If control of the House passes into Democratic hands, there are enough withdraw-on-a-timetable Democrats in positions of prominence that it will not only seem to be a victory for our enemies, it will be one.Unfortunately, the opposite is not the case -- if the Republican Party remains in control of both houses of Congress there is no guarantee that the outcome of the present war will be favorable for us or anyone else.
But at least there will be a chance.
[...]
If we topple one government and then walk away, the result in any Middle Eastern nation would be civil war, and the probable winner would be the well-funded international terrorist groups that do not shrink from wholesale murder in pursuing their cause.Just as Kerensky's attempt at a liberal government in revolutionary Russia was almost instantly snuffed out by Lenin's Bolshevik thugs in 1917, so also would any attempt at unified democratic government in Iraq, Iran, Syria, or Afghanistan be quickly converted into Islamo-fascism of one stripe or another.
And if that happened, Islamicist puritanism would be seen in every nation as the "wave of the future." Just as, when Nazi Germany was in the ascendant, the nations of southeastern Europe quickly made their accommodation with Hitler, since the alternative was to be swept away like Poland, France, or Yugoslavia, so also would nominally democratic nations adopt the trappings of Islamicism -- if they weren't already toppled by puritan revolutions from within.
Democracy -- the Other Hope
Wherever Islamicism has been tried, the result has been identical to Communism's miserable track record. The people are oppressed; the worst sort of vigilantes and thugs terrorize the population; the new power elite, regardless of their supposed piety and dedication to a holy cause, is quickly corrupted and comes to love the wealth and privileges of power.
When there is no hope of deliverance, the people have no choice but to bow under the tyrant's lash, pretending to be true believers while yearning for relief. In Russia it came ... after more than seventy years. China and Cuba are still waiting -- but then, they started later.
So it would be in the Muslim world -- if Islamicism were ever able to come to seem inevitable and irresistible.
You know: If America withdrew from Iraq and Afghanistan and exposed everyone who had cooperated with us to reprisals.
As happened in South Vietnam.
Orson Scott Card. Read the whole thing. It's a piece as important to Canadians as it Americans, and merits forwarding to your friends and family.
h/t Kathy Shaidle.
It is too bad that in the US the media, democrats and the leftist kooks are so consumed with hate for Pres Bush that they have any pretense of common sense has gone underground. If they win, and all the bad predictions come true, do you think they will take the blame, no way. There is still hope conservatives and republicans and maybe some democrats or undecideds will wake up and get to the polls.
The Republicans are spendthrift socialist illegal immigration supporters who backed a FAILED foreign policy that only benefits arms manufacturers. Democrats are more fically conservative than Republicans.
Excellent analysis. ET has been theorizing much the same over the past couple of years. I agree with both. The left's hatred of Bush is why they are unable to coherantly propose a winning strategy for the war on terror/Iraq/Afghanistan/Islamofascism and why they will not get into a position of power come this election.
[deleted - off topic. Read before you comment - Ed]
An inconvenient assertion: it is ridiculous to suppose that the Democrats would just walk away from Iraq.
In any event it is difficult to imagine ANYONE making a greater mess of things than the previous Liberal, whoooops, I mean the Republicans have.
Ayn: If the dems win, and they do not walk away from Iraq, it will kill their chances in 08. The reason all the kooks are voting for them is because they have said they will quit funding the war, redeploy the troops in Iraq, bring the troops home etc. Pay attention. If they win, all the fashion designers better start doing a fashionable burqua as that is what those reporteretts on cnn will be wearing. Curic will finally have a sign-off-allay be willing.
"You know: If America withdrew from Iraq and Afghanistan and exposed everyone who had cooperated with us to reprisals.
As happened in South Vietnam."
Vietnam was driven by political ideology, not theology. The politicians are usually more practical, and thus either more merciful to their enemies, or more cognizant of economic benefits. Dead people produce very little. Vietnam is, relatively,an economic powerhouse in Asia.
With God on their side, Islamists, if led by a less than reasonable person, could decide to spread the word to the whole world, by violent means, if necessary.
