Please take the time to read the attached essay by Dr. Chong. It is without a doubt the most articulate and convincing writing I have read regarding the War in Iraq. If you have any doubts please open your mind to his essay and give a fair evaluation. I had no idea who Dr. Chong is or the source of these thoughts... so when I received them, I almost deleted them - as well-written as they are. But then I did a "Google search" on the Doctor and found him to be a retired Air Force Surgeon of all things and past Commander of Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio. So he is real, is connected to Veterans affairs in California, and these are his thoughts. They are worth reading and thinking about! (the same Google search will direct you to some of his other thought-provoking writings.) Subject: Muslims, terrorist and the USA. A different spin on Iraq war. This WAR is for REAL! Dr. Vernon Chong, Major General, USAF, Retired Tuesday, July 12, 2005 To get out of a difficulty, one usually must go through it. Our country is now facing the most serious threat to its existence, as we know it, that we have faced in your lifetime and mine (which includes WWII). The deadly seriousness is greatly compounded by the fact that there are very few of us who think we can possibly lose this war and even fewer who realize what losing really means. First, let's examine a few basics: 1. When did the threat to us start? Many will say September 11, 2001. The answer as far as the United State is concerned is 1979, 22 years prior to September 2001, with the following attacks on us: * Iran Embassy Hostages, 1979; * Beirut, Lebanon Embassy 1983; * Beirut, Lebanon Marine Barracks 1983; * Lockerbie, Scotland Pan-Am flight to New York 1988; * First New York World Trade Center attack 1993; * Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Khobar Towers Military complex 1996; * Nairobi, Kenya US Embassy 1998; * Dares Salaam, Tanzania US Embassy 1998; * Aden, Yemen USS Cole 2000; * New York World Trade Center 2001; * Pentagon 2001. (Note that during the period from 1981 to 2001 there were 7,581 terrorist attacks worldwide). 2. Why were we attacked? Envy of our position, our success, and our freedoms. The attacks happened During the administrations of Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton and Bush 2. We cannot fault either the Republicans or Democrats as there were no provocations by any of the presidents or their Immediate predecessors, Presidents Ford or Carter. 3. Who were the attackers? In each case, the attacks on the US were carried out by Muslims. 4. What is the Muslim population of the World? 25%. 5. Isn't the Muslim Religion peaceful? Hopefully, but that is really not material. There is no doubt that the Predominately Christian population of Germany was peaceful, but under the dictatorial leadership of Hitler (who was also Christian), that made no difference. You either went along with the administration or you were eliminated. There were 5 to 6 million Christians killed by the Nazis for political reasons (including 7,000 Polish priests). (see http://www.nazis.testimony.co.uk/7-a.htm ) Thus, almost the same number of Christians were killed by the Nazis, as the six million holocaust Jews who were killed by them, and we seldom heard of anything other than the Jewish atrocities. Although Hitler kept the world focused on the Jews, he had no hesitancy about killing anyone who got in his way of exterminating the Jews or of taking over the world - German, Christian or any others. Same with the Muslim terrorists. They focus the world on the US, but kill all in the way -- their own people or the Spanish, French or anyone else. The point here is that just like the peaceful Germans were of no protection to anyone from the Nazis, no matter how many peaceful Muslims there may be, they are no protection for us from the terrorist Muslim leaders and what they are fanatically bent on doing -- by their own pronouncements -- killing all of us "infidels." I don't blame the peaceful Muslims. What would you do if the choice was shut up or die? 6. So who are we at war with? There is no way we can honestly respond that it is anyone other than the Muslim terrorists. Trying to be politically correct and avoid verbalizing this conclusion can well be fatal. There is no way to win if you don't clearly recognize and articulate who you are fighting. So with that background, now to the two major questions: 1. Can we lose this war? 2. What does losing really mean? If we are to win, we must clearly answer these two pivotal questions We can definitely lose this war, and as anomalous as it may sound, the major reason we can lose is that so many of us simply do not fathom the answer to the second question - What does losing mean? It would appear that a great many of us think that losing the war means hanging our heads, bringing the troops home and going on about our business, like post Vietnam. This is as far from the truth as one can get. What losing really means is: We would no longer be the premier country in the world. The attacks will not subside, but rather will steadily increase. Remember, they want us dead, not just quiet. If they had just wanted us quiet, they would not have produced an increasing series of attacks against us, over the past 18 years. The plan was clearly, for terrorist to attack us, until we were neutered and submissive to them. We would of course have no future support from other nations, for fear of reprisals and for the reason that they would see, we are impotent and cannot help them. They will pick off the other non-Muslim nations, one at a time. It will be increasingly easier for them. They already hold Spain hostage. It doesn't matter whether it was right or wrong for Spain to withdraw its troops from Iraq. Spain did it because the Muslim terrorists bombed their train and told them to withdraw the troops. Anything else they want Spain to do will be done. Spain is finished. The next will probably be France. Our one hope on France is that they might see the light and realize that if we don't win, they are finished too, in that they can't resist the Muslim terrorists without us. However, it may already be too late for France. France is already 20% Muslim and fading fast! If we lose the war, our production, income, exports and way of life will all vanish as we know it. After losing, who would trade or deal with us, if they were threatened by the Muslims. If we can't stop the Muslims, how could anyone else? The Muslims fully know what is riding on this war, and therefore are completely committed to winning, at any cost. We better know it too and be likewise committed to winning at any cost. Why do I go on at such lengths about the results of losing? Simple. Until we recognize the costs of losing, we cannot unite and really put 100% of our thoughts and efforts into winning. And it is going to take that 100% effort to win. So, how can we lose the war? Again, the answer is simple. We can lose the war by "imploding." That is, defeating ourselves by