Words of war and the war of words...
Mark Alexander (archive)
February 13, 2004 | Print | Send
President George W. Bush served notice this week that he'll continue to prosecute the war with Jihadistan in a forward posture -- thus giving the Demo presidential contingent a broader target for politically motivated potshots. Indeed, despite the Demo-gogues' wacky insistence that Saddam's WMD were nothing more than a Republican ruse, the President is standing firm in his primary constitutional role of advocating for our nation's security and defense. In an address at the National Defense University, the Commander-in-Chief laid out plans to build on his Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) by enlisting all available means to protect our citizens and other liberty-loving innocents against terrorist attack via weapons of mass death.
Mr. Bush outlined his rationale, saying, "In the past, enemies of America required massed armies, and great navies, powerful air forces to put our nation, our people, our friends and allies at risk. In the Cold War, Americans lived under the threat of weapons of mass destruction but believed that deterrents made those weapons a last resort. What has changed in the 21st century is that, in the hands of terrorists, weapons of mass destruction would be a first resort -- the preferred means to further their ideology of suicide and random murder."
The President further affirmed, "America, and the entire civilized world, will face this threat for decades to come. We must confront the danger with open eyes, and unbending purpose. I have made clear to all the policy of this nation: America will not permit terrorists and dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most deadly weapons. … There is a consensus among nations that proliferation cannot be tolerated. Yet, this consensus means little unless it is translated into action."
Mr. Bush cited the ongoing threats posed by Iran, North Korea, and the recently exposed terrorist shopping network of Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, concluding, "The way ahead is not easy, but it is clear. … Terrorists and terror states are in a race for weapons of mass murder, a race they must lose. Terrorists are resourceful; we [must be] more resourceful. They're determined; we must be more determined. We will never lose focus or resolve. We'll be unrelenting in the defense of free nations, and rise to the hard demands of dangerous times."
The Proliferation Security Initiative is no less critical to U.S. national security than the Strategic Defense Initiative proposed by Ronald Reagan in his first term to contain the Soviet WMD threat. Accordingly, we believe that the PSI should be implemented fully and quickly, as the Jihadi threat is not likely to diminish in the foreseeable future.
Essentially, the Proliferation Security Initiative buttresses current national-security operations by tactically improving security from shipping, air traffic and other WMD threat vectors and proposes an Interpol-like task force to shut down labs, seize materials, and freeze assets of terrorist organizations around the world. The PSI strategically proposes that the UN Security Council require all states to criminalize proliferation, enact strict export controls, and secure all sensitive materials within their borders. It further provides for an expanded effort by the U.S. to keep Cold War WMD out of terrorist hands, and it closes a loophole in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty so that only states that have signed the Additional Protocol, which requires states to declare a broad range of nuclear activities and facilities, can import nuclear or nuclear-related dual-use equipment.
The Federalist, you'll recall, has been a staunch supporter of the administration's Doctrine of Preemption against Jihadi targets and state sponsors, precisely because we understand WMD to be the "first resort" of the Jihadi terrorists. This week, in fact, there emerged a plethora of new evidence to support both the President's preemptive policy and his new Proliferation Security Initiative.
Ominously, Britain's MI-6 is investigating a new report that al-Qa'ida may have acquired tactical nuclear capabilities from Ukrainian scientists in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 1998. Meanwhile, a classified New Scotland Yard memo warns that in the last five years, al-Qa'ida has purchased as many as 17 sea-worthy vessels of varying sizes from a Greek shipping concern. Those vessels could be used to attack a major port with a radiological or nuclear device. The vessels are suspected of sailing under flags of Yemen, Somalia, Senegal, Liberia and the Caribbean island of St. Vincent.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi front with Jihadistan remains a dangerous place. Bombings this week were timed to coincide with UN election officials visiting to assess whether conditions are favorable for the June vote that Iraqi Shi'ites are demanding. CENTCOM Commander Gen. John Abizaid and his convoy came under attack Thursday in Fallujah, and there was yet another reminder of the connections between Iraq and al-Qa'ida: U.S. forces discovered an electronic document on a Jihadi (thought to be Hassan Ghul, who was recently arrested in Afghanistan), written by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian with close ties to al-Qa'ida. The document asked for al-Qa'ida assistance in bringing about a Sunni-Shi'ite "sectarian war" in Iraq in the coming months, in order to derail the seating of any constitutional Iraqi government.
