President: The typical mouth-breathing couch potato [i.e. the typical American citizen] sees and knows nothing about the war we are in except chaos and confusion. Whose fault is that, Mr. President? Yours. You consistently fail to identify the real enemy, a worldwide resurgence of expansionist Islamic jihadism that began in Lebanon in the early 80's after three hundred years of somnolence. You have failed utterly the test of wartime leadership--to alert the public to the mortal danger that confronts them. Just yesterday, the Bush administration stumbled into stifling the last, best hope of mobilizing public support. Bill Faith has the full story here. No need for me to elaborate. Read it and weep. |
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Contributed by 72nd TCS on May 2, 2007 at 07:30 PM in Current Affairs, Dem Perfidy, G W Bush, John "72nd TCS" Werntz, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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And to think that he was once....
....the Counterterrorism Czar! Richard Clarke wrote an op-ed for the New York Daily News that is an amazing exercise in non sequiturs.
That would be in opposition to Clarke's preferred method of fighting terrorism — the ostrich method. Of course Clarke never explains how the terrorists have managed to overcome the laws of physics so they can be in two places at once, but never mind, Bush is wrong.
Because America has simply been flooded by terrorists since we entered Iraq, right? The evidence really is overwhelming, isn't it? Read the rest at Media Lies |
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Contributed by antimedia on April 27, 2007 at 08:26 PM in Antimedia, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Introducing David Hazony
The "Opinion Journal" newsletter of the Wall Street Journal for Wednesday, April 4 had a long article by guest-author David Hazony. Mr. Hazony, who deserves to be better-known to American readers, is the Editor-in-Chief of AZURE, which originally published his column here. AZURE is a quarterly produced in Israel and bears a strong resemblance to the American monthly Commentary. Like Commentary, AZURE specializes in solid, well-written think-pieces. The right-hand sidebar of its home page [cf. initial link above] links to authors covering the entire spectrum of reasoned commentary, ranging from George Soros by way of Fouad Ajami and Bernard Lewis to Mark Steyn. It offers the think-piece maven just the intellectual fare needed to turn many a night of insomnia into brilliant day. Mr. Hazony's article, in particular, makes the startling case that the Iranian mullahs have been and are waging a Cold War against the West, comparable to the Soviet pressures that kept us on tenterhooks for four decades. Given the huge discrepancy in size, population, and military might beween the former Soviet Union and Iran, anyone who lived through that era is bound to regard the analogy at first as more than a bit strained. Even so, the most skeptical reader cannot fail to be impressed by the cogency of the author's arguments in favor of his thesis. The mere excerpts that follow cannot hope to do justice to this presentation. They are presented simply as bait, to entice the reader to Read The Whole Thing.. Mr. Hazony comes on strong right at the outset: NOTE: in what follows, block quotes are taken directly from the Hazony article. Intercalated text, aligned flush left, are comments and other asides from 72nd TCS.
The term "clear vision" crops up again and again as this article progresses. Sadly, in the context of the response of Western leaders to the Islamic extremist onslaught, the author mentions it only to stress its absence among the elites of our world. Continuing, he writes...
Muddled thinking, by contrast, is the Order of the Day in Israel, the EU, and the United States...
At this point, one thing is eminently clear--Mr. Hazony knows exactly what he thinks, and never permits political correctness or pious sentiment to fuzz his message. We now skip past many lines of closely reasoned discourse, to the bottom line. Those who take up and read, and learn how he gets from here to there, will find the effort exceedingly rewarding.
There you have it--clear, cold and bracing--like a shot of vodka taken in the classic Russian manner. |
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Contributed by 72nd TCS on April 5, 2007 at 12:22 PM in Current Affairs, Dem Dumbness, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Israel, John "72nd TCS" Werntz, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Happy Days Are Here...
NOTE: About 72nd TCS Among those on the inside of both blogs, it is no secret that "72nd TCS" is the screen name in Veteran-American Voices, VAV for short, of former Old War Dog John Werntz. Bill Faith has generously offered to John the opportunity to cross-post [subject to Bill's prior approval] on OWD. The grizzled old mutt, 72nd TCS, is proud and happy to hang around on the fringes of the pack. He greets his former mates with a cheery yip, and looks forward to sniffing out friendships among the recent arrivals. That said... I very nearly choked on this one. From The New York Times of 3-31, the story bears the title "Army's War Funds Can Last Through July, Report Says" and is written by Carl Hulse and Thom Shanker. Please relax and read on. I am not about to launch into my standard rant: "Thank you, NYT, for telling the Dems exactly how long they need to stall, plus informing the Sunni insurgents and Al-Q jihadists how long they have to hold out in order to win big." The reporters are doing their job--informing the public about the probable consequences of a presidential veto of the supplemental military appropriations bill now headed into a House-Senate conference. Parenthetically, I note that the editors of the Washington Post appear not to have deemed the prospect of imminent exhaustion of funds to support the troops to be at all newsworthy. No trace on the front page, nor in the editorials. "Ho hum, lookee here, Georgetown basketball is going great guns." The reporters discuss those consequences at some length, and the prospects may be bright for political opponents of President Bush, who seem to be rubbing their hands in glee, anticipating an American defeat that will be heard 'round the world. But they are exceedingly gloomy for any level-headed patriot who awaits with dread a country sickened by an epidemic of Carterite malaise that, comparatively, would make the post-Vietnam trauma look like robust health. The return to these shores of defense forces, justifiably convinced that they have been robbed of the victory they earned by their magnificent efforts, does not inspire complacency. Some relevant passages from the Hulse-Shanker article follow.