refusing to recognize the enemy and their purpose, and really digging in and lending full support to the war effort If we are united, there is no way that we can lose. If we continue to be divided, there is no way that we can win! Let me give you a few examples of how we simply don't comprehend the life and death seriousness of this situation. President Bush selects Norman Mineta as Secretary of Transportation. Although all of the terrorist attacks were committed by Muslim men between 17 and 40 years of age, Secretary Mineta refuses to allow profiling. Does that sound like we are taking this thing seriously? This is war! For the duration, we are going to have to give up some of the civil rights we have become accustomed to. We had better be prepared to lose some of our civil rights temporarily or we will most certainly lose all of them permanently. And don't worry that it is a slippery slope. We gave up plenty of civil rights during WWII, and immediately restored them after the victory and in fact added many more since then. Do I blame President Bush or President Clinton before him? No, I blame us for blithely assuming we can maintain all of our Political Correctness, and all of our civil rights during this conflict and have a clean, lawful, honorable war. None of those words apply to war. Get them out of your head. Some have gone so far in their criticism of the war and/or the Administration that it almost seems they would literally like to see us Lose. I hasten to add that this isn't because they are disloyal. It is because they just don't recognize what losing means. Nevertheless, that conduct gives the impression to the enemy that we are divided and weakening. It concerns our friends, and it does great damage to our cause. Of more recent vintage, the uproar fueled by the politicians and media regarding the treatment of some prisoners of war, perhaps exemplifies best what I am saying. We have recently had an issue, involving the treatment of a few Muslim prisoners of war, by a small group of our military police. These are the type prisoners who just a few months ago were throwing their own people off buildings, cutting off their hands, cutting out their tongues and otherwise murdering their own people just for disagreeing with Saddam Hussein. And just a few years ago these same type prisoners chemically killed 400,000 of their own people for the same reason. They are also the same type of enemy fighters, who recently were burning Americans, and dragging their charred corpses through the streets of Iraq. And still more recently, the same type of enemy that was and is providing videos to all news sources internationally, of the beheading of American prisoners they held. Compare this with some of our press and politicians, who for several days have thought and talked about nothing else but the "humiliating" of some Muslim prisoners -- not burning them, not dragging their charred corpses through the streets, not beheading them, but "humiliating" them. Can this be for real? The politicians and pundits have even talked of impeachment of the Secretary of Defense. If this doesn't show the complete lack of comprehension and understanding of the seriousness of the enemy we are fighting, the life and death struggle we are in and the disastrous results of losing this war, nothing can. To bring our country to a virtual political standstill over this prisoner issue makes us look like Nero playing his fiddle as Rome burned -- totally oblivious to what is going on in the real world. Neither we, nor any other country, can survive this internal strife. Again I say, this does not mean that some of our politicians or media people are disloyal. It simply means that they are absolutely oblivious to the magnitude, of the situation we are in and into which the Muslim terrorists have been pushing us, for many years. Remember, the Muslim terrorists stated goal is to kill all infidels! That translates into ALL non-Muslims -- not just in the United State, but throughout the world. We are the last bastion of defense. We have been criticized for many years as being 'arrogant.' That charge Is valid in at least one respect. We are arrogant in that we believe that we are so good, powerful and smart, that we can win the hearts and minds of all those who attack us, and that with both hands tied behind our back, we can defeat anything bad in the world! We can't! If we don't recognize this, our nation as we know it will not survive, and no other free country in the world will survive if we are defeated. And finally, name any Muslim countries throughout the world that allow freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, equal rights for anyone -- let alone everyone, equal status or any status for women, or that have been productive in one single way that contributes to the good of the world. This has been a long way of saying that we must be united on this war or we will be equated in the history books to the self-inflicted fall of the Roman Empire . If, that is, the Muslim leaders will allow history books to be written or read. If we don't win this war right now, keep a close eye on how the Muslims take over France in the next 5 years or less. They will continue to Increase the Muslim population of France and continue to encroach little by little, on the established French traditions. The French will be fighting among themselves, over what should or should not be done, which will continue to weaken them and keep them from any united resolve. Doesn't that sound eerily familiar? Democracies don't have their freedoms taken away from them by some external military force. Instead, they give their freedoms away, politically correct piece by politically correct piece. And they are giving those freedoms away to those who have shown, worldwide that they abhor freedom and will not apply it to you or even to themselves, once they are in power. They have universally shown that when they have taken over, they then start brutally killing each other over who will be the few who control the masses. Will we ever stop hearing from the politically correct, about the "peaceful Muslims"? I close on a hopeful note, by repeating what I said above. If we are united, there is no way that we can lose. I hope now after the election, the factions in our country will begin to focus on the critical situation we are in, and will unite to save our country. It is your future we are talking about! Do whatever you can to preserve it. After reading the above, we all must do this not only for ourselves, but Our children, our grandchildren, our country and the world Whether Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal and that include the Politicians and media of our country and the free world! Please forward this to any you feel may want, or NEED to read it. Our "leaders" in Congress ought to read it, too. There are those that find fault with our country, but it is obvious to anyone who truly thinks through this, that we must UNITE! Got this in the mail today interesting to say the least.
