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Politics : Fair and Balanced-'Duties Of a Democracy' -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ksuave who wrote (208)	8/27/2006 11:47:34 AM
From: rrufff	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1262

My post was a joke and those who follow my posts know that I hate this type of focus, whether it's on Bush's drinking or war record or on Monica. I don't believe Kerry lost because of the Swift Boats. The people tuned out on it, just as they tuned out when he saluted and said "reporting for duty." Both were perverse sides of a very stupid campaign. It came down to Bush vs. anti-Bush and the people reluctantly chose the devil they knew, by default, by a slim margin, with apathy. That's the bottom line, not all this BS you cite, focusing on who attacked first or worst or whatever. We're sick of all that. We want simple approaches. Less taxes, fairer taxes, economic decisions that aren't just "throw money at it," better strategies for wars, precise and thought out policies, numbers that add up and don't change many standard deviations over a year, lobbyists that get pork whether there are dems or repubs in power, etc., etc.., etc.

To: ksuave who wrote (208)	8/27/2006 1:08:09 PM
From: longnshort	Respond to of 1262

'Stunningly naive' By Oliver North August 27, 2006 ATHENS, Greece. While changing planes here in this ancient capital, I arranged to meet with an old friend who has long experience in the Middle East. Fluent in many Mediterranean and Persian Gulf languages and intimately familiar with the long, sad history of enmity in the region, he worked quietly with Americans for decades. I first met him in the 1980s during sensitive -- but ultimately fruitless -- efforts to elicit help from Arab governments in obtaining the release of American hostages being held in Lebanon. Throughout his personal triumphs and failures, successes and frustrations, I've always found him optimistic, his affection and admiration for the U.S. undimmed. But not this time. Now he is nearly despondent about the current course of events and prospects for the future. "Does anyone in the United States understand what's happening today?" he asked as we sat down over cups of strong coffee. "Look at this," he said, gesturing to headlines in the stack of newspapers on the table. "The world is at the brink of a cataclysm with radical Islam, and no one in the U.S. government seems to know it. Washington is stunningly naive." Our conversation eventually turned to family and friends, but after we parted, his "stunningly naive" comment haunted me. And here, on the pages of a half-dozen English-language, European newspapers he left behind, are the reasons: • "Iran gives 'positive' response to U.S.-European nuclear offer." Nearly identical headlines, were in every paper. Each article, based on "news" services, quoted Iranian "Supreme Leader" Ayatollah Ali Khameni saying Iran would "forcefully" pursue nuclear enrichment. European Union foreign policy spokesman Javier Solana observed Tehran's "official" 20-page reply, provided by Ali Larijani of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, requires "detailed and careful analysis." President Bush and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton, the only American officials cited in any of the pieces, referred the matter back to the U.N. Security Council. • "Hezbollah gives immediate relief to help Lebanese rebuild." An accompanying photograph shows a "Hezbollah official" dispensing $12,000 in brand new U.S. $50 and $100 bills to "victims of Israeli destruction." Another article said Hezbollah was handing out "dollars for Lebanese reconstruction faster than the American government can help those made homeless by hurricanes." It's remarkably effective propaganda -- apparently unchallenged by any media outlet or U.S. official. "Doesn't anyone in Washington remember that the Iranians have printed millions in high-quality counterfeit U.S. currency -- and made duplicate plates and paper for their friends in Pyongyang?" asked my friend. An inquiry to the State and Treasury Departments whether anyone knew if the "Hezbollah reconstruction aid dollars" were counterfeit essentially produced a shrug. • "Iranian military unit seizes Romanian oil rig in Persian Gulf." According to this report, an Iranian Navy patrol boat "destroyed a crane aboard, strafed the legs and accommodation areas with machine-gun fire and then detained the 26-man crew aboard the rig." Though news items noted this is the first time an oil rig has been "occupied by force in peacetime," no Western government has charged the Iranians with piracy. An inquiry to the State Department resulted in the observation that this is a "matter to be resolved" between the Romanian and Iranian governments. Apparently it has not occurred to the nice folks in Foggy Bottom that the Romanians don't have a naval presence in the Persian Gulf. We do. • "German train-bombing plot tied to Lebanese-Iranian terror network." This story, "compiled from wire service reports," says German authorities believe the attempt by two Lebanese men to plant "very sophisticated, highly lethal bombs aboard two trains was inspired by Hezbollah." None of the articles about the attempted train-bombing mention Hezbollah's well-established ties with Tehran. • "Shi'ite militias arming for civil war in Iraq." Though this is hardly news, the lead was followed by "analysis" that prognosticated a "significant increase in Shia 'military activity' as U.S. elections near." The piece went on to suggest that "the war in Iraq is likely to be the defining issue for the American electorate this November." Unmentioned by the writers is the stark parallel to another war: Vietnam. It was this piece -- viewed with all the others showing Iranian complicity and intention -- that that so perturbed my aging friend at the airport in Athens. In 1974, "we the people" elected a majority in the U.S. Congress who decided the Vietnam War was unwinnable. Congress proceeded to "defund" U.S. military and logistics support for the South Vietnamese. By April 1975, the disaster was foregone. This time the outcome -- a nuclear-armed Iran with client-states in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon -- would be catastrophic. Will we elect an "anti-war-get-out-now" Congress in November? It all depends on whether those who cast ballots this autumn are wise enough to understand what we are up against or are instead, as my friend put it, "stunningly naive." Oliver North is a nationally syndicated columnist and the Host of "War Stories," on the Fox News Channel.