"One Dictator Gone, and One to Go"

Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode LIII

A letter to the editor in the Boston Globe today (ellipsis in original).

One dictator gone, and one to go
12/19/2003

I WAS relieved that the iron-fisted dictator had been captured. Then I turned from the front page to a small article on Page A5: "Bush signs bill extending FBI powers." I noted that "most of the details of the bill are secret, including the total cost of the program. . ." and could not help but think: One dictator's powers are now diminished, while a would-be dictator's powers are on the rise.

SUSAN B. MILLS, Boston

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 12/19/03 10:01:20 PM
Categorized as Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode & Political.

"Florida Islamic Conference Outed As Jihad-Fest"

Another story you won't see in the pages of NYT.

An article at MichNews, Dec. 19:

Although possibly viewed as heretical – in some quarters – it is really hard to ignore the fact that one of Mohammed’s prime intentions, when creating Islam was to unite the warring Arab tribes and factions into one nation.

This statement is not meant to demean the softer, more lofty side of the religion – especially considering that much of it is derived from the Bible – but it is really necessary to grasp this key fact – of Islam’s practicality and historic use as an organizing principle – if one is to understand both its promise and more darkly, its potential as a true threat.

We will leave the aspect of Islam’s promise to others, possibly better able to convey Islam’s beneficent side, since that doesn’t get people killed.

Much has been written since September, 11 2001 about Islam. Unfortunately much of what has been written is more influenced by the intellectual straightjacket enforced by the diversity crowd rather than by a cold and hard appraisal of the facts at hand.

Fact: There are adherents to a radical form of Islam and they comprise the majority of the terrorist threat against Israel, the United States and the Western democracies.

We can argue what percentage of this faith is represented by the radicals, but the existence of a virulent sect within Islam cannot be denied.

Here in the United States we take justifiable pride in accommodating many diverse cultures, lifestyles and beliefs. It is said ad-nauseum, that we are a nation of immigrants, and that is absolutely correct. However this very accommodation, this willingness to uncritically accept people at their word places us at potential great peril....

(Thanks, Charles.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 12/19/03 09:57:28 PM
Categorized as Social/Cultural.

"Tapes Show Abuse of 9/11 Detainees"

From a report in today's WaPo:

Hundreds of videotapes that federal prison officials had claimed were destroyed show that foreign nationals held at a New York detention facility after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were victims of physical and verbal abuse by guards, the Justice Department's inspector general said yesterday....

That kind of behavior is inexcusable. And it's un-American.

In fact, it exemplifies everything that's wrong with America, and why our country has no moral authority to try to impose democracy on the rest of the world.

Gotcha! :-)

Actually, the rest of the story exemplifies what's right with America:

An investigation by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine also found that officials at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, N.Y., which is run by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, improperly taped meetings between detainees and their lawyers, and used excessive strip searches and restraints to punish those in confinement.

The report concluded that as many as 20 guards were involved in the abuse, which included slamming prisoners against walls and painfully twisting their arms and hands. Fine recommended discipline for 10 employees and counseling for two others who remain employed by the federal prison system. He also said the government should notify the employers of four former guards about their conduct....

Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo said yesterday that federal prosecutors in Brooklyn and in the department's Civil Rights Division were reviewing the report to determine whether criminal charges were warranted. The Justice Department had previously declined to pursue any prosecutions in the cases.

"We agree with the inspector general that even the intense emotional atmosphere surrounding the attacks, particularly in New York City, where smoke was still rising from the rubble of Ground Zero, is no excuse for abhorrent behavior by Bureau of Prisons personnel," Corallo said in a statement. "It is unfortunate that the alleged misconduct of a few employees detracts from the fine work done by the correctional personnel at MDC and around the nation, who conducted themselves professionally and appropriately." ....

America isn't the place where nothing bad happens and nobody does anything wrong. It's a place — not the only one, but one of the few — where there's actually a decent chance that official wrongdoing, like the inexcusable kind reported on here, is actually going to get investigated, publicized, and punished.

(Thanks, Mark.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 12/19/03 09:46:47 PM
Categorized as Social/Cultural.

"A Jury of His Peers"

Vide.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 12/19/03 11:57:09 AM
Categorized as International.

"Dean Defends War Stance, Dismisses Criticism"

Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode LII

Howard Dean makes a naked appeal to the Kook Left.

An Associated Press article at FNC, yesterday (ellipsis in original).

Presidential hopeful Howard Dean on Thursday defended his claim that the United States is no safer with Saddam Hussein in custody, contending that the "capture of one bad man" doesn't allow President Bush or Democrats to declare victory in the war on terrorism.

Dean, whose foreign policy statement Monday garnered widespread criticism from Democratic rivals, said those in his party who supported the war "backed away from what was right."

"I think the Democratic Party has to offer a clear alternative to the American people. The capture of one bad man doesn't mean the president and Washington Democrats can declare victory in the war on terrorism," he said. "The question is what is right, not what is popular."

Real dangers ranging from stateless terrorists to North Korea's capacity to make nuclear weapons remain, he said, and must be confronted.

"The truth is, Americans are no safer from these serious threats than they were the day before Saddam Hussein was captured," he said. "We are no safer today than the day the planes struck the World Trade Center."

As Dean answered his critics and presented his domestic policy, rivals targeted the front-runner on several fronts, including tax breaks he gave as Vermont governor and his comments on former President Clinton's economic record. They are determined to weaken his standing; the latest New Hampshire poll showed Dean comfortably ahead of John Kerry.

Earlier this week, Dean's rivals, particularly the lawmakers who had backed the congressional resolution authorizing the war, called Saddam's capture a boon for the anti-terrorism campaign, and dismissed Dean's claim to the contrary as a sign of his lack of foreign policy experience.

