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Maybe the war on terrorism is a contrived thing

Contributed by: Francis Miller on 6/27/2006

I am beginning to wonder about this thing called the "war on terror". I am the kind of person who assumes the other guy is smart and could very well be right when contrary to my opinions. So, when 50% of the country and the New York Times thinks this war on terror is no big deal then, maybe I'm wrong.

In the past three months the N.Y.Times has published three articles that astound me, not to mention their daily drumbeat against George Bush. The articles about wiretapping might have been justified in getting the public to debate the merits, but, after all the ink was spilt, the public seemed to agree we should be monitoring international calls to Osama Bin Laden's cave. But, then the N.Y.Times published pictures of the spots on a soldier's body where he was vulnerable to being injured or killed and I had images of every insurgent carrying that picture in his back pocket. As an ex-Navy Seabee who did his combat training with the Marine Corp, I am stunned. What more would you have to do to endanger these kids fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan?

But, the final straw came when this week, after being asked not to publish, the Times, followed by its cohorts in the media, published classified information regarding how we monitor money transfers in the banking system to detect terrorist movement. At what point does freedom of the press need to be restrained in the interest of national security?

I am beginning to wonder whether America has the ability to fight a war, any war, unless we are assaulted on Virginia Beach directly. Given the constant slamming of the President and his administration it is obvious that many cannot get over the election outcome. We are a country that is a republic and representative democracy; we do not take a vote(poll) on every daily decision that has to be made. No one, whether he is managing GE, Microsoft, or the U.S. government can submit to such micro-management by the Congress, the media, or the man on the street. Blame people's anal tendencies or the failure of high school civic teachers, but it is a crisis.

Second, it is becoming increasingly clear that there are two groups, those who believe, as I do, that this is a clash of civilizations, not a few radical fundamentalists. The second group of Americans and a their European cousins believe this is like a running season of Law and Order where we use the police to capture a few bad guys, appoint an attorney for them and watch Judge Judy dispense justice, only to return to business as usual. This chasm in perception and belief is huge and has stalemated our ability to develop consensus and support any administration, no matter whether it's the current Bush administration or some possible Democratic administration down the road. Until we get our perceptions aligned we are vulnerable.

Right now we have a bunch of kids, mostly working class kids from the South, and a bunch of National Guardsmen from our local communities over there fighting. Eventually, with the current level of public support this group will ceast to re-enlist and we will have to begin drafting kids like we did during Vietnam. Now, since I was one of those draftees in 1971, I know what hits the fan when moms have to send their "works-of-art" off to war. Consider the possibility that women will be drafted and you can imagine how quickly we will become divided. This war will go on for years and it is kids in elementary school today who will bear the burden and suffer the shame of public disaffection.

Should the U.S. experience a pandemic (which is only a matter of time), natural disaster (we are overdue) or terrorist attacks on home turf (you know it is coming) we will be in such disarray psychologically we will be hard pressed to respond.

It is only natural that we are in denial and confused and fearful. Uncertainty that comes when a bear stalks your tent from some place in the woods is worse than confronting the real thing. But, the people who amaze me most are the New Yorkers, employees of the New York Times and Jews, many of whom are prominent in the media.

In case they have forgotten, New York is the number one terrorist target and with a dense population it is more vulnerable to pandemic and natural disaster than other parts of the country. I know New Yorkers see the rest of the world as flyover country but you would think there are a few rational people in a coastal population of 40 million people.

Now, I realize that the media habitually inflates the value of its personal currency by preying on the misery of others. Publishing articles on national security leaked to them by partisans is time-worn and even cancelling your subscription will not discourage them. They sell advertising and they will use any kind of bait to get people to look at those adds. These publishers and their advertiser-benefactors are, at best, amoral, and they treat everything around them as an extractives industry.

But, there are a substantial number of Jewish people in the media, including the papers, tv, and movie industries and they all seem to be united against Bush and the war on terror, except for Joe Lieberman, who is now being attacked in Connecticut by the left wing of the party.

Don't the Jewish people realize that the bulk of people in the Islam world want to exterminate them from the face of the planet. It is not like in the old days when they were casted-out into a disapora and their tribes had to roam the planet. Today, it is a case of an intense and unabated desire to kill every last Jew on planet Earth. Second, there are no less than a few skin-head, Nazi-sympathsizing Europeans who wouldn't mind the Arab world taking care of what they couldn't accomplish during 1930s and 1940s. If there were a world-wide recession or depression and massive defaults on loans and a constriction of credit you can bet the tide of popular opinion against money-changers in general would cause the spotlight to be unduly focused on Jews as the cause of society's ills and there would be hell to pay.

I want to say that I am not anti-Semitic and have great admiration for the Judaeo-Christian tradition. But, I am wondering if Jewish people have stopped to consider who are their true friends. We know from experience that the French and other Europeans soon forgot who saved them from totalitarian rule and you can see what little thanks we got for it. Do the Jews, who are disproportinately under-represented in the military and in support for the war on terror expect a free ride, all the while undermining the President's efforts by leveraging their positions in the media. And, don't tell me there is a silent majority that supports Bush. You either speak out or it is assumed by default you are in opposition-Jew, Muslim, Christian, or Hindu, I don't care what part of the ice cream case you come from at Baskin-Robbins.

Now, if you really want to get me upset, counter with that time-worn argument that every person has a right to object and a responsible democracy encourages dissent. You have the right, but you also have "grave responsibilities". And, when the threat is real and imminent you have the responsibility to follow your elected leaders, particularly the commander-in-chief, until the next election when you can exercise your personal rights and vote someone else into office. Until then follow or get out of the way.

Why did you expect me, as a soldier in 1971 during the Vietnam war, to be willing to get my mind juiced-up to die for a cause and then was lucky enough to come home in one piece, you felt you could spit on me and call me baby-killer? And, why do you have the right to expect kids sent to Iraq and Afghanistan or serve in the military-in-general to take the pledge, go into battle under-orders, and be prepared to die or be maimed for life? Is expected that a select group would fall on their swords, when you and your children are to be allowed to whine, and complain, and go about your secular, materialistic life, going to proms and debutante balls, and shopping at Park Meadows, building 10,000 square foot homes in the Preserve and creating a situation where our men and women in uniform are discouraged from even wearing their uniforms in public?

If I have learned anything in 56 years it is that: "nothing gives meaning in life above the opportunity to participate in a great cause", even if it means dying. And, nothing demeans the meaning of life than cowardly shuffling forward in lock-step, standing in line, waiting to be put on a cattle car or being marched off to be tortured or exterminated. This is going to be one situation where your are going to have to "walk the talk".

In the long run, as this thing unfolds, you will not be allowed to write a check and have someone else make the sacrifice. I predict you will have to put everything; your wealth, your faith, your honor, and that of your children on the line, at risk, willing to kill or be killed. And, if you don't finish the job, these people will come back in a future generation and your great-grandchildren will pay the ultimate price. Take a picture of your beautiful grand-daughter and see how she would look wearing a birka. Imagine your grand-son beheaded by a barbarian. Our enemy yields no quarter, appoints no attorneys and holds no trials. He is ruthless beyond belief and your weakness animates him and gives him hope. And, every time you fill your tank with gasoline or turn on the electric lights in your home your are wiring him the funds to sustain his fight.

Of course, I could be totally wrong and this could just be another TV melodrama, waiting for the review being written up for the Sunday Times and the Emmy's and Grammy's to be awarded.






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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Francis Miller

Parker , CO

Francis Miller has posted 699 stories and 9 comments since joining on 11/17/2005. Francis Miller's average story rating is 4.2.
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