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Wednesday, August 27, 2003
The Union Conquers All
Today we find, far across the sea
Evil men determined to kill you and me;
They will now be stopped
Because we’ve got a leader at the top;
As they plan their evil deeds
There are some words they should heed;
We will kill them all;

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
The Union conquers all.

In some foreign lands
Where tyrants still do reign;
There are those who live
Just to give us pain;
But, they must now know
Their time is almost up;
For we shall blow them up;

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
The Union conquers all.

No army ever gathered
No Weapon ever made;
Has been strong enough
To put the Union in her grave;
But we live in an age
Where traitors dare stand tall;
So we will hang them all;

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
The Union conquers all.

All across the world
Are the enemies of this land;
To hear them tell the story
Their lives are full of glory;
But they must all be frightened
For it isn’t hard to tell;
Soon they’ll be in Hell;

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
The Union conquers all.

Monday, August 25, 2003
Check This Out!
Population Control Activist Killed in Act of Racist Police Violence- San Francisco Indymedia
August 25, 2003

Raymond Evan Moore, a noted local Population Control Activist, was killed last night in the latest of a series of seemingly racially-motivated acts of police violence. Moore was accosted by the police as he left the residence of a woman in the central portion of the city and shot when he attempted to reach into his jacket for his cellular phone, apparently believing himself about to be mugged. Moore, who was white, reportedly appeared to be darker-skinned than most whites and, according to the witnesses at the scene the poor lighting could have led to his being mistaken for an African-American.

A dedicated activist, Moore was known for his deep concern over the damage being done to the planet by human beings and the sometimes-extreme measures to which he would resort in an attempt to effect change. However, Moore’s unique brand of hands-on activism in his field was ultimately officially recognized by five different states. His presence was eagerly sought-after by the officials of all of those states, as well as certain Federal agencies-making him one of the most sought-after experts in his field in the United States and, indeed, in the world. His unique use of compost piles will, doubtlessly, be emulated by others in his field for many years to come.

Kenneth Gaye, a Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of California at Berkley, noted that Moore’s methods were controversial, even among those within the Environmental community, “I think some people were a little upset at his occasional lack of decorum,� he said.

FBI Officials would only say that “investigations are ongoing,� in the seventeen murders and dismemberments of women, whose bodies were typically hidden in a large compost heap in his backyard.

A memorial service will be held at the People’s Park in Berkley at 7PM tomorrow night.
Two Years into the War on Terrorism: A Discussion of Grand Strategy

“The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.�
-Patrick Henry


Who is winning the War on Terrorism? Every day we are inundated with stories of disaster and calamity in the Middle East. Terrorism in Israel and a guerrilla war in Iraq. There are more Americans deaths nearly every day. There are constant warnings of imminent catastrophes. Two years after September 11th, the question must be asked: are we winning or losing the war?

Do not believe what the mainstream media and its various minions have to say on the matter. They are not fit to adjudicate on this subject. They think in the short term and their judgement is clouded by their biases which, with very few exceptions, are fundamentally anti-American ones. The people who run the media today mostly came of age during the Vietnam War. They are products of the counter-cultural left; people who hate the United States and everything it stands for. The dullards among them blandly repeat the Gospel of the left because they believe it to be the truth. Their leaders know the falseness of their religion, but continue to proselytize for it because they understand that the strongest weapons possessed by the left in its unending war to destroy the Republic are the media’s powers of mass-persuasion.

In the days to come, as we approach the second anniversary of September 11th, we will hear many analyses of the results of the War on Terrorism. These will, I predict, focus almost entirely upon the negative aspects of the war- such as US losses in Iraq and the supposed loss of civil liberties at home. The big networks will produce plenty of nauseatingly asinine stories featuring some veiled woman crying over her husband, justly jailed for his terrorist ties. Most of all, the media will not forgo the opportunity to open their fall season by slandering and smearing President Bush, whom the left loathes with the fire of a thousand suns.

We need to forget about the clutter. The nation is covered in a deep fog laid down by the left, seeking to obscure the issue. The real question is this: are the terrorists and their supporters now stronger or weaker than they were two years ago?

The answer must be that they are weaker. They have lost operatives and they have lost bases. They have suffered defeats. We are winning this war.

But just because the terrorists have seen defeat does not mean that they are defeated. It does not follow that because, as of this very moment, we are winning this war that, in the end, we will ultimately prevail. Our enemies are strong, they are fanatically determined, and they have many friends. It is still entirely possible that, as in Vietnam, America could win every battle and ultimately lose the war.

The war is now two years old. It will last for many more years. It is time for us to examine just what victory will require and how to best bring it about.

A Matter of Goals:
Victory in this war will come when all of America’s major objectives have been achieved and its enemies’ plans have been thwarted. This is important to discuss because, fundamentally, the final victory objectives of the War on Terrorism have never been publicly discussed in great detail. When is the war over? It is when Osama Bin Laden is killed? Is it when al-Qaeda is destroyed? What are our war objectives?

I’m going to suggest a rather broad set. The ones I’ve labelled as ‘major’ must, in my opinion, be completed before any victory in the War on Terrorism can be declared. The ‘minor’ objectives are not absolutely essential to victory: but it would be in the national interests of the United States to achieve them.