Actually, the July target is a best-case scenario. It rests upon congressional approval of various gimmicks of budget sleight-of-hand, shifting funds between accounts and skimping on important purchases and maintenance expenditures to free up additional money. Strictly speaking, existing funds will run out by June 1.
Meanwhile, the Senate Majority leader, Harry Reid, is still stuck on stupid,taking partisan shots at Bush:
Hagel of Nebraska and Smith of Oregon make it bipartisan? Note that if those two had not defected, the roll-call would have ended in a 49-49 tie, leaving Vice President Cheney to decide the issue. Two brief notes in closing, both dealing with the sad state of DC politics. First, hearing the word "bipartisan" is enough to make the well-informed and even moderately well-heeled citizen fear for the country and clutch wallet and checkbook. Second, the toxic atmosphere chokes us all but our troops -- and the nation's future -- are the main victims. |
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Contributed by 72nd TCS on March 31, 2007 at 01:18 PM in Current Affairs, Dem Dumbness, G W Bush, Iraq, John "72nd TCS" Werntz, Politics, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Cowards in Congress and on Main Street
The abject cowards in Congress who voted for a date-certain pullout from Iraq are going to have blood on their hands one day, and it is my fervent hope that they will face criminal charges for guaranteeing the next, even more horrific 9/11. Of course, they won't be held accountable. These days, you can literally get away with murder. That's what the cut-and-run crowd is doing. By refusing to recognize that Iraq is but one campaign in the greater clash between Western Civilization and unreformed, radical Islam, they are setting the stage for the equivalent of a new Afghanistan under the Taliban--a democracy-free-zone where rag-headed baby killers can plot and plan the next big attack on the United States. By revealing all our secret intelligence intercept programs and undermining our rendition program and the terrorist prison at Guantanamo, they are condemning you and me, or our children and grandchildren, to death. Yes, death. By doing everything they can just to win the next election--damn national security, even in wartime--they are selling out their country and its citizens. In today's politically correct, decadent, Euro-weak America, it is not even acceptable to call a spade a spade. Even conservative commentators twist themselves into Gordian Knots to avoid using the "AA" word, as in anti-American, or the "T" word, as in traitor, in characterizing members of our government who want America to lose this vital battle. But that is what they are. Mark this down, people. Unless the president gets tough and takes out Iran and puts the world on notice that another attack on America will result in nuclear Armageddon for the Irans and Syrias and North Koreas of this world, thousands, if not millions of Americans are at grave risk of being slaughtered. There WILL BE another 9/11. And this time, it may be thermonuclear. Those sniveling un-American cowards on the left who hate George W. Bush more than they hate the terrorists or love the United States are doing their level best to tie his hands and undermine every weapon he has against people who want to saw your babies' heads off! What is it that you don't understand? Go to the internet and type in Daniel Pearl or any of the other victims of the terrorists' butchery and watch the videos. Listen to the screams of people having their heads sawn from their bodies. Look at the blood. Listen to the perverted calls for Allah's blessing on these barbaric acts. Then tell me that George Bush is Hitler and Dick Cheney is Satan and the Administration is out of control. The people who ought to be out of control are the surviving relatives of the next 9/11, who, when their loved ones' bodies are smoking on the ground in a million tiny pieces of charred flesh, ought to storm Capitol Hill with pitchforks and torches and drag out the Frankenstein monsters posing as Senators and Congressmen and deliver some old fashioned justice. The men and women fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan or serving on the front lines in Korea, or on military bases--active, reserve and National Guard--around the world deserve far better than the worthless bunch of Senators and Congressmen who are Hell bent on selling them out. And they deserve far better than the foolish, impatient, selfish, mind-numbed citizenry who elected those fools. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and their ilk aren't worthy enough to lick dogshit off an infantryman's boots. And there are a lot of Americans who are just as craven. If this bunch had been around during the American Revolution, we'd all be drinking tea and eating crumpets. If they'd been in charge during the Civil War, we'd all be slaveowners, drinking mint juleps on the veranda. And if they'd been running things in World War II, we'd all be speaking German and drinking schnapps toasts to the Final Solution for a race that once existed known as the Jews. I honestly don't understand any of this madness. I am thoroughly disgusted with the left, the Congress, the media and the public. You are going to reap what you have sewn and you are not going to like it. But, oh, boy, will you deserve it when some Jihadist comes banging on your door with a grenade in his hand. |
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Contributed by Shane Briscoe on March 28, 2007 at 05:21 PM in Dem Dumbness, Islamism Delenda Est, Peacenik Stupidity, Shane Briscoe, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack |
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The Silenced Majority
