Combating the warmongers

A well known musician, one with outspoken political views, recently made the following statement in relation to the war in Iraq.

One would hope we'd have made more progress than we have combating the warmongers.

If you think about it this statement could have been made by someone like Toby Keith or by someone like Roger Waters. Two artists with radically different views on the war in Iraq and on the war against the Jihadists in general.

In fact this statement was made by one of those two people. How you interpret the statement and who you think made it speaks volumes.

By the way, I positively adore Roger Waters music, am going to his concert in a couple days, and fully expect to love it completely. I don't even plan to take offense when he disses my country and my president.

Goodwill from Angelina Jolie

I was incredibly pleased and surprised to read this editorial by Angelina Jolie in the Washington Post. It is surprisingly balanced, reasoned and thoughtful. I suspect her views on Bush and the war are similar to most of those coming out of Hollywood and the left, but she is able to move beyond ideological rhetoric and address the reality of the situation as it is today.

I've been bemoaning the fact that my recent postings haven't had much to do with "common ground". Thanks Angelina for being a credit to your Goodwill Ambassador role and giving me something like this to post about.

Why won't we see this story in the NYT?

For the answer simply read the story.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article2121006.ece

There are many in the United States, I'm sorry to say, who are so intent upon seeing Bush humiliated that they are more closely allied with Al-Qaeda in Iraq then they are with the decent people of Iraq. Oh, I know they wouldn't want to put it that way, I know they aren't actually in favor of the atrocities being committed by the Jihadists, but truth be told they need Al-Qaeda to keep committing those atrocities.

If the insurgents are defeated that means that Bush will have been victorious, that he will be seen as a winner. That is something the left simply cannot tolerate. The left is deeply, deeply invested in the United States failing in Iraq. Iraq is their Vietnam, their holy grail. It is their chance, as they see it, to regain the power and influence they had directly following their victory (our loss) in Vietnam.

I honestly don't know if Bush did the right thing by going into Iraq. I have privately struggled for years with that issue. I can certainly say that I have disagreed with Bush about many things, most especially his stance on Illegal Immigration. But something had to be done, and many things still must be done, in our struggle against radicalized Islam and Terrorism. This was laid on our doorstep, we did not ask for it.

Have we made mistakes in the past? Yes. Will we make mistakes in the future? Yes. Do we just roll over and give up because things are hard? No! We deserve better, this world deserves better, than to be led by the weak into the jaws of the lion. One thing Bush and Blair will never have to worry about is being called weak. At least when it comes to their leadership in the fight against Terrorism.

The war being waged by the radical Islamists is a fight to the death. That much anyone who looks honestly at the situation can see. It doesn't much matter what we do or say, they have vowed to destroy us and our way of life. Pretending the danger doesn't exist won't make it go away. Trying to appease those who hate our very existence won't make any difference. We either fight them now, in Iraq, or we fight them somewhere else. War has been waged against us. Our options have been taken away. Peace, as much as we desire it, is not in the cards for quite some time.

Now is the time for the land of the free and the home of the brave to defend its freedom and prove its bravery. Yes, we've been sissified by years of feminism and other liberal dreck, but we haven't been completely emasculated. Not yet anyway.

British hostage crisis

I just read a good piece on the British hostage crisis. It's neither a hawkish cry for retribution nor a dovish appeal to capitulation, which means there is actually some interesting information available to help you draw your own conclusions on the correct course of action.

This is one of those situations that truly test a nation’s leadership. So much is at stake and the costs, of action or inaction, could be astronomical. Citizens are screaming, and rightly so, for some sort of action. The whole world is watching and, as usual, they are divided into camps. One camp will denounce Blair as a warmonger, and a Bush stooge, if he takes a hard line. The other camp will denounce him as a spineless weakling if he does anything other than take a hard line.

It's not exactly the note Blair wanted to end his prime ministership on I suppose. But then, this is what leaders are there for. They are there to lead. They are there to make the tough and many times unpopular decisions. No matter what he does it will be unpopular with a lot of people.

Bush is a great example of that unpopularity: there is no way that Bush could ever make everyone happy in such a polarized world and thus he has never attempted to do so. Does that make him a good leader? I think in a way it does. History alone will tell us whether his decisions worked out for the best (assuming that history doesn't get rewritten by those with an opposing agenda).

"Do the right thing” we shout, when what we mean is "do what fits my agenda". I'd suggest that we really think about our agenda's. Think about what they really mean in the world we actually live in. This is not a social experiment where we play around with cultures, nations and people like so many chess pieces. This is a world of flesh and blood where your agenda (be it right-wing or left-wing) is going to get that flesh wounded and that blood spilled.

Conflict is inevitable. Even if we attain the utopia of the Federation, there will still be Romulan's and Klingon's intent on spoiling the party. As long as this earth lasts blood will be spilled; that appears to be the price the earth exacts from its inhabitants. That doesn't mean we have to like it, nor does it mean we have to take it lying down. It means we stand in the face of the beast and make every drop count for something.

The age-old struggle against tyranny and oppression goes on whether we choose to see it or not and it will go on until human nature no longer contains the seeds of selfishness, greed and a lust for power. Our agenda's mean nothing if they deny this fact. They hold no value if they remain ignorant of the human ability to be inhuman. It has been said that freedom is not free and I believe it to be true. The price of freedom is, and always has been, measured in blood.

Honor the blood of the fallen. Do not hastily add to its flow. Count the cost very carefully. Pray that you don't live to see the times of testing, but if you are tested do not be found wanting. What is it you stand for? No matter the intentions what are the actual results of your agendas? This requires wisdom. This requires courage. This requires strength. This requires that we stand, against all odds, against all hope, stand.

Iraq - some history

The Iraq war is, admittedly, a bit of a quagmire. I am personally upset with the actions of Congress lately who seem to see the Iraq situation as a blank check for propping up their political careers.

Somehow cutting and running just seems wrong, but on the other hand what will happen if we stay the course? Do the American people have the stomach for sticking it out as long as it takes? Fed a steady diet of demoralization from the Media and the leaders in Congress it doesn't seem likely.

All I seem to hear, on both sides of the issue, are sound bites. Emotional appeals are completely trumping an honest examination of the situation. I guess that's the society we live in. Give it to me in 5 minutes or don't bother me. Guess that goes for Iraq as well.

Enough whining, let's dig a little. How about a little Iraq history lesson for starters. And you might be surprised at the conclusion given what you think you know about me.