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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: T L Comiskey who wrote (17613)	4/20/2003 5:31:55 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 89467

The statue falls , the crowd roars and brimming with victory euphoria the Goeringed (http://www.rense.com/general21/wara.htm ) Majority cheers “ We win. We were right. You were wrong”. Sad, very sad. This isn’t jr-High. Something more than a pep rally mentality is required. Yes, the US military disposed of a fifth rate military in about a month. Few outside of Baghdad Bob ever said it would be otherwise. Meanwhile von Rumsfeld plays CYA apparently ignoring the flawed engagement plan. Sorry, when a significant fraction of your troops are down to one meal a day, you have to turn units around and have them reverse direction to protect your exposed supply lines, and quickly call up another division – the unanticipated lack of a defense by your adversary hardly makes you a military genius. Those that opposed this illegal “pre-emptive” war didn’t do so because they thought the US military would be defeated by Saddam’s brigades or because they believed Saddam was a worthy leader. Rather, they saw all pre-emptive wars as illegal. For the leading democracy to suddenly give it’s imprimatur was to open the Doors of Hell. Then there’s the loss of moral standing. While this country’s record has hardly been spotless, nevertheless, at its best, it was able to make some claim on being a force for good. This position was a source of strength throughout the cold war. With the unprovoked attack on a fifth rate power, that position is forfeit. Most are familiar with TR’s foreign policy maximum “Walk softly and carry a big stick”. What’s less well understood is that the bigger the stick, the more softly one needs to walk. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the world entered into a militarily uni-polar era. For a decade, because of the way that power was exercised (Bosnia, Kosovo etc.), there was no significant reaction. With the raw use of military power to establish an American hegemony, the reaction is obvious. Rather than allow themselves to be picked off one-by-one, a new alliance is in the process of forming. Stretching from France on the Atlantic through Germany and Russia to China on the Pacific, this new Eurasian anti-American alliance is still nascent, but has the potential to thwart America’s drive for world dominion. Another consequence of an Iraqi war that was bemoaned by its opponents was the likely effect in the Islamic world. To understand this pre-war prediction, one needs to understand the Arab idea of the Umma, and the particular significance of Baghdad in the history of Islam. Think of the Umma as the Islamic homeland. The Qur’an specifically states that if the Umma is attacked, it is the obligation of every able bodied Muslim male above the age of 16 to defend the Umma with his life against the infidels. Baghdad as the capital of the early caliphates is part of the heart of the Umma. Only Mecca and Medina would be considered more worthy of defense against the unholy invaders. Now the US proposes to install a democracy that will be attentive to needs of the disparate, mutually hating groups that inhabit Iraq. Today, on Face the Nation, I saw Perle say he thought this would take months to accomplish. I say he’s lying. No way such a miracle could be accomplished in months and he knows it. So we are left with two choices, pull out soon and chaos will ensue, or prepared for a long occupation – an occupation that puts American troops squarely in the martyr’s bull’s eye. This dilemma was a predicted consequence of the war months ago, and it still stands. Let us not forget how we arrived at this juncture. The neo-cons published their intentions for an American hegemony in ’91. Step one was the conquering of Iraq. They reiterated their goals in 2000 with the report from the Project for the New American Century, and finally with the “opportunity” of 9-11 the got their plan implemented as law with the NSS. Still the Iraqi War had to be sold. Many sales techniques were used including riding the world of a heinous regime. Unfortunately, Burma is a more heinous regime, and how many times have you heard Burma mentioned lately. No, what sold the American people on the war was the idea that invading Iraq would make them safer. Most Americans have heard the word jihad. But they don’t know what it means, any more than they know that Islam means surrender (to the will of God). The big jihad is the one a Muslim must fight with himself – to completely submit to Allah. The little jihad is willingness of any true Muslim to defend the Umma. But who can declare a jihad? In Islam there is no separation between church and state. So “normally” it would be the caliph that would call for jihad to expel the infidels. With no current caliphate, OBL issued a call. It was largely ignored. Without a caliph only the preeminent clerics have the necessary standing. With the invasion of Iraq, that call has now be made. This is why Mubarak has said we’ll now have 100 OBLs. Again this was all predicted prior to the war, and has now come to pass. As a consequence of the Iraqi War we have far less security - instead of the increased security that was promised. In addition to a nascent ant-American Eurasian Alliance, we now have Islamic people stretching from Morocco to Indonesia ready to give their life to strike America. So while the Moronic Majority shouts with glee “We won, we won”, I say “Yeah, look at what we won”. JMO lurqer