Major Objectives:
1. The Destruction of al-Qaeda and Associated Groups: No victory will come in this war so long as al-Qaeda and its local affiliates survive. These groups must be rooted out and their members killed and arrested. This is the major goal of the war.
2. The Overthrow of the Iranian, Syrian, and North Korean Governments: When it comes to the sponsorship of terrorists and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction these are the “big three.� All have active programs for the development of Weapons of Mass Destruction. North Korea may already have nuclear weapons and Iran, almost certainly, soon will. These governments all provide support to the enemies of the United States- Iran and Syria are supporting the insurgent forces in Iraq. Moreover, Iran and Syria are both deeply involved in supporting anti-Israeli terrorism.
3. The Establishment of a Stable Government in Iraq: The situation in Iraq must be stabilized. Iraq holds the central position in the Middle East- the creation of a stable, pro-Western government in Iraq would serve greatly to undermine the present regimes in Iraq and Syria and, additionally, would help boost American morale and bolster the international credibility of the cause. There is only one way to establish a stable government in Iraq: to slaughter the Ba’athists and Islamists who have infiltrated the country,
4. The Maintenance of a Pro-Western Government in Pakistan: Allowing Islamists to take over in Pakistan would be a major blow to the United States in this war. An Islamist government in Pakistan would be nuclear-armed and well positioned to undermine US efforts in both Afghanistan and Iran. Aid to Pakistan must be increased and Musharraf should be encouraged to take a harder line against internal Moslem extremists. Plans for strikes against Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal should be made, just in case there is a coup. Additionally, as a final resort, the US should seek to covertly forge closer ties with India.
5. The Creation of Stability in Israel: The present situation in Israel is at the heart of this war. Therefore, resolving it will be the key to securing a final victory. The resolution likely here will not, initially, be created through diplomacy. There can be no peace so long as the Gaza, Judea, and Samaria are overrun with terrorists and their cohorts. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, Fatah, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and all other terrorist groups which operate against Israel must be exterminated wholesale. Mahmoud Abbas cannot effectively negotiate with Israel because he has nothing to offer and no control over the situation. The first step on the road to peace is the death of several thousand terrorists and their supporters. The United States must encourage Israel to towards this conclusion, provide it with aid and arms, and provide it with diplomatic support while it does it.
6. The End of Saudi Arabian Funding and Support for Terrorism: Saudi money is at the heart of both international terrorism and the spread of the virus of Wahhabism. The Saudis do not fund these things so much because they have any great love of terrorism- but rather because it allows them to export their domestic problems. Either they must cease this support and eliminate the enemies of freedom who operate within their borders, or they must have their Kingdom fall under a rain of American bombs.

Minor Objectives:
1. The Death or Capture of Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein: We must be very careful on this one. Killing of capturing one or both of these men would be a positive development- but far from the end of the war. Focusing too much energy and effort upon them could lead (dangerously) to the American people believing that their demise means victory.
2. The Securing of Oil Reserves in the Middle East: The flow of Middle Eastern oil will, for the foreseeable future, be critical to the continuing health of Western economies. The cut-off of Middle Eastern oil would be a heavy blow to the world economy. Therefore every measure must be taken to bring Iraq’s oil production back up and to prevent any cut-off of the oil flows from elsewhere.
3. The Overthrow of Secondary Enemy Governments Such as those in the Sudan, Venezuela, Libya, and Cuba: There are a number of smaller, second-tier, state-sponsors of terrorism or allies of the enemies of America. Venezuela has ties to al-Qaeda and is run by an anti-American maniac. Libya has an active program for the development of weapons of mass destruction and, historically, has been a state sponsor of terrorism. These are governments which ought to go- and we’d be better off for their end- but which are not critical to the war. Terrorism can be defeated if Castro continues to rule Cuba. It will not be defeated as long as the Ayatollahs rule Iran.
4. The Creation of New Sources of Energy, Outside of the Middle East: It is also important that new sources of oil be tapped- most notably in the Alaskan Natural Wildlife Reserve, but also in other parts of the world. Additionally, the construction of additional energy generating capacity, especially additional nuclear plants, will help to lessen dependence upon foreign oil.
5. The Break-Up of the European Union: If possible the War on Terrorism should be used to drive as many wedges as possible through the European Union. The Iraq War did a great job of creating additional tensions within Europe. Future wars will, almost certainly, do this same. The US should use all means, including the use of the CIA, to further divide Europe with the goal of preventing the emergence of a superpower competitor in the form of a European superstate. Particular emphasis should be put on retaining British independence from any state-like European arrangement. The CIA might even be used to fund anti-European propaganda in the United Kingdom.
6. The Direction of Remaining Islamist Energy Against China: However hard the war is waged, it will not be possible to kill every Islamist in the world. Therefore it would be best to reroute them onto a new course- one where they might hurt an enemy of America. A combination of deft military and diplomatic moves, along with some clever intelligence work, might somehow convince Islamists that they would be better off fighting the Communist Chinese than the United States. Perhaps the Chinese could be manoeuvred into some kind of war in Central Asia and then abandoned to their fate.
7. The Establishment of New Alliances With Russia and India: Russia and India will prove to be important allies of the United States; both in this present war and in later conflicts. Each has their own problems with Moslem terrorists, which makes them natural allies in the present war. Moreover, alliances with these powers will prove even more useful in the future, if and when the United States will be forced to move against Europe and China.

The Next Moves:
Naturally the question must then be: what’s next for this war? The first priority is clearly Iraq, where there is now a second war going on in Iraq. This, contrary to what those liberals still whining over the President’s May 1st “Mission Accomplished� speech would say, is not simply a continuation of the war which began last March, the war to destroy the regime of Saddam Hussein. Rather, this is a new and entirely different kind of war, fought against a different, more radical, more brutal, and more determined foe. This war is no longer primarily against the Ba’athist. Our primary enemy in Iraq today is the Islamist.

Iraq, the word would seem to be in Muslim circles, has become the new Afghanistan. What we face is an international Jihad, with fighters coming to Iraq from every corner of the Earth to fight the Great Satan. This is something which carries with it both great peril and a great opportunity. This, in many ways, was a critical reason for invading Iraq in the first place.

Yes, it is true that the arrival of Islamist forces will place US troops in Iraq in even greater danger than they are today, and that their actions will impose additional hardships upon the people of Iraq. However, a direct and prolonged confrontation between the Coalition and the Jihadists in Iraq will produce something else as well: a chance to fight and slaughter the Islamists on their own home turf, thereby greatly reducing the population of ‘Martyrs’ available for action elsewhere and demoralizing Islamists worldwide. Every Islamist who has his brains splattered across the hot Baghdad streets is an Islamist no longer available to attack Americans at home. We must remember that. Now, as in the Cold War, America fights its battles in Baghdad and Mosul so that it does not, some day, have to fight them in St. Louis and Chicago.

The Islamist Jihadists are brave, there is no denying that. The Afghans charged into Soviet guns for a decade: but they could not have done it without tens of billions of dollars in American aid. These Jihadists have no superpower patron and, if we behave intelligently, they will soon have no patrons at all. There is only a limited supply of willing martyrs in the world. Only a certain, very small, percentage of any given population will volunteer to serve in suicide attacks. All of the hijackers on September 11th were not volunteers, only a few new the real reason they would be hijacking those planes. Every willing martyr cut down by American machine guns is one willing martyr no longer available to war his semtex coat to a Washington Redskins game.