In my previous newsletter I examined the strategic reasons that caused Israel to initially retreat from Lebanon, Gaza, and Settlements in the West Bank. In summary - they simply do not have the resources to defend settlers in those areas - simultaneously with becoming involved in a larger conflict. The problem with retreat was that it then put major cities of Israel within the line of fire of rockets launched from those abandoned locations. I provided quotes - in the previous newsletter - showing that this was the anticipated result by those very individuals who engineered the retreat. Seeing that the present situation was anticipated - in the overall strategy we therefore need to comprehend what is called for by the next steps of the strategy. As Israel retreated - the Islamists of course thought that this indicated that they were becoming victorious. My conclusion in the previous newsletter - was that they were simply being invited into the killing ground. We now have Hezbullah and Hamas (as anticipated in the Israeli strategy) raining their weapons upon the Israeli cities. The specific act that precipitated the current situation (the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier) was coincidental. Given the nature of the Islamists it was inevitable that they would present some opportunity for response. The bombing act of a terrorist. The downing of an Israeli airliner. Some act - somewhere. This was assured. The variable was - when would Israel respond - and that with Sharon's stroke - was a variable determined in the end - by internal affairs - surrounding Israeli elections and the consolidation of political will within Israel. Externalities also played their role - such as readiness upon the part of the US - for Israel to act - the temper of world opinion - the popularity or unpopularity of the activities of others - such as Iran, Syria, Pakistan, North Korea, etc. - that would impact the global geopolitical equation. BUT - the overall driving factor - to press forward - remained the developing situation with Iran. The Israeli strategy had to provide the tactical opportunities to strengthen the castle wall - bring the Jewish citizens within - and establish the killing grounds without - and to create a moat of distance - from the distracting nuisance of the rockets, before it would be able to undertake the primary piece of business. Israel's strategy is not to occupy and hold. Been there. Done that. Too resource consuming. Israel's strategy is not to inflict random tormenting damage to the Lebanonese, Syrians, or any other group. Doing so serves no purpose - and creates adverse world opinion. Israel's strategy is to position itself to succeed in the Primary Conflict - that with Iran. There - it feels it must either succeed or die. Iran states that is its view for Israel - also. So now - Israel must create the moat - push back the rockets out of the range of the castle. Hold down the marauders - and prepare to attack when the PTB (Powers That Be) will permit it or assist it to proceed, or as a minimum - when it feels that it must proceed - even in the face of their opposition. Unfortunately for Israel - the PTB are divided. The US and Britain would be supportive - but the countervailing powers of Russia and China are not. Just as Israel could be certain - that whenever it was ready - some event such as the kidnapping of the soldier - would occur - it can also rest assured that a triggering event will occur or can be manufactured for it to proceed against Iran. Perhaps more important - is the wish for there to be circumstances that will permit the US to be directly supportive. The present interplay of events can well create those circumstances. World leaders universally recognize that to be the situation - and therefore continuously express their concern. But events have a life of their own - and conflicts arise out of the attitudes and philosophies of the combatants. In this case the match for lighting the conflagration has been given to the Islamists. China, Russia, and the US have other strategies for achieving what they consider their Manifest Destinies - and would just as soon that Iran and the Islamists would play by their rules instead. But - that is not to be - and so we need to examine a bit - just who these Islamists are - and what their goals are. There is a saying that one should know their enemy. I do not wish to consider the Islamists my enemy - but I do recognize them to be - in this case - one of the two primary combatants - in the present Israeli conflict - and therefore I think it is well to understand them. Many Americans, while they have Muslims in their communities - really do not understand the Islamists - and who or what they are. >From the more close minded Americans I often hear statements that discount the Muslims as 'ragheads' - 'worshippers of a Moon God' - camel jockeys - along with other such derogatory statements. This is totally unfair - and inaccurate - and I am going to try to explain - in terms meaningful to North Americans - exactly who the various factions are. Because most American Christians would never consider reading the Qur'án it comes as a surprise to many of them to learn that the Qur'án teaches - and that Muslims believe - in Jesus, that He was born of the Virgin Mary, and that He will return in the 'last days'. Such Christians are astounded to hear that much of the Qur'án is filled with stories about the very same people (Abraham, Moses, Noah, Jonah, and such) that fill the Bible. The Qur'án was revealed by God to Muhammad. (Follow the story - whether you believe it or not.) This occurred less than 600 years after the time of Jesus. They consider Muhammad to be the Paraclete promised by Jesus. Qur'án 61:6 says: "And remember when Jesus the son of Mary said, 'O children of Israel! of a truth I am God's apostle to you to confirm the law which was given before me, and to announce an apostle that shall come after me whose name shall be Ahmad!'" The Muslims read the Paraclete, John 16:7, 14:16, 14:26, and 15:26 (also I John 2:1) as the Periclyte, or Illustrious, which is the meaning of Ahmad. (Gail - Six Lessons on Islam, p. 23) Many / most Muslims consider Jesus and Muhammad to be Prophets of equal rank. After the time of Muhammad the Islamic Faith split into two branches in a manner similar to the split of Christianity in Catholicism and Protestantism. If you understand the parallels and follow them in principle you will have a substantial understanding of the hierarchical organization of Islam. Think of the Sunnis based in Mecca - with the Black Stone - towards which all Muslims pray five times a day - as being similar to the Catholics and Rome. The Sunnis are the major sect of Islam - just as the Catholics are the major sect of Christianity. There are some sub-divisions among them - just as there are also among the Christians with Russian and Greek Orthodox Churches which were in a sense a part of the Catholic Church. The major split with the Muslims was with Shiites - just as for the Christians - it was with the Protestants. The split in this case came immediately after the passing of Muhammad - just as in Christianity a similar split occurred in the LDS church with the passing of Joseph Smith. Some agreed to follow the son of the Prophet - but others did not. Those who followed Ali - Muhammad's son - are the Shiites. With the passing of Ali - some then followed appointed Imams. This did not set well with Sunnis - and Imams often had a very short life expectancy. Those who followed only the first five Imams are called Fivers - and those who followed the first seven - and called Seveners. All together there were in succession one after the other - twelve Imams - and those who accept them all are called Twelvers. The last Imam sort of just disappeared - similar to it being said that Jesus ascended into Heaven. Anyway - both the Imam and Jesus are expected to return. Some call the return of the twelfth Imam the coming of the Mahdi. The one thing that all Shiites have in common is that they all believe in Ali. You may be better able to understand how there can be hundreds of different Shiite and Sunni groups - when you think of how many, many different Christian Protestant groups there are. There are few people today in Protestant Christianity that could tell you the difference between say Presbyterians and Methodists or Lutherans and Anglicans, but at one time they were intense rivals. Today in Christianity there is a great smorgasbord of religious belief - between Seventh Day Adventists, Christian Scientists, and hundreds of other sects - and there are likewise such distinctions between the hundreds of Muslim sects. What the distinctions are - is not as important to understand - as is the principle that there is often intense rivalry and conflict between them. This is not a peculiarity of Islam - because many times in history - and still today in some locales - there have broken out intense battles between Christian Sects. The Mormons to this day remember the activities that occurred in Missouri - and the Jehovah's Witnesses of how they were persecuted in Quebec and elsewhere. While I am not suggesting that is important to understand the theological differences of Muslim sects I am suggesting that in order to understand what is happening today in the Middle East - it is important to understand that those rivalries exist and that it impacts the strategy of Israel. In the next and concluding newsletter on this series of what is happening - I shall try to draw these threads altogether. Peace and love, Bruce DawnSayer@webpal.org</pre>