A generation from now, what kind of leaders will there be in the Mid East, if they are never subjected to a dissenting point of view, and are inculcated with nothing but hatred of infidels from birth.
Never thought the day would come when I'd refer to Ahmadinejad as a "moderate", but he still has had the influence of other cultures and religions, however peripherally, during his 44 years on earth.
The next generation of Islamic leaders, if the US no longer has any influence in the ME, will have the mindset of Islamic monks, and then we'll "reap the whirlwind".
Mary - The Dems are more eager to get out of Iraq than the Republicans, agreed, but to suppose that they'll do so in the most misguided and catastrophic way is ridiculous. It almost appears politically motivated.
I also have my doubts about burquas becoming all the rage any time soon.
Bob, got any more of that BC Bud to sell? Man, that stuff is powerful!
The war in Vietnam was driven by Marxism, a political theology, and Democrats voted to suspend aid and let the country collapse against the Chinese-supported North Vietnamese Communist onslaught rather than assist a country that was being overrun. The result allowed Pol Pot to flourish in Cambodia as well. That's what he's talking about, not some misty-eyed reverie on political practicality, but the absolute political ruthlessness and genocide operated by a state-political religion - Marxism.
The Democrats have made it their platform to "re-deploy" and walk the troops out of Iraq to any-elsewhere - that's their plan and their historic strategy - to cave and collapse while talking madly about their own "bravery."
Generations of Palestinians have already been inculcated with hatred and dress their own babies in bomb-belts as play, they are the next leaders if they survive their love of death - or perhaps the leadership will emerge from among the French arsonist "youths."
changing the subject for a second...need a question answered...would i be breaking any laws if i put an "INFIDEL" bumper sticker on my car?????i asked a cop, and he could not give me a straight answer
the cop must be a liberano appointee.
I don't agree with his assertion that it is "the war on terror."
Terror is a tactic. If this war is to be won, it needs to be defined without an ambiguous pc filter. Perhaps the best definition is the war against Islamic fascism, or the war against jihad.
The difficult part is also defining who the enemy combatants are. We've all heard about so-called 'moderate Muslims.' However, wasn't it these very same moderate Muslim parents and a moderate Muslim mosque that produced the 17 terrorists in Toronto?
The real enemy is an imperial, toxic (and arrogant) Islamic ideology as commanded in the Quran and expressed through Mohammad's life example. Down through history this has provided the DNA for Islamic extremism - and justifies the attrocities commited in the name of Allah.
Of course the first and most abused victims are Muslims. To be sure, there are good people who happpen to be Muslim by birth, who aren't out to impose Islam on the world and kill or enslave infidels. They, like anybody else, just want to live their lives in peace. At least, we'd all like to believe that. Yet, these people live a life of fear. Fear of being accused of not being a good Muslim, or worse, apostacy - and the obligatory punishment for both.
If history, language and reason become victims in this age old war, we will not win it. And as the writer of the article states - if Liberals/Democrats come to power, we'll regret it - in lost liberty or bloodshed.
A recent incident in which armed riot police raided a Michigan junior and high school as part of a drill that the children were not aware was about to take place raises the bar in the pursuit of an agenda to fully transform public schools into prison training camps set up to breed continuous generations of obedient slaves.
oooh the boogieman's gonna get get you. lol
Did you ever think that if we'd stop bombing their homes, invading their country and jailing people for no reason and torturing their families they might not hate us as much?
19th Sultan of Sokoto led Council for Islamic Affairs. (obit)
- Reuters/Toronto Star October 30th.
"Sokoto is the centre of Islamic learning in Nigeria. From here, Islamic scholar Uthman Dan Fodio lauched a JIHAD in 1804, introducing Islam to most of northern Nigeria."
"Did you ever think that if we'd stop bombing their homes, invading their country and jailing people for no reason and torturing their families they might not hate us as much?
- neutralsam, ignorant and therefore useful idiot.
Do not feed the trolls,
do not feed the trolls,
hearing bob say "Democrats are more fically conservative than Republicans." Priceless!
(Needless to say I fell off the wagon on that one. Sorry Kate)
"Democrats are more fically conservative than Republicans." Priceless'
TC, maybe he meant "fecally conservative", as I can't find the word "fically" anywhere.