We need to turn these fronts on which the Islamists are stupid enough to directly engage the might of the West into killing fields. Allow me to lay out a few principles for fighting the sort of quasi-organized Islamist armies which now exist in so many places.

No Sanctuary: The greatest mistake of the United States and Russia in the three most recent major losing guerrilla wars involving a great power (Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Chechnya) has been to allow the enemy force to establish a secure sanctuary, protected by international borders and a lack of political will to act. In Vietnam the North Vietnamese were able to operate out of their own country without any fear of a ground invasion as well as to largely have free reign over Laos and Cambodia. In Afghanistan the US used Pakistan as a conduit for supplies, as well as a save haven for meetings and planning. In Chechnya the Chechens have been able to use neighbouring Georgia as a secure area. In all cases the powers contemplated (and in the case of Vietnam took) action against these sanctuaries: but none destroyed them. No modern guerrilla force can long operate without outside support and secure areas from which to plan operations.

Therefore, the United States must take immediate and extreme action to deny all sanctuaries to the enemy forces in Iraq. Specifically this means taking action of some type against, at a minimum, both Iran and Syria, who are clearly aiding the insurrectionists in various ways. We must annihilate the terrorists, wherever they go, and if Syria and Iran stand in our way then we should annihilate them as well.

However, given the global character of this war, there is another excellent way of drawing some of the pressure off of our forces in Iraq. There are reports that an increasing number of the Islamists are Chechen in origin- veterans of the wars against Russia. The situation in Chechnya has degenerated into a stalemate, freeing up some fighters to make their way elsewhere. This simply will not do: either we want those enemies tied down in Chechnya, or we want them dead (and preferably the latter).

The United States should immediately reverse its Chechnya policy, instead of urging restraint it should urge Russia to strike out against the terrorist murderers with a maximum level of force, even going so far as to bribe them to get them to do it if we must. We should also drop all objections to a Russian invasion of Georgia. Russia must do what it must to deal with the Islamist vermin that threaten it.

No Quarter: Modern US Army doctrines tend towards casualty-free warfare on both sides. This is an admirable trait when dealing with an honourable foe, but it is a poor one when dealing with Islamists. They will take any act of mercy as an act of weakness and, therefore, encouragement for them to commit future atrocities. Therefore, there should be no mercy for them and, in most cases, no quarter either. They should be killed where they stand and left to rot in the sands. When we find them, or suspect that we have found them, we should kill them and anyone with them unless they immediately surrender- and we should go to no lengths to offer them a chance to surrender.

No Weakness: Most of all, we must not convince the Islamists that they cannot win. The fifth column amongst us, the ones who root for America’s enemies, they are the greatest enemies of freedom in the world. They are more dangerous than the terrorists for, without them, the terrorists would not act against us. The reason why the Islamists act is not because they are crazy, but rather because history has convinced them that they can win.

Any display of weakness or a lack of resolve at this point, the expression of any doubts about the continuation of the war, the expression of opinions that the United States should withdraw: under the present circumstances, especially with our globalized media, this is no longer merely protest or ‘dissent’: it is treason. The strategy of both the global Islamists and the forces in Iraq is simple: break the will of Americans through a de facto alliance with the traitors in the United States.

We should not dismiss this easily for, after all, it is the only strategy which has ever been used to defeat the United States. America did not lose Vietnam upon this battlefield and it will not lose this war upon the battlefield. But it could still lose it, if we let the traitors win on the home front once more. They, not we, are responsible for the betrayal of freedom in Vietnam and, if we let them, they will be responsible for another betrayal of freedom today. In the days, weeks, and years to come we must fight all enemies of the Untied States: foreign and domestic.

The second priority for the immediate future is action in Israel. This may already be underway. The terrorists there cannot be dealt with by talk. They must be killed- and killed in great numbers. This will put additional pressure on Islamists elsewhere, especially those going to Iraq. It will be, essentially, combined with Russian action in Chechnya and the continued operations if Afghanistan, a fourth front in the Islamic Jihad. To date the losses of the Palestinian terrorists have been relatively minimal- a few thousand at the most. An aggressive Israeli policy of assassinations of all known terrorists and their closest associates could double that number in a few weeks while inflicting only a minimal amount of harm upon Palestinian civilians (a ‘civilian’, in this case, being defined as a ‘non-combatant who does not throw rocks and soldiers or jump in the path of bullets’). The present conditions in the world give us a great chance to, over the next few months, break the back of the Islamist war machine.
Thursday, August 21, 2003
The Doctrine of Public Necessity
This isn’t the Great Depression. We have not been through a great war which has left millions displaced. Yet, were you to visit some parks in the City of Vancouver, you might conclude otherwise. For nearly a month dozens of “Squatters�, mostly people who might best be described as professional nuisances, have been occupying’ Vancouver’s CRAB Park, living there as though it were a campground. This is not the first time that this has happened: in recent months and years other groups of so-called “protestors� have seized other public parks and areas. The occupation of CRAB Park began after a group of these filthy, ragged thugs were ejected from Victory Square, a park which contains Vancouver’s war memorial. Others protestors have seized control of Vancouver’s Creekside Park, right in the heart of the city. Last fall they seized the Woodward’s Building, a Vancouver landmark, and lived there for several months. Elsewhere other protestors have seized houses, and one group lived upon the lawn of the Provincial Legislature for nearly a month before being ejected. I expect that, in a few weeks, they will be living on the Ice at GM Place as well. No decisive action was taken to combat this plague at the outset and, consequently, it has spread. The result is that many of us in British Columbia now find ourselves, as commentator David Frum once said of another Province, living in one of the later chapters of an Ayn Rand novel.

One of the main problems in this case is that, in a fit of collective insanity, the voters of Vancouver elected a band of radical left-wingers to virtually all of the positions on the Vancouver Soviet… err… City Council. You see COPE (the Coalition of ‘Progressive’ Electors) had never won an election in Vancouver before, nor did they really have high hopes for winning, except for the fact that a popular former City Coroner (upon whose life a popular television show was based) decided to run for Mayor on their ticket at the last minute. As a result, not much thought seems to have gone into COPE’s nomination process. They didn’t even run a full slate of candidates, which presumably means that any nut who wanted to run under their banner got to. Because of this there were a number of people elected to the City Council who I wouldn’t trust to check my coat lest they steal it as an act of protest (it’s possible: once, in Vancouver, some bum stole my suit from the car it was in). The City Administration, therefore, is having a hard time removing the protestors because many of its leading members would actually feel much more comfortable living in the park with them.