This is Part Three and the conclusion of a series on what is happening in the Middle East. In part one I pointed out that the Strategy of Israel (as it is being guided by those in control) - understood that the withdrawal from Lebanon, Gaza and the Territories would result in rockets falling upon the major cities of Israel. In part two I pointed out how Israel is not facing a single unified Enemy - called 'Islam' - and in this concluding presentation on this subject - it becomes apparent how that effects Israel's strategy - since it usually leaves no entity with which to negotiate. While there are numerous Islamic sects that are attacking Israel - and hardly a day goes by that we do not hear the name of some new one taking credit for some atrocity - they all actually fall into one of three spheres. Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims, or Muslims who are in some sense 'secular' Muslims - that is those who while giving honor to Muslim customs, and respect for Muhammad and the Qur'án - in actuality are more concerned with stabilizing their governments and the social milieu of day to day life. That third group actually make up the bulk of Muslims and certainly the governments of Muslim countries. The exception to that rule is Iran. Iraq had a very secular government - and today most of the Muslim deaths in Iraq and elsewhere - are at the hands of other Muslims arising from the old Sunni / Shiite rivalries in the face of the collapse of Saddam's secular system. All the Muslim governments (with the exception of Iran) face their greatest challenge from within - from extremist Islamist groups - who wish to overthrow any semblance of secular rule - and replace it with Shariah Law. This is true of Pakistan Iraq Saudi Arabia Egypt and even Syria. It is also emphatically true for Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority. Fundamentalism is on the rise - throughout much of the world and not just in Islamic countries. It is a force to be reckoned with among Hindus in India, Christians in the US, and others elsewhere. Nor is it always religious fundamentalism. Sometimes it is political fundamentalism - through the established PTB (Powers That Be) such as in Russia and China. Sometimes taking the guise of Communism and other times under the guise of Fascism as in the US. What this means - for existing governments - if they have not already given over to some extreme of religious or political fundamentalist belief - as have Iran and North Korea - is that their first concern must be in controlling those dedicated forces from within - dedicated forces whose goal is to take over control of their country. (I will not belabour the opinion of some - about the status in the US.) In many ways - these forces do not seem to be such that they can in any way be appeased, and they are too strong to be controlled. The countries immediately surrounding and confronting Israel - all face religious fundamentalist types of crises. Egypt, and to some degree Libya, appears to have the situation under control - although substantial internal threats face them also. Pakistan and Afghanistan are barely holding on in facing the Taliban and the same is true of Saudi Arabia. The extreme fundamentalist groups that they face are Sunni based - and one can say somewhat the same for the Palestine Authority in its battles with Hamas. Lebanon on the other hand faces Shiite Extremists in the form of Hezbollah - and we can now say that full Civil War has broken out in Iraq between the Sunnis and the Shiites. None of these extremist groups - in their religious fervour - are willing to compromise. Thus it is that Israel is facing adversaries that are themselves threatened from within. It is for this reason - that it cannot reach a true truce with them. Lebanon may well wish such a truce - but it is impossible for it to control Hezbollah. The same is true for Syria, which is even more impacted by the actions of radical elements within. Therefore - we have that very strangest of all situations - where Israel is saying - we recognize that the source of the weapons - and that the leaders instigating the conflict - are in Iran and Syria - but our battle is not with Iran and Syria - and we have no intention of attacking them. At least not at this time. And that is certainly okay with Syria - because it doesn't want to be attacked by Israel. Iran is a different story. There the fundamentalists are already in complete control. There they believe they have their manifest destiny . There they are trying to urge all others (Syria, Shiites in Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, Hezbollah and Lebanon) to press on the attack with Israel. For Iran itself - to attack - would make Bush's day. So Iran too is presently restrained. The ball is in Israel's court - but until Israel can get more playing room - it is not in its interest - to go after the other Team's home court. However, Israel is working on that. Diligently - and THAT is what is happening in the Middle East. Israel must defeat (although not entirely eliminate) Hezbollah and Hamas - who have vowed to destroy it - and Israel must destroy their rockets and position before it goes after Syria and Iran - the main supporter and supplier of Hezbollah. For those of us who desire peace in the world - we must then ask - what other possible solution is there? Is there some other way - that Israel can hope to survive? Can it sit and wait - for Iran to bring its atomic bomb? Will the world suddenly arise and collectively come to the protection of the Jews? Will the Muslims have a sudden and complete change of heart - and seek to assure the continuation of Israel? Unfortunately, for the present situation - those in Israel see none of the above as being likely - and therefore none other solution other than the strategy that they are following. Consequently, the die is cast - so that events will play themselves out. However, out of this catastrophe - perhaps humankind will finally look for the solution. This is not just a catastrophe for the Jews and the Muslims in the Middle East. It is a catastrophe for the world. When the event occurs - Russia and the US will enter in. And all the rest of the world with their animosities also. The Muslims in Pakistan against the Hindus in India. The Japanese Shintos against the Korean Buddhists. The Chinese Communists against the Taiwanese Separatists. Religious, Secular, Racial, National, Patriotic, Class, Historical biases, prejudices, hatreds will explode throughout the world and all will enter in - to this Great Final Battle of Armageddon. But, I look beyond all these events of the moment - the reports of this rocket falling on Israel, those planes bombing in Lebanon, these insurrectionists killing so many daily in Iraq, those terrorists doing this and that - in this country and that - throughout the world. For we must see beyond the events - happening at the moment - to what is happening to humanity and the planet itself. For we are passing through the fire of purification - to the emergence of humanity from its childhood and rashness of youth to the maturity of the human race. We must look for the solution to build a better world. It is for these reasons that I call myself a Reconstructionist rather than a survivalist. That I refer to myself - as a DawnSayer rather than as a Doomsayer. While some wait for rapture and others for Christ to return on a cloud - I myself look for