Is it the same as "anally retentive"?
"Those who rely on America are fools." Orson Scott Card
A well written piece but a little naive. There is absolutely no chance a democracy can flourish in the ME. It is not in their religion, mindset or way of life.
George Bush is a first-class spender. And he doesn't have a Democratic Congress to blame for it. In fact, he doesn't have anyone but himself to blame for it – since he hasn't vetoed a single bill.
So let's look at the yearly non-military spending by Presidents since Franklin Roosevelt.
Yearly Growth in Non-Military Spending
President
On an inflation-adjusted basis, the biggest spenders were:
Richard Nixon + 8.6%
John Kennedy + 8.3%
Dwight Eisenhower + 7.6%
Franklin Roosevelt + 6.7%
Gerald Ford + 6.2%
The smallest spenders were:
Bill Clinton + 1.6%
Ronald Reagan + 2.1%
Jimmy Carter + 2.7%
George H.W. Bush + 3.5%
Harry Truman + 3.5%
It's interesting that George W. Bush is increasing non-military spending at over twice the speed of Bill Clinton – that great bête noire of all good conservatives.
It's also interesting that three of the top five spenders were Republicans, and three of the lowest five spenders were Democrats.
www.lewrockwell.com/orig/browne4.html
Bob,
Bush bankruped 3 businesses with his lavish spending and by cutting way too much slack to low performers in those organizations.
W. has absolutley no track record whatsoever at success.
Bush's epitaph will be MIS-MANAGEMENT
David,
Of course, you have ABSOLUTLEY NO PROOF other than reading such stupid baseless accusations at a DU style venom web site.
YOUR epitaph will read:
David: It's not my fault!
St. Peter: Yes, I'm afraid it is.
If you make a stmt please give the evidence to back it up. What 3 businesses did the Pres bankrupt and what did he cut too much.
Stay on topic, or take your discussion to private email.
Sorry Kate,
The question has to be answered and I promise to stay on topic after this.
The 3 business failures of George Bush
Arbusto
Spectrum 7 Energy Corp
Harken Energy
Don't forget his ties to:
MCI/Worldcom -- the single largest corporate securities fraud in U.S. history.
Enron
"There is absolutely no chance a democracy can flourish in the ME."
Kind of like it was impossible for democracy to flurish in medieval Europe? Everything is impossible until someone does it.
Your statement implies it is not worth it to even try.
"Your statement implies it is not worth it to even try."
Good point, Jeff. It disgusts me to hear those who will condemn an entire culture with thoughtless and ignorant racism. I expect this type of attitude from, say, KKK members.
As you say, democracy didn't always exist in Europe. Failing to see the possibilty of progress for all people is the habit of a fussy, limited mind. It is sad and pathetic.
When the Iraq afghanistan veterns of American tested the voting record of their legislator's on the military's needs they found that the republicans had the lowest even the bottem of the list of democrats scoerd higher.
Each IAVA Congressional Rating is based on a given legislator's voting history on issues that affect US Troops, Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans and military families.
To calculate the Ratings, IAVA reviewed all legislation voted on in the Congress since September 11, 2001. For each piece of legislation that affected troops, veterans or military families, IAVA took a position either in support of, or in opposition to its passage. The letter grades were derived from the percentage of times that each legislator's vote matched the official IAVA stance.
So if you want to lose, stay the course and keep voting republican.
iava.org
Orson Scott Card is much better when he sticks to science fiction.
The piece is movingly written but it includes shovelfulls of statements like this:
"How do the Islamicist tyrants answer the obvious success and growing appeal of Bush's democracy program?"
Are absurd on the face of it.
We've seen the Iraq War morph into a hunt for WMD to an after the fact humanitarian program. The war's partisan apologists like to get on their soapbox, wring their hands and preach about how the war was actually a 300 billion dollar humanitarian mission for the muslim people. You aren't fooling anyone but yourselves... again.
Jeff and Dean
Sure it's worth trying but the reality is it took 850 years for it to develope in Europe.
Like using latex to paint a wall previously done with oil base paint.