This shit pisses me off!!! Terrorism will not be eradicated, EVER! However, we have to do, what we have to do as a nation to make the threat as small as possible.
Yes, I realize, we should have toppled Hussein in '91. Everyone knows that. Look what Patton said about the Russians at the end of WWII. He too was branded a warmonger.
I do not want to see one drop of American blood shed. But it's already happened!! How soon we forget! Regardless of where it started, we need to finish it. Here is a partial list of countries that have sponsored terrorist activities against the US and/or our allies:
Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan and the list goes on and on!
As far as I am concerned, since last September, the "gloves are off!"
What will it take for America to see that? A mushroom cloud over NYC? Maybe an outbreak of Smallpox. Poisoned water in LA?
These radicals have NO RESPECT FOR HUMAN LIFE. None. Zero, zilch. If we have to respond in kind to ensure our safety, so be it.
World War II could have been avoided if France & Britain stood up to Hitler when he was weak. There were many opportunities to do so. But they played, "the peace at any cost" card. The end result was 60 million dead.
Read that again: 60 MILLION DEAD.
Here is an article from George Cantor from the Detroit Press:
It is a fine thing to be for peace, to march and carry banners and lay down in front of government buildings.
But when I listen to what the peace activists have to say, I wonder if they have really learned anything.
"War never solves anything," makes a nice slogan. But it isn't true. War solves a lot of things.
For example: We are no longer a British colony. Slavery is not practiced south of the Ohio River anymore. Germany is not an ongoing threat to European stability. Japan harbors no plans for military expansion in the Pacific.
All of these situations were resolved by war.
A few weeks ago, I sat down with a group of local activists, who base their opposition to war on religious principle. That is a position I certainly respect.
A sincere member of that group urged me to take a look at Germany and France. They were once enemies and now they are friends, she said. Couldn't the same thing happen between the United States and Iraq?
It's hard to argue with the logic of that statement because there isn't any. Germany and France are friends only as a result of a terrible war, which could have been avoided if France had gathered the resolution to confront its neighbor when it moved to occupy the Rhineland in violation of the Versailles Treaty.
Countries that violate treaties are not usually good bets as partners for peace.
As with most Americans, I am conflicted over a war with Iraq.
But sometimes I wish that in their readings the religious activists would glance at Jeremiah 6:14: "They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, saying 'Peace, Peace,' when there is no peace."
Because peace must mean more than denial of war as a policy option and glib reassurances that all will be well. If your adversary does not share a commitment to peace, he will remain your adversary and, eventually, will come for you.
So what worries me about Saddam Hussein is not the fact that he is a thug. It is that he appears to be an irrational thug with weapons of mass destruction.
The leaders of most countries understands that an attack on the United States will assure their own destruction. This is what restrained all adversaries during the Cold War.
But the Taliban regime in Afghanistan was an exception, and we are all familiar with the result.
From all accounts, Iraq's dictator also is a man wildly out of touch with reality; surrounded by advisers who are terrified of saying anything but "yes."
Apparently, this sort of thing does not worry Barbra Streisand, Rob Reiner or Susan Sarandon. All things considered, I would prefer taking my cues on foreign policy from Jeremiah than those who practice the politics of self-approval.
I also agree with President George W. Bush, who said Monday night that this should not be a nation that has to live in fear. It may be hard to grasp in Malibu, but that is not peace.
Editorial writer George Cantor's column is published on Saturday. Contact him at (313) 222-2668 or
gcantor@detnews.com. Write letters to
letters@detnews.com.
The truth isn't pretty.
But to not act is national suicide.
ude