Gray Dog’s Note: This article is a continuation of thoughts inspired by Rurik’s essay titled “Veterans as an Ethnic Minority,” originally posted at Old War Dogs in September 2006, and more recently holding its own page of honor at Veteran-American Voices. Actually, this article might be more appropriately deemed a variation on a theme or themes, as it also addresses Rurik’s sentiments in his post titled, “A Gathering of Eagles Against a Gathering of Vultures.” In either case, I hope that Rurik’s inspiration has been duly noted and appropriately attributed. If history is written by the victors, then image is assigned by the vocal. On February 22, 2007, Richard "Dick" Becker attended a press conference for "A Gathering of Eagles." Becker, the brother of Brian Becker, National Coordinator for the ANSWER Coalition, characterized past Conservative and veteran’s counter-protests of ANSWER rallies, as "pathetic." On March 17, 2007 we have both the opportunity and the obligation to dispel that charge. It is the moment to rise above the damning legacy of a “Silenced Majority.” In so doing, we will fulfill the obligation to ourselves and our fallen brothers and sisters to reclaim the honor the “Beckers” of this world would take from us. For too long, our silence has allowed our foes to establish a national agenda without opposition. We have ceded control of the media and allowed the socialist liberal enemies of America to mold an image of her defenders as the ignoble and ignorant peasantry of our society. We allow them to deny us the respect we deserve, because they tell us it is their right as Americans to do so. And, when a few of us speak or act in opposition to these pretend Americans, whose grandiose marches and displays of hatred and disdain for the very beliefs and institutions for which we have shed our blood, they call us pathetic. Continue reading, "The Silenced Majority" [Original timestamp 2007.03.01.13:20] |
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Contributed by The Gray Dog on March 1, 2007 at 01:20 PM in Caring about our troops, Current Affairs, Gathering of Eagles, Patriotism, Politics, The American Warrior, The Gray Dog, Viet Nam, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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In through the out door
H/T Supe I've been predicting this for quite a while. I ain't proud or prescient, just observant.
See this post for my view of the future/present. I have an admittedly myopic view of such things. We allowed this to happen by concentrating on trivial, but fun, crap like Kerry. Yeah, I know, I know... 'closing the barn door after the horse got out' and all that. We bloggers write page after page about 'what is wrong', we highlight a few possible fixes, and the obvious goes unnoticed by most. Just now we have a lame-duck President who seems to have lost his way. There is a single issue that surpasses everything else and it continues to fall through the cracks of our busy lives. The battle over whether we will become a Spanish speaking Islamic world/nation trumps every other issue! Gays ignore it, Feminists ignore it, the global warming folks ignore it... and the anti-Kerry folks ignore it. The list of folks who spent huge amounts of energy and time on issues that simply will not matter (or worse) is scary. Every single issue is important, mind you, but context matters, and the context has been lost. |
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Contributed by Zero Ponsdorf on January 17, 2007 at 06:44 PM in Best of Old War Dogs, Current Affairs, Dem Dumbness, Peacenik Stupidity, War? What war?, Zero Ponsdorf | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack |
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Perhaps One Reason We Aren't Winning
We don't know who we are, or who the enemy is.
Read the whole thing here. Maybe we'll give veteran's benefits to members of Hezbollah? Beam me up Scotty and start warming up the photon torpedoes. Tip of the helmet to High Tory -Rurik |
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Contributed by George Mellinger on December 29, 2006 at 07:57 PM in Current Affairs, George Mellinger, Islamism Delenda Est, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack |
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The Shadows of Enlightenment
The shimmer of Enlightenment glowed brightly through the land, Tolerance and diversity became their clarion’s call, A beacon of liberty once shined throughout the world, -- The Gray Dog |
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Contributed by The Gray Dog on November 30, 2006 at 09:30 PM in Current Affairs, Dem Dumbness, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Israel, Jean Fraud Kerry, Patriotism, Peacenik Stupidity, Poetry, Politics, The Gray Dog, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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War and Peace
With apologies to Leo Tolstoy. Black and White, first and last, top and bottom, war and peace: Concepts of opposition and contrast so simple, that a five year old child could understand, yet so elusive to our national leaders. Can anything simultaneously be black and white, or will the blend simply result in gray? Which direction does one travel to be both first and last, or both top and bottom. Or, do you simply stand your ground and remain in the middle of the pack? Yet as a nation, we seem to both accept this absurd paradox within our military and expect a satisfactory result. Is it reasonable to expect our military personnel to function with the complete skill set of waging war and peaceful nation building, as if they were each the direct progeny of a union between Ares and Eireen? Bombing and building, killing and healing, guns and roses, war and peace: Simple contrasts or absurd expectations? |
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Contributed by The Gray Dog on November 19, 2006 at 02:59 PM in Caring about our troops, Current Affairs, Patriotism, Politics, The American Warrior, The Gray Dog, Viet Nam, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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October Surprise.