the solution in the Baha'i Teachings. The Baha'i Teachings say that there is no other long term solution but that humanity must form a world government. And even that will not be enough. "That the divers communions of the earth, and the manifold systems of religious belief, should never be allowed to foster the feelings of animosity among men, is, in this Day, of the essence of the Faith of God and His Religion. These principles and laws, these firmly-established and mighty systems, have proceeded from one Source, and are rays of one Light. That they differ one from another is to be attributed to the varying requirements of the ages in which they were promulgated. Gird up the loins of your endeavor, O people of Baha, that haply the tumult of religious dissension and strife that agitateth the peoples of the earth may be stilled, that every trace of it may be completely obliterated. For the love of God, and them that serve Him, arise to aid this sublime and momentous Revelation. Religious fanaticism and hatred are a world-devouring fire, whose violence none can quench. The Hand of Divine power can, alone, deliver mankind from this desolating affliction (Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 13) God is working His Purpose out. Through His Permissive Will, He is permitting humanity to see the error of their ways. Racism, religionism, patriotism - all stages and systems of developing humanity - must now be replaced by higher ideals. "'We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations -- that all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that all bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease and differences of race be annulled -- and so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away and the most great peace shall come. Is not this that which Christ foretold? Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.'" (Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 10) Some see the events of these days as the end - but others of us see it as the beginning. One must have the proper perspective in order to understand what is happening. Peace and love, Bruce DawnSayer@webpal.org</pre>
He had me going until the Baha'i shit.... I should have noticed the style ... All these Baha guys write like this And now I do too Shalom
Had you going or not, he's got a lot of points. War, one might say, is between political entities regardless of religion. This alledged "war" is not war, it is terrorism that often runs counter to the wishes of the general political preferences of the nation housing the perps. That is the difficulty with terrorists, they do not have a home turf that needs defending. They set up camp, do their thing for a while, then decamp and set up another base to raise hell from. Pretty tough to root them out, the more so if the local political entity winks at their presence, and denies any interest or knowlege. The actuality of it is that if they don't wink, they become targets as well. The Israelis have a turf, for example that they will defend at all costs, and to do so, they need a buffer zone. I think once that is established, and a link between terrorists and Iran is more firmly established, Iran is going to have a problem. Israel will not occupy Iran, there are just simply not enough Israelis to do that, but they can and will destroy something. Mossad simply isn't ready, their base is not yet secure, but there are a couple mullahs that should take steps to modify their kill all attitudes. Sectarian violence is not new, and we have it aplenty in Iraq. That is their problem, all our politically correct hand wringing aside, one or the other sect will come out on top, and will always and forever be subject to getting picked off for some trumped up reason. Again, their problem. We don't seek to impose our way of life so much as try to convince them that it is better to cooperate than to kill each other off. The second is coming, with Ali or Jesus, or both.
That was, uh, something. He put it forth into such an eloquent form pointing out all the different reasons that the war continues. The strategy they needed to take and a lot of other stuff. Had me saying yea that's right. Then bam, got hit with a One World, One People speech. Should have guessed that when the 'Temporarily give up civil rights during war time' hit me. Just kept reading though. Though thats the way it's supposed to work eh? Get you calm and saying That's right and then suck you in until you give up this for the war effort, then give up a little more until you have nothing left. And people with nothing left cannot fight against those that took it if they don't give it back freely. Sounds good to be one people and one government. Sounds good to be all peace, love and harmony. The only way that will happen on this planet is if God himself came down and he was the one leader and we all followed him. Will never happen otherwise. How so? Everyone else is human. And we all know that most humans can be corrupted to power and greed. Tis the natural way. Beat your neighbor over the head and take what's his. Strong survive and all that jazz. There are those that are enlightened to know the true path. However they are too few to correct the big problem. Just my thoughts on the situation. I'm definitely awake now boy. Gotta be more careful. Sheesh. Enjoy.
http://www.homelandsecurityus.com Special Reports : World War IV Posted by Sean Osborne on 2006/7/22 6:36:14 ( ) Ultimately, and with little forewarning, World War IV in all of its mass destructiveness will arrive on our shores - in the American heartland. Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, HAMAS and other various proxy stooges of all nationalities or citizenships can and will strike our apparent national ambivalence to this direct threat. See UPDATE below main article. By Sean Osborne, Associate Director, Senior Analyst, Military Affairs sosborne@homelandsecurityus.com 22 July 2006: The current military situation in the Middle East is EVERYONE'S worst nightmare - whether they individually or collectively realize it at this moment or not. I say this due to the fact that, believe it or not, some here in the United States don’t believe this war will amount to much of anything for American’s to be concerned about. They do not realize or accept that we are engaged in World War IV. (I classify the so-called “Cold War” as World War III.) They are wrong, and probably dead wrong. To be sure, this is not just another Arab versus Israel war. This is an existential war. This is a war specifically begun via proxy as designed and prepared for by the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Syria and their military allies. Israel is both the initial target and the ultimate objective. So is the United States of America. America is an enemy objective and a part of this war because we have been targeted by the Iranian regime, their proxy terrorist forces and allied nations due to our support of Israel. As long as America stands behind Israel as the arsenal of democracy and best hope of freedom the enemy axis powers know full well they cannot hope to defeat Israel on the battlefield. The Iranian plan has always been to ignite the two front war in Israel, and then to hit the US with a haymaker from our blindside. Their plan, the Hojjatieh sect of Shi’a Islam plan, has always been to ignite an Armageddon-like scenario, to collapse “Anglo-Saxon civilization” as an intregal part of the overall objective to achieve hegemony over all of the Middle East, Islam and the oil beneath those lands. Thus in executing these objectives nothing less than World War IV will result. The Order of Battle The events in Gaza and Northern Israel were the well coordinated triggering events which launched this war. The rapid escalation and weaponry brought to bear are indicative of the battle plan prepared well in advance of hostilities. Recent engagements illustrate this in an unambiguous manner. A week ago an Israeli Navy Sa’ar-5 class corvette, the “Ahi Hanit”, was struck by an Iranian C-802 shore-to-ship variant of the Communist Chinese designed YJ-8 family of cruise missiles. Iran purchased at least sixty C-802’s from the Chinese PLA. The C-802 missile (NATO Codename: CSS-N-8 SACCADE) was launched under inertial guidance from the Lebanese littoral most likely by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) troops. Most open-source military reports state that this cruise missile is radar guided. True, all indications are that the C-802 has a J-band (10 – 