The American Spectator

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Sobriety Tests

3.6.03 @ 12:01AM

(Page 2 of 4)

Maybe there will be some horrendous events, over the next decades, as some of the more radical Islamofascists do get more radical, using conventional weapons. Guess what? It's going to happen, no matter what. You are going to have big-time egg on your face, IMHO, when the aftermath of freeing Iraq turns up the gory details you try to sweep under the rug. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, even in the best of situations, and the dictators in the Middle East, led by Saddam, are quite adept at hiding the truth. So, watch out! Chirac is going to be toast.

I suppose there will always be a "respectable" point of view, intellectually honest, that believes in isolationism for America. We all love the story of an ostrich putting its head in the sand, which could be applied to this position. But, did you know that is not a true habit for that bird? Expanding on this, it's far past the time for Americans to, not just grudgingly, but happily, with full power and engagement, realize that the Earth is now one. True isolationism means to spend a while not venturing too far out in space! While we get our human race in order, and courageously face down the death bringers, who now have WMD at hand.

You are right about one thing. When Iraq goes democratic, Saudi Arabia must be soon to go, so all that free money the rulers now buy their regal lifestyle with, by funding Wahhabism and terrorists all over the globe, will be cut off, and spread out to the masses there. This is a sine qua non, if we are to avoid further wretched calamities.

To end on a semi-humorous note -- as that noted Surgeon General under Bill Clinton, Joycelyn Elders, once said---"We all die of something," so, be not faint of heart, in the coming hours of humanities life-or-death struggle. The brave humans who are to die protecting and spreading freedom just might be the real-life examples of the soldier Forrest Gump saved, who was so mad at him, because it was his destiny to die on the battlefield fighting with his boots on. Not to say it's predestined for any single individual, but, to turn our back on the to-the-death war that's been declared on U.S., all civilization, is to just offer an easier target. Maybe you should just draw a bull's-eye on your back.
-- James F. Crystal

I enjoyed your article. The bloody scenarios outlined therein are frightening but plausible. I personally hope that we destroy, not exile, Arafat, Assad, and Hussein. I do not share your hand-wringing concern about offending Arabs. They largely hate us anyway, and will continue to regardless of what happens in the months to come. However, they respect two things: power and success. Conversely, they hold weakness and vacillation in contempt. Pulling our punches in a conflict with Iraq will be perceived as weakness, and may encourage miscalculation on the parts of the region's surviving murderer/dictators.

I am confident that some of the contours and boundaries of the Mideast will be redrawn in 2003, with attendant bloodshed. Sadly, I am further confident that we will have to deal militarily with North Korea within the next 1,000 days. These days remind me of the summer of 1914, and that of 1939 as well. May God save this blessed nation.

Thanks again for your insights.
-- Michael Omohundro
Centennial, CO

Mr. Corry, your line -- "The bully boys are in charge, and watching foreign policy unfold is very much like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Disaster seems inevitable, but still the train moves on. It has been clear for some time now that no matter what the inspectors find, the White House will have its war" -- tends to think in very small terms while the "bully boys," as you call them, understand what you apparently don't: it's not about radical Islam versus the West but about something much more fundamental than that.

You should consider reading some of Victor Davis Hanson's work that occasionally runs in NRO. He can explain much better than I could that this a clash of cultures and radical Islam is just the most nominal actor in this present version of a what may be a never ending "war," for want of a better word.

You go on to say, "There are some 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, many of them restless young males already indoctrinated with the idea that America wants to wage war against Islam. The invasion, of course, will confirm their belief." Yet apparently you don't seem to grasp the idea that an overwhelming show of strength (as in lots of very dead Iraqis in a very short span of time regardless of whether they are wearing uniforms or not) on our part will temper the restlessness of these young Muslim males.

Please don't point out the Israeli problem because the Israelis haven't shown the Palestinians their truly hard side for twenty years now and that's easily seen by the parade like atmosphere when the Palestinian mobs bury another, "martyr."

These are horrendous and ugly thoughts for civilized people to consider, but when one is in a knife fight one doesn't spare time and efforts for civilized niceties.

Have a good day,
-- Russ Harris
Overland, Mo.

So, John Corry falls into the fallacious trap occupied by so many of his liberal cousins, that dissent in and of itself is something to be admired.

Corry may comfort himself with his own grisly speculations, but can we at least divest him of the title "intelligent conservative"? Although he certainly sounds intelligent, his piece is based entirely on speculation and opinion, vice fact. To which he is entitled.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Foreign Policy, Bill Clinton, Business, Religion, Islam, Constitution, Law, Military, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, North Korea, Conservatism, Nuclear Weapons, Oil