The Bush Administration Intensifies The War With Attacks in Pakistan
For the second time since New Year's, Predator drones belonging to the CIA have gone after al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistani territory in what appears to be an intensification and widening of the War On Terror.
But if the target this time was the No. 2 to Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the report is that, once again, the U.S. didn't get him. He was said to be absent when 17 or 18 were killed at Damadola, north of Peshawar.
The news media hasn't been paying sufficient attention. But it should be no surprise that, realizing that this is a year of midterm elections, the Bush Administration is upping the ante in the Middle East and South Asia, hoping to score some salient successes in the months ahead.
The Pakistani response, while negative, has so far been fairly muted. It is likely the Pakistani government has been consulted and has given its permission at least in some fashion. As for elements within that rogue state, there are entirely too many people there willing to welcome the terrorists and give them refuge.
Meanwhile, Iran is defying the international community, resuming its carefully drawn up plan to develop nuclear weapons, and now vowing to hold a conference to try to mislead the world about the existence of the World War II Holocaust.
The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is a Nazi himself, and he will hopefully end up the same way as the Nazis of World War II, dead.
While the U.S. and Western European governments continue to talk of taking the nuclear matter to the U.N. Security Council and implementing sanctions, this would seem to be a hollow threat, with no discernible possibility of coordinated international action dissuading the fanatical Iranian government from going ahead with its plans.
This is just like Ethiopia in 1935. In the international community as a whole, there simply isn't the gumption to really take the miscreants on, and the United Nations, like the old League of Nations is a useless organization when it really comes to preserving international security. The League of Nations helped the advent of World War II, and the U.N. is just as worthless.
If Iran is going to be prevented from obtaining nuclear weapons, the Iranian government is going to have to be dissuaded by force and probably deposed. Certainly, there is no prospect of an oil embargo or other peaceful action being successful. And waiting for Russian and Chinese support for any meaningful steps is like waiting for Godot.
That's why these editorials you read in the L.A. Times and elsewhere are so phony. They wring their hands with alarm, but they don't face up to the realities of the situation. It's no surprise, of course, that world peace can't depend on Andres Martinez and a passel of well-meaning liberals.
Meanwhile, in Iraq, casualties mount again, and final election results are delayed. There too dire action against the Sunnis is going to be necessary to bring success. Winning their hearts and minds will not accomplish American objectives in that benighted land. The War On Terror cannot be won in any other way than war.
But if the target this time was the No. 2 to Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the report is that, once again, the U.S. didn't get him. He was said to be absent when 17 or 18 were killed at Damadola, north of Peshawar.
The news media hasn't been paying sufficient attention. But it should be no surprise that, realizing that this is a year of midterm elections, the Bush Administration is upping the ante in the Middle East and South Asia, hoping to score some salient successes in the months ahead.
The Pakistani response, while negative, has so far been fairly muted. It is likely the Pakistani government has been consulted and has given its permission at least in some fashion. As for elements within that rogue state, there are entirely too many people there willing to welcome the terrorists and give them refuge.
Meanwhile, Iran is defying the international community, resuming its carefully drawn up plan to develop nuclear weapons, and now vowing to hold a conference to try to mislead the world about the existence of the World War II Holocaust.
The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is a Nazi himself, and he will hopefully end up the same way as the Nazis of World War II, dead.
While the U.S. and Western European governments continue to talk of taking the nuclear matter to the U.N. Security Council and implementing sanctions, this would seem to be a hollow threat, with no discernible possibility of coordinated international action dissuading the fanatical Iranian government from going ahead with its plans.
This is just like Ethiopia in 1935. In the international community as a whole, there simply isn't the gumption to really take the miscreants on, and the United Nations, like the old League of Nations is a useless organization when it really comes to preserving international security. The League of Nations helped the advent of World War II, and the U.N. is just as worthless.
If Iran is going to be prevented from obtaining nuclear weapons, the Iranian government is going to have to be dissuaded by force and probably deposed. Certainly, there is no prospect of an oil embargo or other peaceful action being successful. And waiting for Russian and Chinese support for any meaningful steps is like waiting for Godot.
That's why these editorials you read in the L.A. Times and elsewhere are so phony. They wring their hands with alarm, but they don't face up to the realities of the situation. It's no surprise, of course, that world peace can't depend on Andres Martinez and a passel of well-meaning liberals.
Meanwhile, in Iraq, casualties mount again, and final election results are delayed. There too dire action against the Sunnis is going to be necessary to bring success. Winning their hearts and minds will not accomplish American objectives in that benighted land. The War On Terror cannot be won in any other way than war.
posted by Ken Reich at 9:37 AM
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