There are lessons here for people in other cities- and they must be learned, for our little revolutionary encampment is earning attention all over the world. A recent news report featured protestors who had come from as far away as Germany and Pennsylvania, all to live in one of our public parks. It will not be long before these people return home with nifty new concepts for lawbreaking swimming in their heads. If we fail to act here, it will not be long before we have scum like this living in all of our parks, discarding their needles and publicly defecating in the same places our children are supposed to be playing.

All of the relevant authorities have, in this case, abdicated their responsibility to defend the people against those without respect for the law. We cannot have a civil society if we have one set of laws for some people and another for those who claim to act in the name of “social justice� (or whatever euphemistic name they have developed for their socialist ideals). Seizing a public park, one paid for and meant for the use of the public, is illegal and wrong. Period. Given Vancouver’s already-soaring crime rates and deteriorating level of social order, we cannot tolerate such blatant violations of the law any longer. Yet the police refuse to take any action and the Vancouver Park Board, claiming a lack of staff, says that they won’t get around to ejecting these criminals until the fall. Yet every day this goes on, it grows. Every day it goes on the taxpayers are robbed just a little more, the respect for the law dips just a little more, and we drop just a little more into hell.

If a properly constituted authority neglects its responsibility for act upon laws which are necessary for the defense of the people, then the responsibility for the execution of said laws reverts to the people, upon whose consent responsible government is based. The public has never surrendered its right to safeguard its own rights and to act in its own defense. Those who would break the law should not be able to call upon its protection. It is time for these protestors to go: one way or the other.

Now, let me be very clear on this point, I am not calling for violence. The last thing on Earth that we need is for these people to have a martyr. That does not mean that this situation does not inherently contain the potential of violence for, just the other day, these great defenders of the little guy beat up someone who had the audacity to ride through a public park on his bike. These people are capable of violence against those who would seek to enforce the laws. It is a reason why the authorities are so timid, and it is also a reason why we must take it upon ourselves to defend our property if the people we elect will not.

Allowing these protestors to dictate the actions of our government is despicable. By allowing this to drag on we are sowing the seeds of a thousand violent clashes in the future. Once the radical left discovers that it no longer has to play by the rules of the game, that it may have its way by force, then it will always seek to do so. It cannot stand.

I am tempted to borrow a page out of the US Army’s playbook and suggest that we set up our own camps next door to the ones controlled by the protestors. We could play The Star Spangled Banner and The Battle Hymn of the Republic at maximum volume all night long (when the US Army pulled this stunt in Panama they used annoyingly loud rock music- but I suspect that most of these people are used to that. Better to taunt them with some songs they are certain to truly hate). After all, if they have the right to seize part of a public park and live in it, then we must have the right to play a few stereos in one as well. The problem with the music solution, of course, is time. I don’t have the time to live in a public park for days and neither, I suspect, do any of you. That’s the real problem here: we’ve got a lot of useless people with a lot of time on their hands. People, I might add, who have smaller brains than they do mouths.

We are left with just one option: we must take apart these camps ourselves. We should march on down to these parks and take down their tents, tear down their “no public access� posters, and tell these people to go and get a job. We should not do this violently- but peacefully, in great numbers. A thousand people could assemble- such an overwhelming force that they would have no choice but to stand by as we reclaim what is justly ours. If they choose to be violent against a crowd of such a size, I daresay, it will be their misfortune. We must use ‘people power’ to save our city. If these thugs wish to perform an act of civil disobedience then it is high time for the decent people of the Earth to perform an act of civil obedience.
The 10 Commandments in Alabama
The monument, I think, will be coming down relatively soon. With the rest of the State Supreme Court having turned upon Chief Justice Moore, there isn't much left to do.

That being said: Justice Moore was and is right to act as he has. This isn't about the government 'establishing' any religion- it's about anti-Christian hysteria (and yes Luke, I am aware of the Judaic origins of the 10 Commandments, but certianly you must concede that, in the modern West, they are generally considered to be Christian).

This is simply silly. All the Establishment Clause was meant to do was to prevent the creation of a State Church- "the Church of America" or the like. It was never meant to be used as a tool to drive religion from public life- to ban Nativity displays and order the hauling down of the 10 Commandments.

Whose rights are being violated here? No ones. By the logic being used here to order the taking down of the Ten Commandments, the American flag should be ordered removed from every courtroom in the United States because it might make non-Americans (or people who hate America) feel uncomfortable.

By this logic we should stop holding court proceedings in English because it would make losers who don't speak English feel that they were receiving less than impartial Justice.
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
A Gay Hate Crime?
In Cleveland, Ohio the part time Janitor at local Church was brutally beaten after the Pastor gave a sermon denouncing the Rev. Gene Robinson, the new Bishop in New Hampshire.

I wonder when we're going to see a 'hate crimes' investigation of this?

I suggest emailing the Human Rights Campaign @ field@hrc.org and reporting this "hate crime".
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
"The Constiution is Not a Suicide Pact"
As a side note: that phrase comes from Oliver Wendell Holmes. What it means is this: we cannot stand idle, just because of the Constiution, if the alternative is defeat or dishonor.

I, of course, recall the example of Lincoln in the Civil War. However, there is another, clearer example.

History agree that Thomas Jefferson was an abject failure as the Governor of Virginia during the Revolutionary War. This is because he adhered to the strict letter of the law, even when it meant passitivity in the face of British moves. His successor, Patrick Henry, did not follow such a legalistic line and, consequently, was much more successful.
UN Compound
The news media seems to be angrier about an attack on the UN than they were about 9-11. CNN kept on drifiting its camera back to the UN flag.
The Iraqi Insurrection
There is now a war going on in Iraq. This, contrary to what those liberals still whining over the President’s May 1st “Mission Accomplished� speech would say, is not simply a continuation of the war which began last March, the war to destroy the regime of Saddam Hussein. Rather, this is a new and entirely different kind of war, fought against a different, more radical, more brutal, and more determined foe. This war is no longer primarily against the Ba’athist. Our primary enemy in Iraq today is the Islamist.

Iraq, the word would seem to be in Muslim circles, has become the new Afghanistan. What we face is an international Jihad, with fighters coming to Iraq from every corner of the Earth to fight the Great Satan. This is something which carries with it both great peril and a great opportunity.