Down to the wire, the October Surprise was unleashed upon the Democrats yesterday. Surprisingly it wasn’t launched by the Republicans, but instead the liberal’s very own “useful idiot” John Kerry. "You know, education - if you make the most of it - you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq," With that comment the Old War Dogs are pleased to make known their own 11th hour October surprise: The Old War Dogs Forum is now open for membership at www.oldwardogs.org This site was to be announced next week, but in light of Kerry’s comment and the importance of next week’s elections we hope you will visit what promises to be an exciting place for discourse on the issues of the day. Participation does require registration, so don’t be shy. |
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Contributed by The Gray Dog on October 31, 2006 at 07:57 PM in 9/11, Afghanistan, Bill Faith, Bill's Bites, Bobbie Craig, Caring about our troops, CIA/NSA Treason, Current Affairs, Dem Dumbness, DisUnited Nations, G W Bush, Gene Harrison, George Mellinger, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Jean Fraud Kerry, Jim Bartimus, Lloyd A. King, Mad Jack Murtha, Open Posts, Patriotism, Politics, Religion, Russ Vaughn, Shane Briscoe, Steve Gardner, The American Warrior, The Gray Dog, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Video, Viet Nam, War? What war?, William "1stCav" Page, Zero Ponsdorf | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack |
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Slicing Enlightenment
Softly it whispers, parting air, When others warned of futures dire, Back when we tried to warn you, And now these decades later, |
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Contributed by Russ Vaughn on September 29, 2006 at 01:18 PM in Islamism Delenda Est, Peacenik Stupidity, Poetry, Russ Vaughn, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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HMH: Response to The latest Henry Mark Holzer Memorandum. Click here to add your name to his mailing list.
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Contributed by Bill Faith on September 28, 2006 at 03:00 PM in Bill Faith, Islamism Delenda Est, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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HMH: December 7, 1941 And September 11, 2001
The latest Henry Mark Holzer Memorandum. Click here to add your name to his mailing list.
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Contributed by Bill Faith on September 20, 2006 at 04:08 PM in Bill Faith, Islamism Delenda Est, Politics, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack |
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John McCain, read this now.
Read the whole thing. Hat tip: Boomer |
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Contributed by Bill Faith on September 20, 2006 at 03:15 PM in Politics, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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More Thoughts on the Geneva Convention Dispute
With some error on both sides, in the debate between Captain Ed and our own GI Zhou I am obligated to jump in and address a number of misunderstandings. There is sufficient genuine fact on both sides of the Geneva Convention argument to permit honest argument and different conclusions. First, I have some hope for minimal utility of the GC, but no faith in it. For as long as man has fought, he has butchered his enemies, and once the blood is up, it is very difficult to stop the slaughter upon arbitrary command. Perhaps the best book on the subject is Richard Holmes’ Acts of War, the Behavior of Men in Battle, Free Press, 1985. Remember that British battles from Agincourt to Waterloo culminated in butchery of the beaten. I have always insisted that the only army never to have committed an atrocity is that army which has lost so consistently that it never had an opportunity. And at their first opportunity they will make up for lost time. Still the GC may have some beneficent influence, so long as we are practical and keep to the proper context. But let’s examine some of the specific issues invoked by Captain Ed and by Martin. World War II in Europe. Yes, Germany did treat its prisoners badly, but then, most countries did so. In Germany’s partial defense, I suggest that the decisive factors were identity of the prisoners and the period of the war. As German ideology was consciously racial, the race of the prisoner mattered. Poles, Blacks, and particularly Jews had to expect gratuitous criminal treatment. British and non-Jewish, White Americans were at the top of the dung heap. The Germans were even capable on occasion, of acts of compassion. In 1942 the British legless fighter ace, Douglas Bader was shot down over occupied France, leaving his prostheses behind in his aircraft. The Germans, sportingly, contacted the British and offered safe passage for a British aircraft to deliver a new set of artificial legs for Bader. The RAF did deliver the legs, but dropped them by parachute during the course of a regular bombing mission. Later the Germans confiscated Bader’s legs when he used them to try to escape. The Malmedy Massacre of December 1944 is a significant case. While it was a massacre, and clearly against the GC, it was also clearly motivated primarily by tactical considerations. Peiper’s column was making a desperate drive deep into his enemy’s rear, and his entire operation would have been compromised by the necessity to secure and guard prisoners. It is analogous to the scene in the movie Band of Brothers. when the American paratroops kill their German prisoners, because they could not well secure them nor release them. It is also the very same situation which led to Ariel Sharon’s massacre of several hundred Egyptian POWs at the Mitla Pass in 1956. The great distinction is that Peiper lost and Sharon won. Operational necessity must always trump ethical niceness. Yes, British and American prisoners who tried to escape were sometimes executed. One of the standard rules is that to receive POW status, the captive must cease resisting and attempting to escape. Escape attempts leave him liable to penalties including shooting. Later in the war, treatment for allied prisoners worsened, but that was partially the result of the generally worsening condition of Germany itself. Food was very scarce for the captors too. But even then, Western prisoners were treated better than Russians, and it is a regular observation in accounts by Western POWs that they noticed how much worse the Soviet prisoners seemed to be treated. The Russians were a special case. First of all, the Soviets had never signed the GC, denouncing it as a bourgeois fraud. Then, according to Stalin’s military law surrender, for any reason, constituted treason and could be punished by death, and not only for the prisoner, but also for his family far in the rear. When the Soviet prisoners were returned at the end of the Finnish War in March 1940, they were given a triumphant welcome home, with a parade down Nevsky prospekt, and out the other side of town to awaiting boxcars which hauled them all off to the GULAG. During the German War, there were some exemptions granted for those with special excuses, such as air crews shot down over enemy territory - but even then, it was only