20 Gigahertz) terminal active radar guidance seeker in the warhead. What has not been widely reported, however, is that an Iranian submarine, which I believe to be a Russian-made SSK Kilo-class electric-diesel boat, was nearby at the time. Did this Iranian sub provide some form of terminal guidance to the C-802 missile? It’s possible. That the sub was in the area of combat operations prior to the execution of the battle plan also speaks to the detailed preparations made by Iran. There are no reports that I am aware of which reported this sub transiting north-bound through the Suez Canal. The lack of this information in open-sources means that the Iranian sub had quite a long voyage around the African continent to arrive on station prior to hostilities. My theory is that upon reaching the Strait of Gibraltar the Iranian sub performed a maneuver that is known as “degaussing.” It parked itself directly underneath an eastbound commercial freighter and made the run through the strait completely under electrical power. It then continued along a 100 fathom line along the North African coast to the area of Tunisia and on to the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Just about 48 hours ago I learned of the first open-source report on the detection of this submarine. The CBN report stated that a U.S. Air Force RC-135V/W "Rivet Joint" reconnaissance aircraft detected the Iranian submarine with its very sensitive Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) sensor array. The CBN report then commented on the full-extent of the electronic surveillance capabilities of the “Rivet Joint” aircraft by noting its sensors had also detected Iranian ballistic missile activities and shipments of these missiles to Lebanon. In the past couple of days Israeli SOF had located an Iranian Zelzal-2 (Earthquake) short range ballistic missile (SRBM) on its launcher in Lebanon. The missile, with a maximum range of about 250 miles, was prepped and ready to launch. An immediate air strike guided by on-the-ground Israeli Special Forces laser designators was radioed in. The air strike on the missile launcher threw the Zelzal airborne momentarily and ultimately impacting the ground a very short distance away. Scratch one Zelzal. More Iranian Zelzal’s were targeted in the exact same manner as they crossed from Syria into Lebanon. When you read of or see broadcast reports of Israeli air strikes on bridges between Lebanon and Syria along the Beirut-Damascus highway and other avenues into Lebanon they are specifically intended to halt the flow of such war material. However, conservative estimates are that enemy combatants in Lebanon had at least 200 of these Iranian ballistic missiles prior to hostilities erupting. The Current Situation Report (SITREP) The war has the Israeli Defense Forces fully engaged, although not to the level of their entire strategic depth, but fairly close to that level. The Israeli’s are prepared for any battlefield eventuality, including the use of WMD. In fact, Israeli ground forces are about to move into southern Lebanon on a large scale combat operation to engage all enemy combatants. This may include Lebanese army forces who reportedly will side themselves with Hezbollah and IRGC forces. The Syrian military has been making moves of its own by targeting its own missile forces on Israeli targets. One can reasonably expect that this is totally unacceptable to the Israeli High Command and a pre-emptive strike against Syrian targets is an imminent probability. The point of all this is to illustrate that this war is just getting to the boiling point and its escalation to full-scale regional warfare can happen within hours or minutes of your reading this article. I suspect that this war will involve the first use of weapons of mass destruction in the near term against Israel with the resultant immediate Israeli retaliatory response directed against the Syrian capital city Damascus. Can Israeli pre-emptive strikes against rear-echelon targets in Iran be far behind? And for how long will US and Coalition forces in the CENTCOM AO remain unengaged in the war given the Iranian strategic objectives alluded to above? Ultimately, and with little forewarning, World War IV in all of its mass destructiveness will arrive on our shores - in the American heartland. Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, HAMAS and other various proxy stooges of all nationalities or citizenships can and will strike our apparent national ambivalence to this direct threat. The Northeast Intelligence Network has been consistently warning of this inevitability for a very long time, and I must now repeat the admonition to the whole of America: If you have not been vigilant in your local community before, you absolutely must be so engaged at this time. America is a primary target, a major military objective of Iran, its proxies and allies. Your survival depends upon the level of vigilance and preparations you may or may not have bothered to exert up to this minute. Personal responsibility, prudent planning and preparations are all that stand between you and your family, indeed your own neighborhood and region of the nation, and the war which is now in progress. God help us all. UPDATE This special report has resulted in an overwhelming flood of emails requesting me to define for individuals and families what I meant by being "engaged at this time". The following are my observations and recommendations in this regard. First, foremost and paraphrasing my favorite ex-Green Beret, John Moore (a/k/a The Liberty Man) : 1. The U.S. government cannot and will not protect individuals or families. Our government agencies are doing the best job they can to keep our country safe. However, no government agency (including FEMA) is responsible for a comprehensive defense program. 2. Each individual business and family must make their own preparations to be safe from the consequences of a terrorist attack. Please consider: a.) We have "just in time" delivery of everything from auto parts to life sustaining pharmaceuticals. b.) Every part of our infrastructure is a potential target. c.) A break anywhere in this infrastructure (telecommunications, transportation, utilities) can cause the whole system to fail. Consequently, every citizen is at risk to suffer the consequences of a terrorist attack happening anywhere in the country. www.TheLibertyMan.Com Okay, that stated as sucinctly as possible, what do you do individually to prepare yourself, your family, your group of friends, your neighborhood? I suggest the following 8-point minimum regimen be executed ASAP in an effort to transition from a possible victim to a potential survivor: 1.) Non-perishable foodstuffs and fruit juices or reconsitutable/concentrated juices or milk for a minimum of 30 - 60 days sustainment per individual. 2.) Lot's of H2O in cases of individual servings or large bottles and 5-gallon containers. As much as you can possibly collect. 3.) A portable generator, batteries for every device in the house which may require them. 4.) Communications. Hand crank radios like the small Grundig ($20.00) sold by Radio Shack, or any battery operated solid state radio. 5.) Ammo for your personal firearm(s). Execute your Second Amendment rights. Hopefully you don't live in New Jersey as I do. 6.) Fuels: Gasoline or Diesel as you require. Get it now gas/diesel are currently at anywhere from $3.05/$2.75 per gallon. I would expect these prices will increase substantially in the very near term - a direct reflection of the Iranian desire for $100 per barrel crude. Fill your 5 gallon cans now if at all possible. 7.) An evacuation plan and lay-up points enroute. In case your area is particularly hard hit and an evacuation is ordered by national or state authorities, have a designated place to go and coordinated plans with fellow travellers if at all possible. Strength is found in numbers. 8.) Keep your bank account well as fed as you are able. If terrorists hit the electrical grid or if an EMP device is utilized during hostilities you will still need to pay any bills. Whatever is not in the bank have liquid as cash-on-hand. ATM's and banks will probably get swamped or could be inoperable for a short time by those who did not prudently plan or prepare ahead of time. The "snooze, you lose" mentality applies here. Plan for the worst, hope for the best, and pray for personal guidance from God. Move Out and Execute as much as you are able which applies to your own situation as quickly as you can "Git R Done".