On the home front, news reports from the FBI this week estimated that al-Qa'ida-affiliated sleeper cells may exist in as many as 40 states (though our sources indicate that six of these are true al-Qa'ida cells prepared to target East Coast urban centers). These cells are funded by Islamic front-organizations and supplied with key personnel from the estimated 70 Jihadi training camps remaining in Pakistan and the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir region, operated by Harakat ul-Ansar and Lashkar-e-Taiba. Both the FBI and CIA have made significant progress in suppressing these cells' planning and activities -- thereby forcing their active cadres to lie low.
Quote of the week...
"I'm a war president. I make decisions here in the Oval Office in foreign policy matters with war on my mind. Again, I wish it weren't true, but it is true. And the American people need to know they've got a president who sees the world the way it is, and I see dangers that exist, and it's important for us to deal with them."
--President George W. Bush
On cross-examination...
"Nuclear proliferation is on the rise. Equipment, material and training were once largely inaccessible. Today, however, there is a sophisticated worldwide network that can deliver systems for producing material usable in weapons. The demand clearly exists: Countries remain interested in the illicit acquisition of weapons of mass destruction. ... If we sit idly by, this trend will continue. ... The supply network will grow, making it easier to acquire nuclear-weapon expertise and materials. Eventually, inevitably, terrorists will gain access to such materials and technology, if not actual weapons. ... If the world does not change course, we risk self-destruction."
--Mohamed El Baradei, director general, International Atomic Energy Agency
From the Bush campaign journal...
President Bush's three-point campaign is now clear: winning the war on terrorism, preserving homeland security, and continuing to promote economic revitalization and tax reduction. The federal budget (with a predicted $521-billion deficit for fiscal 2005 alone), we predict, will be the President's toughest sell in the coming election.
Speaking to factory workers in Wisconsin, a key electoral swing state, President Bush took aim at John Kerry's plan to repeal his administration's tax cuts, if elected: "Some people in Washington want to raise your taxes, there's no doubt about it," said Mr. Bush, none too subtly. "When they say, 'We are going to repeal the Bush tax cuts,' that means they are going to raise your taxes. That's wrong, and that's bad economics." The President's trip to Wisconsin, where Kerry is expected to add another major primary victory, marks the third time in as many weeks that Bush has shadowed the Demo herd on the campaign trail. In 2000, Mr. Bush barely edged out Albert Gore in Wisconsin, with 50% of the vote.
From the DEMO-lition campaign...
Demo presidential candidate and unwitting Botox pitchman John "Ketchup" Kerry added to his slate of Demo-primary victories this week with wins in Virginia and Tennessee, garnering 52% and 41% respectively, and laying to rest opponents' hopes that the Leftist Massachusetts senator could not compete in the South. In fact, Kerry's triumphs led General Wesley Clark, the fired former supreme commander of NATO forces, to surrender.
"Once again, the message rings out loud and clear. Americans are voting for change: East and West, North, and now, in the South," J. F. Kerry said in his victory speech. "You showed that the mainstream values we share [sic] -- fairness [sic], love of country [sic], a belief in hope [sic] and in hard work [sic] -- are more important than boundaries or birthplace," said the "nominally Catholic," pro-abortion, pro-welfare state, pro-homosexual civil union, pro-Saddam, anti-gun, anti-military, anti-intelligence multi-millionaire-heiress-hopping man of the people.
"They don't know John Kerry's record.... He is the Olympic gold medalist when it comes to special-interest money," said Senator Zell Miller, the Georgia Democrat who's campaigning -- in earnest -- for George W. Bush's second term. "I also think that he is very vulnerable on the issues of national security. If you look at his voting record, it is terrible as far as it comes to national defense and helping fund a good intelligence unit."
Howard Dean, who's starting to look like the conservative Demo candidate, finished a distant, dismal fourth place in Virginia and Tennessee, with 7% and 4%, respectively. North Carolina Senator and erstwhile trial lawyer John Edwards, who may get tapped as the bottom half of a Kerry ticket, had hoped for more but finished a competitive second nonetheless, winning about 27% of the vote in both races. Should a Kerry-Edwards ticket come to fruition, it's our belief that these two everyday chaps would constitute the wealthiest presidential pair in history -- and certainly the most meticulously coiffed.
Speculation regarding the military records of George Bush and John Kerry 30 years ago is still front-and-center. Kerry's traveling Vietnam "dog and pony show" now includes former Sen. Max Cleland, who has teamed up with DNC Chairman and former Clinton bagman Terry McAuliffe accusing President Bush of being AWOL from his service as an F-102 fighter pilot with the Texas Air National Guard in 1972-3. Cleland demanded to see Mr. Bush's pay stubs for May 1972 to May 1973.