Yes, it is true that the arrival of Islamist forces will place US troops in Iraq in even greater danger than they are today, and that their actions will impose additional hardships upon the people of Iraq. However, a direct and prolonged confrontation between the Coalition and the Jihadists in Iraq will produce something else as well: a chance to fight and slaughter the Islamists on their own home turf, thereby greatly reducing the population of ‘Martyrs’ available for action elsewhere and demoralizing Islamists worldwide. The Afghans charged into Soviet guns for a decade: but they could not have done it without tens of billions of dollars in American aid. The Jihadists have no superpower patron and, if we behave intelligently, they will soon have no patrons at all.

No Sanctuary: The greatest mistake of the United States and Russia in the three most recent major losing guerrilla wars involving a great power (Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Chechnya) has been to allow the enemy force to establish a secure sanctuary, protected by international borders and a lack of political will to act. In Vietnam the North Vietnamese were able to operate out of their own country without any fear of a ground invasion as well as to largely have free reign over Laos and Cambodia. In Afghanistan the US used Pakistan as a conduit for supplies, as well as a save haven for meetings and planning. In Chechnya the Chechens have been able to use neighbouring Georgia as a secure area. In all cases the powers contemplated (and in the case of Vietnam took) action against these sanctuaries: but none destroyed them. No modern guerrilla force can long operate without outside support and secure areas from which to plan operations.

Therefore, the United States must take immediate and extreme action to deny all sanctuaries to the enemy forces in Iraq. Specifically this means taking action of some type against, at a minimum, both Iran and Syria, who are clearly aiding the insurrectionists in various ways. We must annihilate the terrorists, wherever they go, and if Syria and Iran stand in our way then we should annihilate them as well.

However, given the global character of this war, there is another excellent way of drawing some of the pressure off of our forces in Iraq. There are reports that an increasing number of the Islamists are Chechen in origin- veterans of the wars against Russia. The situation in Chechnya has degenerated into a stalemate, freeing up some fighters to make their way elsewhere. This simply will not do: either we want those enemies tied down in Chechnya, or we want them dead (and preferably the later).

The United States should immediately reverse its Chechnya policy, instead of urging restraint it should urge Russia to strike out against the terrorist murderers with a maximum level of force, even going so far as to bribe them to get them to do it if we must. We should also drop all objections to a Russian invasion of Georgia. Russia must do what it must to deal with the Islamist vermin that threaten it.

No Quarter: Modern US Army doctrines tend towards casualty-free warfare on both sides. This is an admirable trait when dealing with an honourable foe, but it is a poor one when dealing with Islamists. They will take any act of mercy as an act of weakness and, therefore, encouragement for them to commit future atrocities. Therefore, there should be no mercy for them and, in most cases, no quarter either. They should be killed where they stand and left to rot in the sands. When we find them, or suspect that we have found them, we should kill them and anyone with them unless they immediately surrender- and we should go to no lengths to offer them a chance to surrender.

No Weakness: Most of all, we must not convince the Islamists that they cannot win. The fifth column amongst us, the ones who root for America’s enemies, they are the greatest enemies of freedom in the world. They are more dangerous than the terrorists for, without them, the terrorists would not act against us. The reason why the Islamists act is not because they are crazy, but rather because history has convinced them that they can win.

Any display of weakness or a lack of resolve at this point, the expression of any doubts about the continuation of the war, the expression of opinions that the United States should withdraw: under the present circumstances, especially with our globalized media, this is no longer merely protest or ‘dissent’: it is treason. The strategy of both the global Islamists and the forces in Iraq is simple: break the will of Americans through a de facto alliance with the traitors in the United States.

We should not dismiss this easily for, after all, it is the only strategy which has ever been used to defeat the United States. America did not lose Vietnam upon this battlefield and it will not lose this war upon the battlefield. But it could still lose it, if we let the traitors win on the home front once more. They, not we, are responsible for the betrayal of freedom in Vietnam and, if we let them, they will be responsible for another betrayal of freedom today. In the days, weeks, and years to come we must fight all enemies of the Untied States: foreign and domestic.
UN HQ in Baghdad Attacked
I was just watching CNN (no Fox News in Canada) and they were talking about the car bombing on the United Nations' headquarters in Iraq . One of the anchors spoke of how 'surprised' the UN-folk were that they had been targeted. If this is true, these people are even dumber than I thought, esepcially as reports increasingly show that the 'Iraqi resistance' is made up mostly of foreign Islamists.
The Terror Threat
There are now reports going around that al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the recent massive electrical power outage in Canada and the United States. This is the sort of notion which will appeal to the paranoids of both the right and left, those who see sinister government conspiracies lurking behind ever curtain. However, with nearly absolute certainty I can say this: the Great Blackout of 2003 was an accident and any suggestion that al-Qaeda was behind it is absurd. The members of al-Qaeda could claim responsibility for earthquakes and hurricanes as well, but that wouldn’t make it true.

Now, I must admit that I am not very well versed as to the technical side of what went on last week. However, from what I have read it is fairly clear that the blackout was caused by a failure somewhere along the grid, with speculation now seeming to center in the state of Ohio. In any case, there are more obvious reasons to believe that al-Qaeda did was not responsible for the blackout: the lack of any sort of supporting operations whatsoever. If al-Qaeda really knocked out power to a tenth of the continent and then did exactly nothing to follow it up, then they are the stupidest terrorist organization in the entire history of the world. Imagine the difference it would have made if, on Thursday afternoon, the press had in their hands a statement from al-Qaeda or, for that matter, if a few Jihadists with semtex-accessorized jackets had decided to take a stroll down Broadway.

There were millions of people on the streets on New York one Thursday night. A few suicide bombers would probably, in those crowds, killed hundreds of people. Hundreds (and perhaps thousands) more would probably have been killed in the ensuing panic as millions began to franticly charge about the streets. Just a few bombs would have turned the Great Blackout into the worst terrorist attack since September 11th. For that matter, half a dozen terrorists with AK-47’s could easily killed several dozen people. Yet none of this happened? Why? The answer is simple: al-Qaeda did not know, could not have known, about the blackout in advance.

Quite frankly, I don’t think the real terrorist threat, as of today at least, is of a massive attack. Since September 11th al-Qaeda has been seeking to repeat its performance: and it’s been failing. If they do not strike in North America again soon the people of this continent, naturally forgetful as they are, will forget to fear them: and the Islamists will not have that, especially given the terrible effects that the seeming decline of Islamism must be having upon their recruiting and fundraising.