on an individual basis, and only after a long interrogation by SMERSh. At the end of the war several million returned Soviet POWs were punished as traitors, many shot out of hand, and the rest sent to labor camps where they remained until after Stalin’s death, and this does not include those prisoners who had collaborated. The Soviets simply had disowned any of their own men who had been taken prisoner. In Late 1941 the Germans captured Artillery Captain Yakov Dzhugashvili, Stalin’s son by his first marriage. The Germans contacted Moscow through neutral Sweden, offering to exchange him for a German captive of equivalent rank. Stalin dismissed the offer contemptuously, proclaiming "I no longer have a son". The Soviets also began their own atrocity policy by executing captured Germans on the very first day of the invasion, before the Germans had time to intiiate their own genocide. One such individuaal was the German fighter ace Wolfgang Schellman, who was shot down on June 22,1941 and immediately executed by the Russians. The war in Russia was a war between two hostile secular religions, and it is traditional that no quarter is given to the heretics in religious wars. So a case can be made that the GC did help ameliorate the lot of Western prisoners (except for Jews and Blacks) during World War II. However, even here an important distinction must be considered. British and Americans were treated better than prisoners from other countries, and this is probably a factor of the fact that American and the UK were in a position to retaliate for mistreatment, while France, Norway and other lands were not. The notorious "parachutist order" mentioned by Captain Ed is a case in point, which supports his position better thanhe realizes. The order was given by Hitler to execute allied parachutists. While this order might have been interpreted to include aircrews, it was actually directed mainly at the OSS troops parachuting in to join the French Maquis. The critical factor was Eisenhower’s response; he warned that if the parachute order were observed, he would retaliate by executing equal numbers of German prisoners of equivalent ranks randomly selected from the POW cages in Britain. That would have been a clear violation of the GC rights of those innocent Germans, incapable of having commited any prior violations themselves, but it was still significant and successful. and proper. Thus we see that the GC has meaning only when it is enforced by credible threat of enforcement by retaliation. In the Far Eastern Theaters, there was no question of GC compliance by either side in WW II. During the Korean War both the Korean and Chinese troops were operating under the influence of Stalin Rules, which were willing to grant nothing, while accepting whatever was offered. Thus there still remain unreturend and unaccounted-for Western prisoners from Korea, though the UNO forces treated its captives as humanely as possible. This summation is identical for the Viet Nam War. We may argue whether this is a function of Communist ideology, or of a totally non-Western civilization, but that is just a detail. Either way, the record suggests that the GC is likely to prove completely irrelevant outside Western civilization. Treatment of each other’s prisoners by the Chinese and Vietnamese during 1979 is also reported to have been barbaric. And the track record of Islamic treatment of their prisoners supports the notion that this also applies to the Middle East. And there is no positive evidence yet that either moral stance or threats are likely to have much influence. I predict the same paradigm will apply if we find ourselves engaged in serious operations in Subsaharan Africa; they’re just "non-Western". Concerning the exquisite, lingering sensitivity of John McCain to torture. He certainly suffered barbaric torture at the hands of his Vietnamese captors. It is a disgrace that no DRVN official has ever been brought to justice for their violations of the GC, including not only the torture of prisoners, but also the deliberate murder of thousands of civilians in the South. But somehow that sensitivity does not seem to bother Straight-Talking Johnnie very much when it is to his political or financial benefit to canoodle a little with his former torturers for mutual benefit. Captain Ed is wrong on a few details, but is right overall. And as I read it, he didn’t say "the Germans routinely shot pilots in the Second World War", but rather that they committed atrocities from the beginning. That is a misunderstanding both of what he said, and of the "paratrooper order", (see above) which could have been avoided by maintaining composure. The Geneva Conventions have not proven to provide any particular protection for American, or other Western, servicemen. The Convention works only when backed by force - not only the supposed force of impotent international law, but by the threat of credible retaliation. While the optimal solution would be a credible declaration and act of law that we would extend GC rights only to opponents who reciprocate toward us and our allies, I fear our politicians would only use that as an excuse to weasel. perhaps if we were to dump the GC in Lake Geneva, we might move on to a more practical "Doctrine of General Reciprocity"; the Iron Law instead of the Golden Rule. Whether Captain Ed has a military background, I am uncertain, though I believe he has served in the US Navy. But I do find it troubling when someone suggests silencing someone because his prior military service is not a matter of general public knowledge. By such a standard I would be able to pull rank and silence some guy with greater technical knowledge than me, because all his 22 years of service were spent in training exercises, relief and peacekeeping operations, and never in a real shooting war such as I have experienced. and I would be silenced by Old Dogs such as 1st Cav and Russ who were out at the very pointy end of the tip. And they, in turn would have to hold their tongues in the presence of the combat dead who cannot speak at all. And Blacks could criticize only other Blacks and Women only other women (nekkid or not), and non-Americans would have no right to opinions about the USA. And I am utterly contemptuous of allegations that by behaving thus, we would somehow sink to the terrorists' level. In war or a street fight, it is the agressor who determines the rules of engagement. Churchill did not "become Hitler" because he authorized the burning of Hamburg. This is a facile sophism which would guarantee that he most ruthless and uncivilized would always win, appling a Gresham's Law to world history. As someone who dislikes war genuinely and not only aesthetically, I believe that if the cause is at all worth fighting for, then it justifies doing whatever is necessary in order to win as decisively as possible. Otherwise, war becomes just a gross game, and that is the real crime. -Rurik |
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Contributed by George Mellinger on September 16, 2006 at 12:49 AM in Current Affairs, George Mellinger, Islamism Delenda Est, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack |
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HMH: John McCain Has Finally Broken The Camel's Back
The latest Henry Mark Holzer Memorandum. Click here to add your name to his mailing list.