The White House produced those pay stubs, which establish, in the words of Ann Coulter, "Bush reported for duty nine times between Nov. 29, 1972, and May 24, 1973 -- more than enough times to fulfill his Guard duties. (And nine times more than Bill Clinton, Barney Frank or Chuck Schumer did during the same period.) … Bush's National Guard service is the most thoroughly investigated event since the Kennedy assassination. But the Democrats will accept only two possible conclusions to their baseless accusations: (1) Bush was 'AWOL,' or (2) the matter needs further investigation."
Cleland is also outraged that Mr. Bush left the National Guard nine months early in 1973 to attend Harvard Business School. "I just know a whole lot of veterans who would have loved to have worked things out with the military and adjusted their tour of duty." Albert Arnold Gore And John Forbes Kerry come to mind, though unlike Gore and Kerry, when Mr. Bush left military service, the war in Vietnam was over.
As for Cleland's war record, Terry McAuliffe claims he's a "war hero -- a triple amputee who left three limbs on the battlefield of Vietnam." Unfortunately, Cleland suffered his injuries when he picked up a grenade while drinking beer with some friends. As for McAuliffe's military record -- oh…he doesn't have one, which is why he and other Demos who have never raised their hand to take a military oath of allegiance to our constitution have no idea what a "hero" is. Cleland's service, like that of Mr. Kerry and Mr. Bush and most others who have served in the military, may qualify them as patriots, but not necessarily "heroes." (If you aren't sure what a hero really is, read a few of the 3,400 Medal of Honor recipient citations.)
As for George Bush's military service, he served honorably and we submit that flying F-102s is dangerous business regardless of what hard-deck you're over. McAuliffe, Cleland and his opportunistic Leftist cadre should take note that every time they denigrate the service of Guardsmen and Reservists, they spit in the faces of hundreds of thousands of citizen-soldiers -- and their families -- who make enormous sacrifices whether serving on the front lines in Iraq or the home front. Indeed, McAuliffe et al., have been mentored well by John Kerry and his comrade, "Hanoi Jane" Fonda.
Let us reiterate: The military records that are most important now are John Kerry's record as a U.S. Senator and George Bush's record as Commander-in-Chief. As a Senator, Mr. Kerry has consistently endeavored to undermine our national security defense capabilities -- and consequently, he has made life more dangerous for our military personnel. On the other hand, the President gets the highest marks for his resolute performance as CiC.
The facts notwithstanding, Kerry is going to give Bush "a run for his money," though the current polling showing Kerry ahead of Bush is utterly meaningless -- except that it indicates Kerry has had more face time with a lovesick Leftmedia. Like the polling in advance of Iowa that showed Dean with substantial leads, there's a big difference between advance polling and polling just before an election. Advance polling reflects no real depth of commitment -- it only reflects whose name has been heard most in the last 48 hours. Polling just prior to an election reflects a greater degree of voter commitment.
And speaking of the last 48 hours, Matt Drudge -- the online agitator who broke the Monica Lewinsky scandal -- is reporting that John Kerry's had a recent affair with, of all things, an intern. Wesley Clark, who is slated to endorse Kerry today, told reporters in an off-the-record session that "Kerry will implode over an intern issue." The faltering Dean campaign, meanwhile, has decided to stick it out beyond the Wisconsin primary in the hopes that this intern scandal-in-the-making will bring Senator Kerry to his knees.
Of course, Clark and Dean are wrong. Democrats don't apply character tests to candidates. To wit: They elected Bill Clinton -- twice. In fact, expect Kerry's stock to go up if the report gets legs!
The BIG lie...
"The American people have had it with the big lie. Any attempt to link Kerry to me and make him look bad with that connection is completely false."
--Hanoi Jane Fonda -- who knows any association with her persona is a political killer -- suggesting that the photo showing her and Kerry at the same September 1970 Vietnam war protest was misleading. In fact, Kerry and Fonda were, and remain, comrades to the end…
This week's "Braying Jackass" award…
"I believe and have fought for the principle that we should protect the fundamental rights of gay and lesbian couples -- from inheritance to health benefits. I believe the right answer is civil unions. I oppose gay marriage and disagree with the Massachusetts Court's decision."
--John Kerry, swinging both ways on the "gay marriage" issue
DEMO-gogue quotes (almost) forgotten...
The more things change... "I'm an internationalist. I'd like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the United Nations."
--Massachusetts congressional candidate John Kerry in a 1970 interview with the Harvard Crimson, expressing his desire for a Soviet veto of American foreign policy.
Mark Alexander is Executive Editor and Publisher of The Federalist, a Townhall.com member group.
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