To: American Spirit who wrote (377308 ) 3/24/2003 10:38:43 AM From: PROLIFE Respond to of 769670 The Saddest Man In America March 24, 2003 by Christopher G. Adamo It should be readily apparent by now to anyone who pays even a modest amount of attention to the political scene that whenever Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) prefaces a comment by claiming to be “concerned”, “troubled”, or “saddened”, a venomous tirade is sure to follow. His outrageous and despicable assertion of this past week stands as undeniable proof. In just such a shameless and juvenile attempt to cover all of his bases, he claimed on Monday, March 17, to be in support of military action against Saddam Hussein but targeted President Bush for culpability by claiming that “this president failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to war.” No doubt Daschle prefers the brand of diplomacy engaged in by former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, whose groveling and pandering resulted in North Korea's acquisition of nuclear capabilities, along with China’s development of ICBMs capable of reaching the continental United States. Among liberal Democrats, who are apparently incapable of feeling embarrassment or remorse, such horrendous results, endangering all Americans for the foreseeable future, are still somehow more honorable than George W. Bush’s decisive use of force. In what must be a humiliating spectacle for the good people of the heartland state of South Dakota, in the past several months Daschle has been all over the board when it comes to the issues of Iraq and homeland security. Now it appears that he intends to take a stand that he believes will keep him on safe ground, no matter what the outcome of the present situation. Clearly, such posturing proves his indifference to the well being of the American people, or to any guiding principle, other than the political gain he hopes to reap from each ensuing crisis that befalls the nation. Exhibiting a degree of “tunnel vision” which rivals that of the jurors in the OJ Simpson trial, Daschle and the Democrat leadership have sought to undermine President Bush’s efforts to deal with Iraq by proffering the notion that such an effort is a distraction from the war on terror. With flinty determination, they maintain that no credible link can be established between Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and the terrorist attacks of September 11. For most of the past year and a half, they have advanced such a notion by focusing on a single event, a meeting in April of 2001 between Mohamed Atta, the leader of the 9-11 hijackers, and Ibrahim al-Ani, an Iraqi intelligence officer, in the Czech Republic. Although the Czech government has insisted from the beginning that this meeting took place, and despite its having recently offered a new affirmation of the encounter, anti-Bush Democrats claim to remain unconvinced. But even discounting the rendezvous in the Czech Republic, a mountain of evidence exists whereby such a connection can be established. Just this past week, Spanish investigators delivered information to U.S. authorities that bolsters the case for an Iraq/al-Qaeda connection. And only the most ideologically tainted could deny the significance of the training camp at Salman Pak just outside of Baghdad, where a commercial aircraft fuselage has been used to train Islamic radicals, many of whom are not Iraqi citizens, in the fine art of airplane hijacking. It can only be concluded that, to Daschle and the other Democratic stalwarts, defeating George W. Bush constitutes a greater priority than neutralizing Saddam Hussein. Thus, their real concern is just as it has always been. And that is to undermine their president even if so doing further enables a terrorist dictator who endangers their homeland. In another time, when truth was delivered more bluntly, such behavior would have been called treason. Must more attacks occur against innocent Americans on American soil before they are willing to concede the gravity and nature of the threat that exists? Fundamentalist Islamic regimes never liked America in the past, and are not likely to do so in the future. Those things that made this country great are in direct conflict with the building blocks of militant Islam. But while “friendships” between such differing cultures may have always been elusive, a healthy mutual respect could nevertheless result in workable and stable relationships. In truth, the appeasement “strategies” of Clinton and Carter, which Tom Daschle enthusiastically endorsed, served only to destroy any such respect for this nation. And contrary to the malicious opinions offered by “gentleman” from South Dakota, it was from this crucible of seething disdain that the present dangers to America erupted. conservativetruth.org