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Contributed by Bill Faith on September 15, 2006 at 03:29 PM in Bill Faith, Islamism Delenda Est, John McCain, Politics, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack |
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Letter across the divide
Jules Crittenden emails:
Thank you, Jules! Please do keep me on your mailing list.
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Contributed by Bill Faith on September 13, 2006 at 01:02 PM in Bill Faith, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Remembering September 10, 2001
For the next several days, ink splatters on newsprint, pixilated images wafting through the airwaves and burning brightly on millions of computer monitors will commemorate the emotional events of 9/11. As it is my nature to avoid crowds, I choose to focus on the America that existed on September 10, 2001. In looking back, it is difficult to contemplate 9/10 outside the context of 9/11. While researching the headlines from our last days of innocence, I expected to find some significant contrast to the news stories of today. After 9/11 and nearly five years into the Global War on Terrorism, I instinctively felt that America had to be fundamentally changed, more focused, perhaps more mature. But, then again, perhaps not. The following Chicago Tribune headlines from the thirty days leading to September 10th in both 2001 and 2006 tell the story. Immigration 2001 - “Immigration deal ‘must be fair,’ U.S. says White House will target lawbreakers.” While the White House has maintained a ‘fair but tough” stance on illegal immigration, no new laws or enforcement of existing laws appears to be imminent. Meanwhile, illegal aliens have become the envy of many hapless sports franchises, by picking up corporate sponsorship from a major beer distributor. After a rough week crossing through arid deserts and swimming the Rio Grande, “It’s Miller Time.’” President Bush 2001 - “Lawmakers battle Bush over secrecy; Executive privilege debate rages anew.” “Well, the liberals still have not forgiven Bush for ‘stealing’ the 2000 election. Their hatred is so blinding that they still will imperil our national security in an attempt to undermine our chief executive.” Israel 2001 - “Bombs rattle Jerusalem; Palestinians say blasts are reprisal for leader’s death.” “Israel still can do no right. It has no right to defend itself. It has no right to exist.” Osama bin Laden 2001 - “U.S. citizens alerted about possible threat.” Richard Boucher declined to comment on whether the threat came from Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, wanted in the 1998 U.S. Embassy attacks. “I’m waiting for the shrewd investigative reporter to announce that bin Laden has discovered a secret method of traversing the Space/Time continuum. How else does one explain that all headlines continue to report his activities of three to five years ago?” Rumsfeld 2001 - “’Rumsfeld poised to dump 2-war strategy. New Goal: Defeat one enemy, repel a second.” “Strategy or fantasy? Have we defeated an enemy or repelled them? The same questions remain unanswered.” North Korea 2001 - “North Korea proposes to renew talks with South.” “I guess the South decided to talk back.” Iran 2001 - “Iran cracks down again; detains liberal filmmaker.” “Where is the ACLU when you need it? How can anyone worry about nuclear programs at a time like this?” UN/Kofi Annan 2001 - “U.S., Israel abandon UN race summit; Powell denounces ‘hateful language’ in proclamation.” “Still the model of diplomatic efficiency, this anti-Semitic gathering of third world tyrants do nothing more than legally evade millions of dollars in NYC parking fines.” NY Yankees 2001 - 9/10: Yankees lead Boston in the A.L. East by 13 games. “Some things never change.” My research was intended to discover a naïve and narcissistic country five years ago. I am disheartened to admit that I only had to look at today to find it (so who is naive?). It is no wonder that we have not progressed. While we are engaged in a multi-front Global War on Terrorism, Americans at home are unaffected. There are no shortages, rationing, blackouts or shelters. Instead, we are blessed with a strong economy and abundance as we smugly sit in our comfortable living rooms anxiously awaiting a new season of American Idol. Except for the men and women of our military and their families and friends, there is no visible sign that America is in a struggle for its very survival. For most Americans, the biggest battle anticipated this weekend is between Peyton and Eli Manning. Are you ready for some football? While others rightfully remember the atrocities of 9/11, we should be mindful of 9/10. Nothing has really changed. Isn’t it time? |
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Contributed by The Gray Dog on September 9, 2006 at 03:08 PM in 9/11, Best of Old War Dogs, Caring about our troops, Current Affairs, DisUnited Nations, G W Bush, Iran, Israel, Politics, The Gray Dog, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack |
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Eric Bogomolny: What year is it?