Yes, its gonna get uglier! <nyt_kicker>Changing Reaction</nyt_kicker> <nyt_headline version="1.0" type=" "> Tide of Arab Opinion Turns to Support for Hezbollah </nyt_headline> <nyt_byline version="1.0" type=" "> </nyt_byline>By NEIL MacFARQUHAR <nyt_text> </nyt_text> DAMASCUS, Syria, July 27 — At the onset of the Lebanese crisis, Arab governments, starting with Saudi Arabia, slammed Hezbollah for recklessly provoking a war, providing what the United States and Israel took as a wink and a nod to continue the fight. Now, with hundreds of Lebanese dead and Hezbollah holding out against the vaunted Israeli military for more than two weeks, the tide of public opinion across the Arab world is surging behind the organization, transforming the Shiite group’s leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, into a folk hero and forcing a change in official statements. The Saudi royal family and King Abdullah II of Jordan, who were initially more worried about the rising power of Shiite Iran, Hezbollah’s main sponsor, are scrambling to distance themselves from Washington. An outpouring of newspaper columns, cartoons, blogs and public poetry readings have showered praise on Hezbollah while attacking the United States and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for trumpeting American plans for a “new Middle East” that they say has led only to violence and repression. Even Al Qaeda, run by violent Sunni Muslim extremists normally hostile to all Shiites, has gotten into the act, with its deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, releasing a taped message saying that through its fighting in Iraq, his organization was also trying to liberate Palestine. Mouin Rabbani, a senior Middle East analyst in Amman, Jordan, with the International Crisis Group, said, “The Arab-Israeli conflict remains the most potent issue in this part of the world.” Distinctive changes in tone are audible throughout the Sunni world. This week, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt emphasized his attempts to arrange a cease-fire to protect all sects in Lebanon, while the Jordanian king announced that his country was dispatching medical teams “for the victims of Israeli aggression.” Both countries have peace treaties with Israel. The Saudi royal court has issued a dire warning that its 2002 peace plan — offering Israel full recognition by all Arab states in exchange for returning to the borders that predated the 1967 Arab-Israeli war — could well perish. “If the peace option is rejected due to the Israeli arrogance,” it said, “then only the war option remains, and no one knows the repercussions befalling the region, including wars and conflict that will spare no one, including those whose military power is now tempting them to play with fire.” The Saudis were putting the West on notice that they would not exert pressure on anyone in the Arab world until Washington did something to halt the destruction of Lebanon, Saudi commentators said. American officials say that while the Arab leaders need to take a harder line publicly for domestic political reasons, what matters more is what they tell the United States in private, which the Americans still see as a wink and a nod. There are evident concerns among Arab governments that a victory for Hezbollah — and it has already achieved something of a victory by holding out this long — would further nourish the Islamist tide engulfing the region and challenge their authority. Hence their first priority is to cool simmering public opinion. But perhaps not since President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt made his emotional outpourings about Arab unity in the 1960’s, before the Arab defeat in the 1967 war, has the public been so electrified by a confrontation with Israel, played out repeatedly on satellite television stations with horrific images from Lebanon of wounded children and distraught women fleeing their homes. Egypt’s opposition press has had a field day comparing Sheik Nasrallah to Nasser, while demonstrators waved pictures of both. An editorial in the weekly Al Dustur by Ibrahim Issa, who faces a lengthy jail sentence for his previous criticism of President Mubarak, compared current Arab leaders to the medieval princes who let the Crusaders chip away at Muslim lands until they controlled them all. After attending an intellectual rally in Cairo for Lebanon, the Egyptian poet Ahmed Fouad Negm wrote a column describing how he had watched a companion buy 20 posters of Sheik Nasrallah. “People are praying for him as they walk in the street, because we were made to feel oppressed, weak and handicapped,” Mr. Negm said in an interview. “I asked the man who sweeps the street under my building what he thought, and he said: ‘Uncle Ahmed, he has awakened the dead man inside me! May God make him triumphant!’ ” In Lebanon, Rasha Salti, a freelance writer, summarized the sense that Sheik Nasrallah differed from other Arab leaders. “Since the war broke out, Hassan Nasrallah has displayed a persona, and public behavior also, to the exact opposite of Arab heads of states,” she wrote in an e-mail message posted on many blogs. In comparison, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s brief visit to the region sparked widespread criticism of her cold demeanor and her choice of words, particularly a statement that the bloodshed represented the birth pangs of a “new Middle East.” That catchphrase was much used by Shimon Peres, the veteran Israeli leader who was a principal negotiator of the 1993 Oslo Accords, which ultimately failed to lead to the Palestinian state they envisaged. A cartoon by Emad Hajjaj in Jordan labeled “The New Middle East” showed an Israeli tank sitting on a broken apartment house in the shape of the Arab world. Fawaz al-Trabalsi, a columnist in the Lebanese daily As Safir, suggested that the real new thing in the Middle East was the ability of one group to challenge Israeli militarily. Perhaps nothing underscored Hezbollah’s rising stock more than the sudden appearance of a tape from the Qaeda leadership attempting to grab some of the limelight. Al