Where then will they strike? The answer is simple: they will strike at America’s vulnerabilities and where they have the greatest chance of success. I believe that they will strike repeatedly as targets all across America, using tactics as they have used in Israel but, perhaps, with even greater violence. If they are insightful enough, they will choose their targets very carefully, for they have a great asset which they have yet to effectively use: the massive fifth column which exists within the United States. Many people who reluctantly opposed the September 11th attacks (and with even greater reluctance supported a military response to those attacks) did so only because of who had been killed- civilians in New York. Had the terrorists chosen exclusively military and political targets, I fear that there are a great many people in America who would have applauded and that the resistance against a serious reaction would have been ever more furious.

What al-Qaeda and the others Islamists have, to date, failed to comprehend is that slaughtering American (or Israeli) civilians en masse is a counter-productive strategy. They lack the resources to effectively damage the civilian or economic base of either country. Instead they throw away their most dedicated members in exchanges whose overall kill ratio run against them- exchanges whose primary effect is to unite the people around their leaders.

It would be much harder to arouse public enthusiasm for the War on Terrorism if al-Qaeda restricted itself to military and political targets. As we saw in the cases of the USS Cole, the Khobar Towers and others, the general public doesn’t really care all that much if a few US servicemen are killed by terrorist bombs. Frankly, I think they’d care less if a few Congressmen bought it. However, such strikes would have a very real effect on US morale and the political will to wage the war.

The other thing lacking on the part of al-Qaeda is an effective public relations team. The group needs to recruit a spokesman, someone British or American educated, who can go on Western television and plead after they commit an atrocity that they are, “only defending their homeland� and spout off the rest of their propaganda is measured and sane-seeming tones.

It would be a mistake to think that the Islamists cannot win this war: they can. While they cannot win by the means of a single, massive, battle they can win the long war of attrition of the United States lacks the will to continue the fight. The key to victory here is political will and, in a democracy, political will to win a war can never be sustained for very long if the people are not under direct threat of attack. If this war becomes a war of decades, the terrorists will win. They will not win upon the field of battle, but rather within a weakened American mind.

There is, therefore, only one option for the United States. America must invade the nests which host and give birth to the terrorists, and it must burn them to ashes. Then it must go out into the world and kill the enemy wherever they might be found, slaughtering them where they sleep, obliterating them where they stand.
Sunday, August 17, 2003
The Short Window
This October 7th there is a serious chance of having a real conservative elected as the next Governor of California. By ‘real conservative’, I am naturally not referring to Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has, in just over a week of campaigning, demonstrated himself to be just as liberal as any Democrat who is likely to get elected. The decision to bring Rob Lowe and Warren Buffett onboard as campaign observers shows very clearly what many Republicans had feared: a Governor Schwarzenegger would be surrounded by liberal Democratic advisors and, almost certainly be lassoed into working with the Democratic legislature instead of against them. The fact that Arnold has yet to put forward a single substantive campaign proposal seems to suggest very strongly that he is going to seek to run his campaign based upon celebrity alone: this is hardly what the people of California, or Republicans in general, need at this critical juncture.

A lot of Republicans are getting behind Schwarzenegger on the grounds that he will help President Bush’s chances of winning California (and its fifty-five electoral votes). However, there is no guarantee that, as Governor, Schwarzenegger would even endorse Bush, especially if Bush remains neutral on the matter of the recall. It should be recalled that, in 1994, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (a Republican who is seemingly less liberal than Schwarzenegger) endorsed Mario Cuomo for re-election as New York Governor over the relatively conservative George Pataki (who, in the year of the Republican Passover, won anyways). A Schwarzenegger elected with largely liberal Republican, independent, and Democratic votes will not feel any great debt of gratitude to the national GOP, and his advisors will certainly not be enthusiastic for the President, nor will his wife.

There are two Republicans in this race worthy of conservative support: businessman (and former Gubernatorial candidate) Bill Simon and State Senator Tom McClintock. Though, at present, both are in single digits in the polls (9% for McClintock and 8% for Simon) their totals combined are only five percent less than Schwarzenegger, who has enjoyed more than a week of free media and who had far higher initial name recognition. If one of the two conservatives were to pull out of the race now and endorse the other, the election would suddenly be a three-way contest between liberal Democrat Cruz Bustamante, liberal Republican/RINO Arnold Schwarzenegger, and a real, authentic, conservative Republican.

But, in all reality, it’s even better than that. As his few known policy positions and his choice of advisors makes crystal clear, Arnold Schwarzenegger is effectively a Democrat. The only thing which earns him support from any great number of California Republicans is his name and the fact that the specifics of his views are generally unknown. A relentless attack by conservative Republicans will reduce Schwarzenegger’s overall level of support, but not eradicate it. However, more of the votes he wins will come from voters who would otherwise end up voting for a Democrat.

Roughly a third of the California electorate is made up of conservative Republicans. This is the base which won last year’s GOP Primary for Bill Simon and which has loyally supported the Republican cause through several disastrous electoral cycles. If this base can be mobilized, with the rest of the voters divided between a number of liberal and moderate candidates, 30% of the vote or thereabouts will be all that is needed to elect the next Governor of California.

Which candidate should pull out? This I cannot say. Bill Simon has more money and more name recognition, but Tom McClintock is better liked among the conservative base. Frankly, in my opinion, either would be fine: certainly an improvement over any of the other options.

If this is to come off it will not be pretty. There is only about a month and a half between now and the election. Whichever Republican goes forwards will have to fight this campaign as though it’s a Republican Primary, campaigning hard to the right on the issues and tearing into Schwarzenegger’s record and views. It will not find approval among the media, much of the conservative establishment, or the Administration, who are always cautious in these sorts of things. But it will work. If the Republican conservatives of California can choose a single candidate and push them on through, then they will win this election and begin the long process of restoring the lustre of the formerly Golden State.
Thursday, August 14, 2003
No Cyberstrike
The answer is as such: I'm jumpy and I don't understand electrical grids very well. So sue me.
Cyberstrike?
Power seems to be going down all across the Eastern United States (and in Ottawa and Toronto as well). This is not, cannot, be the result of some sort of minor incident. New York City, Detroit, and Cleveland are are reported to be without power.