Another excellent essay from frequent contributor Eric Bogomolny
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Contributed by Bill Faith on September 7, 2006 at 05:53 PM in Best of Old War Dogs, Bill Faith, Eric Bogomolny, Islamism Delenda Est, Peacenik Stupidity, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Veterans as an Ethnic Minority
[Webmaster's note: Please see first: Defensive Misgivings, which inspired this post.] For at least fifty years now ethnic identity has been at the head of the American agenda. African-American, Hispanic-American or Mexican-American, Asian-American, and gradually Jewish-American, Polish-, Italian-, Irish-, and other Hyphenated-Americans. The rule is, we must never notice these differences, while remaining always carefully aware of them. We must remember which group is the "group of the month" and appreciate its unique contributions and specialness, while simultaneously denying that it is in any way different, or that its members can even be detected by appearance, accent, or name. More recently we have discovered Gay-Americans, and even deaf-mutes, and others with congenital disabilities are demanding to be treated as hyphenated minorities. Even women. Women who are neither "disabled" nor in any sense a minority often demand their Hyphenated recognition. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the desire of everyone for a special identity, and to have it recognized, just so long as it does not become self-satirizing. But what is an ethic group? It is not race or skin color, nor is it language, though these features may form a significant part of the formula. Essentially it is a uniquely defining background and shared experience which sets the members of the group apart. Frequently a part of this experience involves being stigmatized. Essential is a sense of self-identity. Gradually, I came to realize that I am a Veteran-American. Am I kidding? Veterans as an ethnic group? How can that be, when they’re all sorts of colors, have all sorts of weird accents? True. But there is something else. For over half a century, we have been singled out by society, and while once upon a time we were not a minority, but the majority, like the American Indian we have gone from being a majority to a minority in our own land. Special bond and experience? Of course. Its called war, though even those who served in peacetime share the experiences of training and barracks life. We have our own special language. Even if our language has dialects special to the World War, Korean, Viet Nam, and Gulf generations, we still understand each other as civilians cannot. We can understand military terms and make sense out of news reports as even the reporters cannot. And we have an understanding of what war is all about, and what is at stake in politics. There is a mindset which seems to be peculiar to Veterans, characterized by greater sense of self-discipline, and duty, of attention to detail and thoroughness, more attention to old-timey virtues. Like a number of the acknowledged minorities we have seen our members mistreated because of our identity. And called ethnic names. "Dago"? "Nigger"? "Kike"? Use those names at your peril. But "Babykiller", "Warmonger", "Fascist", they seem to be socially quite acceptable. Veterans are scorned, both by society and by government. Government budgets for caring for wounded and disabled Veterans is always limited, but budgets for the needs of other, civilian ethnics always seem to be limitless. And what company would deny a contribution to an Aids project or to a Rainbow Coalition shakedown? But when Military Veteran and Family Asistance came begging a few corporate contributions for programs to help our newest veterans readjust, the CEOs of major companies such as IBM, EDS And now I hear about the National Guardsman in Pierce County, Wa., attacked by a gang of civilians for being military. and other incidents also have happened in the recent past. Other ethnics have sometimes tried to conceal their identities, changing their accents, and sometimes even trying to modify their skin color or hair. And then, every so often a few will try to emphasize their ethnic identity for political purposes. For how many decades have Veterans been concealing their status, not mentioning that of which they are most proud, trying to explain "two missing years" on their resumes, as if it were time spent in prison. And if Blacks have Rev’run Al and Jessie, we’ve got Kerry, McCain, and Murtha. Blacks hear "I don’t date outside my race", we hear "I don’t date babykillers". And yes, we also have Veterans whom we consider traitors to our ethnicity. See the above list for a few examples. The big difference is, we tend to disown those who would self-anoint themselves as our spokesmen. So of course, I am not speaking for you, I am speaking to you, urging you, us all, to stand up and demand our own share of recognition. I’ve got a case of the ass. A big one. I’m not impressed with "Thank you for your service" which is becoming almost a cliche as "Have a nice day", or "welcome home" about forty years too late. It is appropriate for greeting someone at the airport dressed in DCUs. But to an old guy who’s been called a babykiller for forty years, its just rubbing in the salt. In January 1977, Jimmie Carter amnestied all the draft dodgers, deserters and other swine, proclaimed them my, our equals. That is a whistle which, like an ex-president, cannot be unblown. Then they elected a draft-dodger as president. Twice! Now they wish to honor us, equally with those who spat upon us?! No, not really. They’re willing, finally, not to honor, but to to forgive us for our service, forty years after the fact. And only if we become penitents and supplicants, meekly standing in line to beg a pittance from some bureaucrat who "served" in Canada from 1968 to 1977. Then I observe the hedonistic slackers around me, those who do not, and will not serve. Those with no self-discipline or any willingness even to wipe their own lardbutts. Who demand, but do not give, who seek to cash in on the colors of their hides or their choice of sexual oddity, who worship only the Eternal ME. I say to myself, these are NOT my people. I do not care what the color of your skin, or of your uniform. If you served honorably, you are my brother or sister. By the Grace of God and the US Congress, I am a Veteran-American. And proud. And you WILL NOT make me hide in the closet. -Rurik Webmaster's notes: Check out http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1696722/posts and http://www.bootmurtha.com/MurthaUpdates/SEP2006/09-06-06.htm! BZs, Rurik. It's going to take a few days to make it happen but as soon as we can we'll start selling Veteran-American bumper stickers, tees, etc in our CafePress shop. (Click the hat on the sidebar to learn about our shop.) Ross Perot sold EDS to GM years ago and has, in fact, been very supportive of Military Veteran and Family Assistance and The Phoenix Project. It's the current management of EDS that sucks. |
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Contributed by George Mellinger on September 6, 2006 at 12:48 PM in Best of Old War Dogs, Caring about our troops, George Mellinger, Jean Fraud Kerry, Mad Jack Murtha, Patriotism, Peacenik Stupidity, Politics, Viet Nam, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (25) | TrackBack |
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Thoughts on the need for total war
You cannot be objective about an aerial torpedo. And the horror we feel of these things has led to this conclusion: if someone drops a bomb on your mother, go and drop two bombs on his mother. The only apparent alternatives are to smash dwelling houses to powder, blow out human entrails and burn holes in children with thermite, or to be enslaved by people who are more ready to do these things than you are yourself; as yet no one has suggested a practicable way out. —George Orwell, reviewing Arthur Koestler’s Spanish Testament for the magazine Time and Tide, Feb. 5, 1938. John Derbyshire is not a jolly man, but he is a very serious man.