Jazeera satellite television broadcast a tape from Mr. Zawahri (za-WAH-ri). Large panels behind him showed a picture of the exploding World Trade Center as well as portraits of two Egyptian Qaeda members, Muhammad Atef, a Qaeda commander who was killed by an American airstrike in Afghanistan, and Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker on Sept. 11, 2001. He described the two as fighters for the Palestinians. Mr. Zawahri tried to argue that the fight against American forces in Iraq paralleled what Hezbollah was doing, though he did not mention the organization by name. “It is an advantage that Iraq is near Palestine,” he said. “Muslims should support its holy warriors until an Islamic emirate dedicated to jihad is established there, which could then transfer the jihad to the borders of Palestine.” Mr. Zawahri also adopted some of the language of Hezbollah and Shiite Muslims in general. That was rather ironic, since previously in Iraq, Al Qaeda has labeled Shiites Muslim as infidels and claimed responsibility for some of the bloodier assaults on Shiite neighborhoods there. But by taking on Israel, Hezbollah had instantly eclipsed Al Qaeda, analysts said. “Everyone will be asking, ‘Where is Al Qaeda now?’ ” said Adel al-Toraifi, a Saudi columnist and expert on Sunni extremists. Mr. Rabbani of the International Crisis Group said Hezbollah’s ability to withstand the Israeli assault and to continue to lob missiles well into Israel exposed the weaknesses of Arab governments with far greater resources than Hezbollah. “Public opinion says that if they are getting more on the battlefield than you are at the negotiating table, and you have so many more means at your disposal, then what the hell are you doing?” Mr. Rabbani said. “In comparison with the small embattled guerrilla movement, the Arab states seem to be standing idly by twiddling their thumbs.” <nyt_author_id></nyt_author_id>Mona el-Naggar contributed reporting from Cairo for this article, and Suha Maayeh from Amman, Jordan.
Islam is a threat We can engage in all the mental masturbation we want to on this topic. The fact is that Islam seeks world domination as a basic tenet of its doctrine. It is irrefutable. Just listen to the words of the Mullahs. http://switch5.castup.net/frames/20041020_MemriTV_Popup/video_480x360.asp?ai=214&ar=1135wmv&ak=null They say they want to see the United States destroyed. I believe them,that's enough for me. http://mwillett.org/atheism/islamthreat.htm
This is were he lost me. I would say to him or anyone else that believes this, that if we give up our civil rights then they have already won. OGM
Man i'd be surprised if this woman ;from the video, is still alive( from above:http://mwillett.org/atheism/islamthreat.htm )When the dems say we should sit down and talk with them do thety mean like she did???
I doubt she is still alive unless she lives other than in a muslim controlled country. I liked what she had to say and it is true that the fanatics are blowing themselves and everyone else up and asking for respect in the same breath. If this is how they ask for respect, the only respect I will show them comes from the barrell of a gun. They are a religion based on anger and hatred and they will continue to be unless their true leaders pull their heads out of their fourth (or third, I can never remember) point of contact and straighten this mess up once and for all. Could it happen? Yes. Will it happen? Sure, as soon as pigs fly.
Here's a big surprise-Iran U.S. Is Holding Iranians Seized in Raids in Iraq http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/25/w...&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print
I can't help wondering how come only four. If there aren't a whole lot more, I'll be surprised. At least there should be scads if Iran really is involved. My guess is that Iran and Iraq are still not buddies after their war a few years ago.
'Well let's just face facts. We are going to have the whole of the Arabic world down our throats with nukes, suicide bombers, dirty bombs or plagues, here shortly. The current admin will be blamed for it. The republicans will be shamed. The democrats will leave us wide open for any and all fanatic that has a grudge. We will get hit again as we did on that day in September. In order to establish peace, we will have to disarm everyone including Bubba hiding out in the swamps. Nancy Pelosi will be leading the 'Have you hugged a muslim' campaign. Hillary will allow them to acrue frequent flyer miles. And VP Kerry will in a constant state of denial as to whether he should wear black socks or white socks with dress shoes. The borders will be opened so that everyone can have a taste of the Freedom while it is short lived. We will become the great country of Mexicanadus and be mandated to speak Arabic, Spanish and French. Nothing can prepare us for this except ourselves. There is only one way that we can know what will happen is when we look to how the Nazis run the show. No free thought, no children unless you are in the special breeding program, food will be rationed as the big wigs get fat while we starve, no firearms, no sharp sticks, no knives and no happiness. Don't think it's coming? Think it's a conspiracy? Think I'm a tin-foil ranger? Well when they kick in your doors then you will awaken to the fact that such simple steps are just like a chess game. One by one they are positioning themselves on the board while putting restraints on anyone that would act out or speak out against this. Soon it will be time to grab your things and head for the hills as we are overrun by those from other lands who are brought here to quell any 'uprisings'. And I am not talking of tomorrow or maybe next week, though you can bet that it will come. The world is progressing and if you don't progress with it, you will be cast aside in favor of those who can be blindly led to the slaughter. I'm still working on a solution so when I have it, I will let you know.' This post has been hijerked by 'Holy crap, run for the hills'. You can contact said poster at holycraprun@theyarecomingtogetme.groan. Not Really.