It's too widespread to be the result of sabotoge (as well- cross border sabotoge?), this feels like a cyber-assault of some sort. It could be a cover for something else too.
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
One Last Chance to Block Gay ‘Marriage’
Canadians still have one last chance to stop gay ‘marriage’ from becoming the law of the land. While it is true that the courts have already imposed the perversion of marriage upon the people of British Columbia and Ontario, such a move will not really be finalized until the Parliament passes the legislation presently proposed by the Government. We still have one last chance to stop this abomination, though it will not be easy.

The final vote on the bill changing the definition of marriage will be a ‘free’ one. What that means is that it will not be subject to the usual party discipline, nor will it be considered a vote of non confidence if the measure does not carry. Each and every single Member of Parliament will be allowed to vote based upon both their personal views and the views of their constituents. This means one thing: if we can find the votes, we can still defeat this bill.

There are three hundred and one Member of Parliament. So, in other words, we need to find one hundred and fifty-one votes in order to defeat the bill. Are the votes there?

At present the House of Commons is divided as follows: 171 Liberals, 63 Canadian Alliance members, 34 Bloc Québécois, 15 Progressive Conservatives, 14 New Democrats, and 4 Independents.

Now the Canadian Alliance is Canada’s most conservative party, so it can be counted upon that virtually all of its members will vote against the bill, though a few of the more libertarian members might vote for it. So let’s say that we can expect to get sixty votes against from the Alliance.

Similarly, we can expect that most of the Progressive Conservatives will vote against the bill (though certainly not all of them). A few members are old-fashioned ‘Red’ Tories and will probably vote for the bill as, I suspect, will openly gay MP Scott Brison. I would expect that about ten Tories will vote against the bill and five for it. So we are now left with a total of seventy of one hundred and fifty-one needed votes.

The Bloc Québécois is a tough beast to deal with. People in Quebec, for the most part, support gay marriage more strongly than people in other Provinces, and the Bloc has generally been quite far to the left on social issues. However, I would expect that we will still have a handful of Bloc votes come down on the ‘no’ side of this issue, if only because for some it will be a political or personal imperative. The recent efforts of the Catholic Church to fight the gay marriage bill will probably resonate in some areas of heavily-Catholic Quebec. Arbitrarily, I will guess that ¼ of the Bloc Caucus will, for one reason or another, vote against the bill. That leaves us with seventy-nine votes.

The NDP are Canada’s most left-wing party, and they can be counted upon to mostly support the bill. At best, there will be maybe one or two defections from MP’s who represent rural areas without a terribly secure base, and for whom voting against the bill might be a political imperative. Eighty-two votes.

One of the four Independents is former Alliance MP Jim Pankiw. His vote against the bill can, I think, be reliably counted upon. Eight-three.

What this means is that we will need the votes of sixty-eight members of the Liberal Caucus against the bill in order to defeat it. The heart of the battle, therefore, is within the Liberal Party and, more than that, it is in Ontario, where polls reveal that roughly half of the people are opposed to gay marriage. According to a June 2003 Ipsos-Reid poll, only 49% of Ontarians support same-sex marriage. Those numbers are undoubtedly inflated by the probable majorities which stand in support in Toronto and Ottawa. According to some news reports there are already fifty Liberal MP’s committed to a public battle against gay marriage: we need just eighteen more.

There are about one hundred Liberal MP’s from Ontario, many of whom represent socially conservative areas. We can write off most of the urban MP’s, it’s the rest that we have to work on. They must understand that supporting this execrable measure will be notably unpopular among their constituents and that they will have to go before the voters not long after voting upon this bill. They will probably vote in the fall of this year, and there will probably be an election next spring. Our people forget things: but they don’t forget quite that quickly.

Now, as many have pointed out, even if Parliament doesn’t pass the bill- the Supreme Court will still legalize gay marriage. However, a victory against the national gay marriage bill could swing momentum- perhaps enough to convince a worried Liberal Government to take some further action in the face of an oncoming election. Moreover, the issue could be used at the Provincial level, with citizens demanding that Provincial Governments (many of which will be up for re-election in the next two years) invo9ke the Notwithstanding Clause to shield themselves from gay marriage.

Imagine this scenario for a moment: this fall the Parliament defeats the idea of gay marriage by a narrow margin. Not long after that the Supreme Court goes ahead and legalizes gay marriage anyways, over the votes of Parliament. The new Prime Minister, Paul Martin, will then be forced either to go to the polls at that point or attempt to govern without a mandate from the people. He will not be able to move in support of same-sex marriage because of the opposition both of the people and from within his own party. However, he will not be able to move against it either, because doing so would almost certainly cause a split in his own party. None of this is a certainty. However, it is the last, best, hope of those of us who believe in a moral Canada.
The Ten Core Convictions of Adam Teiichi Yoshida
1) The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.
2) Force (or the threat of force) has solved virtually all of the major problems in human history. It would be the height of folly to foreswear the use of force, or to not use it when it would be advantageous to do so.
3) Traditional Morality and Freedom are intrinsically linked. No society which does not adhere to a strict moral code can, in the long term, remain forever free. The abolition of the restraints provided by morality inevitably leads to the abolition of the restraints against despotism.
4) No Unfree society, however strong it might seem, can survive a sustained challenge from a free society. History is the history of the triumph of Western Civilization specifically because freedom provides the individual in a Western society with superior initiative.
5) Race is a meaningless concept from which we should be freed altogether
6) Culture is a meaningful concept and some cultures are better than others. It is perfectly acceptable to seek to promote a superior culture (or religion) over an inferior one.
7) Religion, and the belief in God, provides the key underpinning of traditional morality. Even atheists should advance the belief in God, because the concept of God can provide an explanation to promote the traditional morals which are essential to the maintenance of a free society.
8) There is a God and he remains involved in human affairs to some degree. He has chosen the United States of America as his nation upon the Earth, and his providence will help guide the Republic through the coming storm. All God-fearing humans are obligated to aid the American cause.
9) The Constitution, and any other document, is not a suicide pact. If I had to break the Constitution to save the Union, I would do so.
10) A world in which there is nothing worth dying for is a world in which there is nothing worth living for.
The Korean Dilemma
At the risk of repeating something everyone already knows: the situation on the Korean Peninsula is a dire one. This, at least, is one point on which pretty much everyone with a brain and a pulse can agree. The real question, however, is this: what is to be done about it? Shall we cower in fear, appeasing the mad Dictator of North Korea until, someday, his demands grow to such an extent that we can finally agree that we will not meet them? Or will we resolve to act with the firmness that the situation demands, determined to defend freedom however high the cost might be? Appeasement or war? Or, far more accurately, shall we have war today or war tomorrow?