And this applies to us as well, in Iraq, Iran, and eventually other places yet to be imagined. Rurik's first rule of war, if you're not prepared to do what is necessary to win, then don't even pretend, just resolve to lose from the beginning and get it over with honestly.
-Rurik |
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Contributed by George Mellinger on September 4, 2006 at 09:30 PM in Current Affairs, George Mellinger, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Israel, Lebanon, The American Warrior, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Rumsfeld's delusional critics
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Contributed by Bill Faith on September 1, 2006 at 01:13 AM in Bill Faith, Islamism Delenda Est, Media Perfidy, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Profiled
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Contributed by Bill Faith on August 25, 2006 at 03:08 PM in Bill Faith, Islamism Delenda Est, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack |
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Imagine
Subtle, yet ironic is the proximity of the fifth anniversary of 9/11 to the thirty-fifth anniversary of the September 9, 1971 release of John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Subtle, because of the differences of magnitude and time between the two events, yet ironic for the way that each defined the American psyche of its era. Many of us, particularly Baby Boomers have a strong recollection of both events, yet few may see the eerie correlation. While I naively spent many years mumbling half remembered lyrics that easily wafted atop this simplistic melody, to many others, “Imagine” was becoming an anthem emblematic of a generation. For decades I ignored the impact of John Lennon’s words, yet now, I hear them each day resounding from the speeches of John Kerry, the protests of Cindy Sheehan, the actions brought to court by the ACLU and the decrees issued by Anna Diggs Taylor. Imagine there’s no heaven Not one to subject myself to the ritualism of religion, I have lived an agnostic life. Yet even I dare to imagine a heaven. To not imagine a heaven is easy, only if you do not try. Hell, on the other hand requires little imagination. I attended my 10th high school reunion in 1979. While fortunate to have not lost any of our classmates due to combat in Viet Nam, we were no less shaken to learn that three had returned only to take their own lives. Only a visit to hell could have caused such young men to relinquish their spirit before their time. Yes John, imagine. And like the seventies, America continues to be cursed by its very blessings. While our military is engaged in a protracted multi-front war, many have time to energetically protest our government and blame America for the ills of the world, while never missing an episode of 24 or American Idol. Living for today… Imagine there’s no countries In Europe’s rush to find Utopian bliss, their dreams of a European Union are quickly distorting into a Euro-Arabian nightmare. America, likewise dons blinders while an invasion from the south threatens to turn the “great melting pot” into a centrifuge of disparate cultures and language. No longer is there a unifying identity in America. Instead, young men driven by ethnic hatred kill and die for a few blocks of turf or an ounce of smack, ignorant and unaware of the blood spilt by their fathers and grandfathers for a nation that was intended to be their salvation. Religion remains sacrosanct as long as it does not involve Christianity. America has become a nation intolerant of the very Christian tenets on which it was founded. Living life in peace… Imagine no possessions In the Utopia of Sharia law, possessions, greed and hunger abound. Of course women are the possessions, greed is tolerated for those in power, and hunger is a shared virtue. Yes John, imagine this idyllic brotherhood of man. Sharing all the world… You may say I’m a dreamer Yes John, you were a dreamer and not the only one. Like your homophonic brother Vladimir, your lyrics have helped to slow the natural advance of human progress while leaving it vulnerable to an enemy even you didn’t imagine. I can only hope that as 9/11 approaches, I will hear a more hopeful positive message than the one you left behind. Maybe Dylan’s “The Times, They are a-Changin’” comes to mind. |
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Contributed by The Gray Dog on August 24, 2006 at 11:59 AM in Best of Old War Dogs, Current Affairs, Islamism Delenda Est, Music, Patriotism, Politics, Religion, The Gray Dog, War? What war? | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack |