Friday, April 13, 2007

Stoking the Flames of Peace

Debacle; Iraq is a debacle of epic proportions, doesn’t anyone have a better idea? Hasn’t the Right learned any lessons from Vietnam? Iran, and its democratically elected government; aren’t we about ready to talk yet? Engagement?...yes but to who or whom?

Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream and so, recently has Victor Davis Hanson:

“I recently had a dream that British marines fought back, like their forefathers of old, against criminals and pirates. When taken captive, they proved defiant in their silence. When released, they talked to the tabloids with restraint and dignity, and accepted no recompense.

I dreamed that a kindred German government, which best knew the wages of appeasement, cut-off all trade credits to the outlaw Iranian mullahs — even as the European Union joined the Americans in refusing commerce with this Holocaust-denying, anti-Semitic, and thuggish regime.

NATO countries would then warn Iran that their next unprovoked attack on a vessel of a member nation would incite the entire alliance against them in a response that truly would be of a “disproportionate” nature.”

Glad he can sleep….

Oop….forgot about North Korea; President Bush should have taken the call for a “uni-lateral” solution; not sure why since “uni-lateral” isn’t proving to do too well in the Iraq debacle. Multi-laterally speaking the six party talks are finally coming to a point of finality that bespeaks the wisdom of the pragmatism of the status quo. It would appear there has been break through after break through as of late if only according to the Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Who has been busy at work on, as described by Claudia Rosett a:

“North Korean deal, which has many parts, working groups, and rewards for Pyongyang, all spun out of the Six-Party talks in Beijing, and described by Hill, State’s envoy to the talks, as “an excellent plan.” This Saturday marks the deadline for the initial 60-day phase in which Kim was supposed to have spent the time shutting down his Yongbyon reactor, providing a map of his entire nuclear program and opening wide for inspections. As of today none of this has happened. Most eyes are now on the reactor, and the debate is now shifting to whether Kim will miss the deadline.”

We can be thankful that the blowhard, acid-tongued John Bolton is no longer our rep at the U.N., had he been speech like, “In any arms-control negotiation, the need for verification is directly correlated to the propensity of the other side to lie, cheat and conceal its undesirable activities,” would likely have had dire consequences that may have stoked the flames of peace. This again speaks deafeningly to the pragmatic approach to diplomacy.

As David Byrne once sang, “you may ask yourself-well...how did I get here?” This you would find yourself better asking a shrink, just don’t wear leather pants on that sofa.

Signed, A Chicken-Hawk

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  • 12 comments:

    1. In the end, democracy will come to the Arab regimes in Middle East. It may happen soon, it may happen later.

      GW Bush will be remembered as the guy who believed enough to try to make that happen sooner.

      His vitriolic critics will not be so kindly regarded. They know it- and there is nothing they can do about it.

      ReplyDelete
    2. Anonymous1:17 PM

      I disagree...

      First of all, many Arab states are democratic in nature... sadly, what people don't want to realise is that they do have a popular vote and due to the social make-up of these countries, they tend to vote for Muslim-based parties... it comes down to "moderate" or "extremist"... in fact, the current "regime" in Iran probably won't survive the next elections in favour of moderates... granted, that was before they started doing what they could to seem more moderate themselves... who knows what "public perception" in Tehran truly is right now...

      President Bush's greatest mistake (and he admits this to a degree) was not being completely honest... the war NEEDED to happen in Iraq... because the job wasn't finished the first time (Desert Storm) and Saddam had to go.

      The war on terror is really more what's happening in Afghanistan as that country, far more than any other, was an Al Qaeda stronghold and training centre with the ruling Taleban.

      The invasion of Iraq was really pivoted on three points...

      #1: Remove the possibility of funding to Al Qaeda from money from Baghdad... something that was a legit concern after 9/11 and the knowledge that Afghanistan HAD to fall and with anti-American sentiment high within the Ba'ath Party, this was a genuine concern.

      #2: Remove Saddam who I believe they were hoping would act more like the once-evil Quadaffi once Desert Storm was finished... he didn't.

      #3: Place a buffer state between Syria and Iran in the middle-East.

      These, to most people with half-a-brain are the main reasons for the war... and you know what? They're good ones.

      ...problem is, President Bush and his advisors tried to find better reasons... and made some pretty massive mistakes in presenting these to the public... and destroyed the political career of Colin Powel.

      Then, with Haliburton getting all the contracts (making Dick Cheney look a little worse for wear) and the perception of the Bush family and their connections to the oil industry... it's been a nightmare... a comedy of errors... bad, bad optics... even President Bush has admitted this.

      What could have stopped this?

      In my opinion, honesty. State the reasons, try to get the people of the nation to understand what and why things are happening, and then move...

      Trying to come up with "reasons" was a bad idea... there were good reasons ahead of time.

      ...but hey, as stated earlier, I'm a citizen of The Soviet Republic of Canucklestan... and I do believe that people, regardless of their station, aren't perfect... even presidents can make mistakes.

      ReplyDelete
    3. Who you disagreeing with? You just copied my post word for word...read it again...

      There are/were so many reasons, this is without a doubt tres vrai.

      I don't wholeheartedly agree that Afghanistan; but it certainly is a major front as well as the reason you state. I don't care for the idea of concentrating on any one specific place for fear of taking our eyes off of anything.

      To your number 1, even though only a theory; I believe Hussein and al Qaeda would have come to a certain understanding...not full fledged partners mind you; more a mutual recognition of having a shared enemy in the U.S/West. Once sanctions, etc. were dropped a whole can of vengeance would have been opened by Hussein (on the QT of course).

      "... even presidents can make mistakes." They don't like admitting it though...

      ReplyDelete
    4. Anonymous1:50 PM

      Who you disagreeing with? You just copied my post word for word...read it again...

      Actually, I was "commenting" on the "comment"...

      Sigmund, Carl and Alfred...

      Regardless of the intentions, this will not be a "golden moment in history" years from now... That's my disagreement.

      Hey, I don't ALWAYS disagree with you...

      ...just on your choice of materials of which underwear is made of. Steel wool, in my eyes, should never be near one's nether-regions.

      ReplyDelete
    5. Who you saying wears steel wool undies?

      Especially with b*lls of steel!

      I don't know though...certainly not in our lifetimes and as you say, perhaps never; but when you consider the opposition to it all....not many out there with the perseverance. Know what I mean?

      ReplyDelete
    6. Quit harassing me or we'll send Michael Moore your way....we don't need him anymore....

      ReplyDelete
    7. Anonymous4:50 PM

      Who you saying wears steel wool undies?

      Especially with b*lls of steel!


      Ah! I see... it's to keep the rust down.

      Quit harassing me or we'll send Michael Moore your way....we don't need him anymore....

      Awww... we don't need him! He's about to release another NEW movie where he tells YOU how you should be more like Canada! :)

      ...oh, and you've been TAGGED! (...and released!)

      ReplyDelete
    8. that's just swell!!!!!!!!!!

      ReplyDelete
    9. Anonymous12:34 PM

      The path to peace lie's in the barrel of a gun, aimed at those who would kill us...don't be a fool...and the only thing that the Right learned from Vietnam, is that the Democrats will defund the war and provide another killing ground for our enemies....to label any of the mideast countries as democratic is beyond reality....and the Democrats still carry the trophy's of a million dead vietnamese on their shoulders...and they are proud of it....fools and idiots...

      ReplyDelete
    10. Anonymous8:08 AM

      Check out this crazy North Korea story; they wanted to build the largest hotel in the world.

      http://economicdespair.blogspot.com

      The project cost 2 percent of GDP, but they stopped in 1992 and started building nukes instead.

      These are the kind of nutcases the US is negotiating with over this nukes.

      ReplyDelete
    11. Anonymous12:44 PM

      For jerry robertson...

      There are an equal number of people around the world and in the United States that feel true democracy doesn't exist in America...

      The truth is that most of the Middle-Eastern countries ARE democracies or have a democratic government... it's just that they have either a Muslim or Radical-Muslim option... sort-of like Christian or Fundamentalist-Christian option, but with the religion most pervasive in that region.

      The argument about "fighting for democracy" in some cases is a hangover from the cold war with the Soviet Union... and although Iraq was a dictatorship, it was one that was supported (openly) by The United States for many, many years... and still, the Ba'ath party was an elected body... only the "heads" of the party were entrenched.

      I guess my issue is that I do believe the war had to happen... but when people throw "old-tyme jingoism" into it to justify what happened, that's what fuels the fires of those in opposition... who I feel are as ignorant of the world and it's events as those who support the efforts in the Middle-East without truly bothering to understand why.

      As for laying the dead in Vietnam on ANYONE'S doorstep, that's extremely dumb too... realistically, both parties made costly mistakes. Ask a vet how he felt about Washington dictating where and how to attack vs. the field officers... and that t'weren't the domain of the Democrats alone.

      ReplyDelete
    12. Anonymous12:45 PM

      For Anonymous...

      Ever seen the track record of Joseph Stalin during WWII?

      ...and as for interesting "creations", check out what Dubai is doing...

      ReplyDelete