There is no avoiding this war but in abject surrender and submission. North Korea is an Orwellian hell-hole, ruled by a lunatic armed with ballistic missiles and nuclear bombs. We have no reason to believe that the present commandant of one of the world’s largest prisons will surrender his power willingly, nor do have any reason to believe that his battered, starving, brainwashed, and terribly confused people have either the ability or inclination to overthrow him themselves. To sustain his country Kim Jong Il relies upon the tool of blackmail. He blackmails America, Japan, and South Korea into aiding him by the fear of the bomb, while he blackmails China through the fear of the refugee. In the nine years since Jimmy Carter went to Pyongyang to achieve a peace for our time, the demands of North Korea’s dictator have grown progressively bolder, soon his demands will be intolerable altogether. It is not a question of if this will happen, but rather of when.

What do we do on the day when Kim Jong Il picks up the phone, calls the President of the United States, and says, “I have two dozen missiles fueled on their launch-pads and, unless you pay me fifty billion dollars, I shall launch them at Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego�? A foolish and weak man would probably give into such demands, believing in vain that his course of action will save lives, even though it will only invite worse threats in the future. A strong man would have no choice but to hang up the phone and to fill the Korean skies with missiles and bombers, but such a decision would have consequences as well. What if one (or more) of Kim’s missiles gets through and kills half a million Americans? Their blood would cry out for blood. And millions would die. It cannot come to that.

The only option then is to strike now. It would have been better to strike in 1994, when they were weaker. However, given the rate at which the North Koreans are reprocessing plutonium and building bombers, there can be no question that they are growing stronger by the day. At present it is believed that they have two nuclear bombs, maybe more. What will we do in a year, when they have twenty bombs? Or shall we let another decade pass, when they would have five hundred and the missiles to mount them on?

Nor should we delude ourselves into relying upon such spending to cause a total collapse of the North Korean economy or into believing that such a collapse is likely to produce results which would meet with our approval. On launching his quest to build a Muslim bomb, Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto declared that his people would eat rocks and dirt, but that they would have an atomic bomb. He meant that his people would do so out of their own determination to catch up with India. The North Korean people have no such choice: it’s one of the reasons why dictators are so fond of command economies. Moreover, even if a North Korean arms build-up does trigger a general economic collapse, all that will do is increase the likelihood of the issuance of a final ultimatum to the Washington.

As Abraham Lincoln once said, “we can not escape history… The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation.� However we came to this position, to this moment in time, we are in it now: and we have no choice. We know that one day either the North Koreans will attack us, or leave us with no choice but to attack them, so why not get it over with now while we are strong and they are weak? This is a course of action fraught with danger: but it is better than the alternatives.

Because of the peril inherent in the present situation, the attack would have to be a sneak attack, taken with a minimum of forewarning. Moreover, because the total destruction of North Korea’s weapons would have to be assured, this attack itself would have to utilize nuclear weapons in an offensive role.

The opening salvo would be delivered by stealth aircraft, and it would fall in the middle of the night. Weapons would have to be used to attack not only North Korean nuclear facilities, but their missile and air bases, as well as the great concentrations of artillery that lay along the demilitarized zone. The attack would have to be followed up upon, with a minimum of delay, by the South Korean and American troops stationed along or near the DMZ, with the goal of forcing all surviving DPRK artillery units to retreat into positions from which they would be unable to attack Seoul.

This will be, to say the least, politically difficult but, I believe, manageable. While it is certainly true that the South Koreans will be notably unhappy about the United States throwing about tactical nuclear weapons a few miles from their border, it seems singularly unlikely that they would refuse to participate in follow-up military operations designed to protect Seoul simply out of spite. If, afterwards, they no longer feel a need to have US troops stationed in their country, so much the better.

We must, I believe, disenthrall ourselves of our antiquated notions about nuclear weapons. Modern low-yield tactical nuclear weapons do not generate great amounts of fallout, nor do they do lasting radiation damage. In all reality, they are little different than most other types of weapons except in one important respect: they pack a wallop of a punch. They should not be used every day, but there are times that call for their use: this is one of those times.

A year and half ago we allowed our great anti-nuclear prejudice to get in the way of a magnificent opportunity to deal a crushing blow to al-Qaeda. A few small nuclear weapons could have sealed those caves at Tora Bora for a thousand years- with most of the leadership of al-Qaeda inside.

Nuclear weapons are needed here for several reasons: some of the targets are deeply buried; the absolute destruction of the targets needs to be 100% certain, and the number of units involved in planning and staging this sort of attack will need to be kept to the absolute minimum. An attack without them is doomed to fail, because it will require a gathering of forces on such a scale that it would forewarn the North Koreans.

Why, you might ask, is surprise so critically important? Simple: without it we run the risk of the North Koreans taking pre-emptive action or, at the very least, being prepared to effectively respond in the event of an attack. We cannot allow this because, if the North Koreans have forewarning, any attack will carry with it the risk of a nuclear attack on civilian areas which could cost millions of lives.

This is a fated hour. Either we must strike now: and win, or we must accept a new world, a world run not by advocates of democracy and human liberty, but rather by the powerful dictators of barren and impoverished lands, dictators made powerful by their weapons of mass destruction and the impotence of the West against the threat they pose. The battle to come will be fought in Korea, but it is not just a battle for Korea. For, if we fail to take the challenge, we will soon find ourselves faced not with one nuclear-armed rogue state, but a dozen, and with them the loss of all hope for a better world in our lives. Now is our best chance to act.
Congressional Jackasses
MATT DRUDGE is reporting tonight that Bill Gertz (no link yet) is set to break in the Washington Times that the Congress is set to impose new restrictions on the Presidential use of special ops forces, requiring a Presidential Finding for all operations. This is a horrible idea, one which extreme ramifications which might not be seen fully for years to come.

We don't need an emasculated CIA and emasculated Special Forces, always looking over their shoulder for Congressional inquisitors. What is desperately needed today are bad-ass forces who can go around killing terrorists without worrying much about the diplomatic niceites of it (or the 'civil liberties' of terrorist murderers, for that matter).

This sounds like a reasonable request- and will be spun a such, but don't believe it folks, this is deadly serious, wrong, and dangerous.