Sen. Joe Lieberman said Dean had crawled into a "spider hole of denial," and Kerry said Dean showed a lack of "leadership skills or diplomatic temperament" to be president.

In his domestic policy speech, Dean renewed his call to roll back the federal tax cuts of the last few years. He also called for American business to accept stricter accountability but said he would offer greater access to capital for small businesses and "national investment in growth industries of the future like renewable energy."

Although Dean proposed that every wealthy American and corporation pays their fair share of taxes, as Vermont governor he signed into law tax breaks that allowed large corporations such as Enron to establish special insurance subsidiaries in the state.

This prompted a fresh round of criticism from his rivals.

"It's really interesting to see Howard Dean campaign against tax shelters and corporate abuse when he spent time as governor creating tax shelters for companies like Enron," Kerry said Thursday.

Dean called the criticism "Washington palaver.... The idea that we sculpted a tax break for Enron is ridiculous."

Questions about Dean's record on aid to corporations surfaced last week as the Boston Globe reported on tax breaks Dean gave during his tenure as Vermont governor. Enron set up a special insurance subsidiary in Vermont on Dec. 12, 1994, a year after the Dean-supported tax break to the industry went into effect.

The Gephardt campaign contended that in 1997 Dean "followed the prevailing climate" by signing into law a measure that reduced the public disclosure requirements on corporations receiving tax windfalls in Vermont.

Gephardt campaign manager Steve Murphy said Dean has continued to refuse to disclose details of meetings or negotiations with Enron before the corporation located a shell corporation in Vermont in exchange for tax breaks.

"The most important corporate reform is disclosure. If Governor Dean is not committed to that, the rest of what he says is just more political talk," Murphy said.

In his speech Thursday, Dean said the "era of big government is over; I believe we must enter a new era for the Democratic Party," the first part echoing a line Clinton used in his State of the Union address.

Sen. Joe Lieberman argued that Dean's comment amounted to a criticism of Clinton's economic record.

"I want to build on the Clinton record and Howard Dean seems to want to tear it down. We're not going to lift up America or the Democratic party by tearing down Bill Clinton's extraordinary record of economic success," Lieberman said.

Dean said he intended no criticism of Clinton.

I know it's hard to believe that an article as balanced as this one is from Associated Press, but it is clearly identified as an AP article. The editors must have been having an off day.

The Blog from the Core asserts Fair Use for non-commercial, non-profit educational purposes.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 12/19/03 07:28:11 AM
Categorized as Democrats in Self-Destruct Mode & Political.

Our Accomplishments in Iraq

From the Commanding Officer at MWSS-171 to his Marines.

Thanks to Margaret for having forwarded the following e-mail.

-----Original Message-----
From: Seitz LtCol Scot S
Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2003 8:40 AM
To: 1MAW MWSS171 All Personnel
Cc: Fenstermacher Col Stephen M; Kirkpatrick LtCol Stephen F; Chase LtCol Eric T
Subject: ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Marines and Sailors,

As we approach the end of the year I think it is important to share a few thoughts about what you've accomplished directly, in some cases, and indirectly in many others. I am speaking about what the Bush Administration and each of you has contributed by wearing the uniform, because the fact that you wear the uniform contributes 100% to the capability of the nation to send a few onto the field to execute national policy. As you read about these achievements you are a part of I would call your attention to two things:

1. This is good news that hasn't been fit to print or report on TV.
2. It is much easier to point out the errors a man makes when he makes the tough decisions, rarely is the positive as aggressively pursued.

Since President Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1...

... the first battalion of the new Iraqi Army has graduated and is on active duty.

... over 60,000 Iraqis now provide security to their fellow citizens.

... nearly all of Iraq's 400 courts are functioning.

... the Iraqi judiciary is fully independent.

... on Monday, October 6 power generation hit 4,518 megawatts-exceeding the prewar average.

... all 22 universities and 43 technical institutes and colleges are open, as are nearly all primary and secondary schools.

... by October 1, Coalition forces had rehab-ed over 1,500 schools - 500 more than scheduled.

... teachers earn from 12 to 25 times their former salaries.

... all 240 hospitals and more than 1200 clinics are open.

... doctors salaries are at least eight times what they were under Saddam.

... pharmaceutical distribution has gone from essentially nothing to 700 tons in May to a current total of 12,000 tons.

... the Coalition has helped administer over 22 million vaccinations to Iraq's children.

... a Coalition program has cleared over 14,000 kilometers of Iraq's 27,000 kilometers of weed-choked canals which now irrigate tens of thousands of farms. This project has created jobs for more than 100,000 Iraqi men and women.

... we have restored over three-quarters of prewar telephone services and over two-thirds of the potable water production.

... there are 4,900 full-service telephone connections. We expect 50,000 by year-end.

... the wheels of commerce are turning. From bicycles to satellite dishes to cars and trucks, businesses are coming to life in all major cities and towns.

... 95 percent of all prewar bank customers have service and first-time customers are opening accounts daily.

... Iraqi banks are making loans to finance businesses.

... the central bank is fully independent.

... Iraq has one of the worlds most growth-oriented investment and banking laws.

... Iraq has a single, unified currency for the first time in 15 years.

... satellite TV dishes are legal.

... foreign journalists aren't on 10-day visas paying mandatory and extortionate fees to the Ministry of Information for "minders" and other government spies.

... there is no Ministry of Information.

... there are more than 170 newspapers.

... you can buy satellite dishes on what seems like every street corner.

... foreign journalists (and everyone else) are free to come and go.

... a nation that had not one single element - legislative, judicial or executive - of a representative government, now does.

... in Baghdad alone residents have selected 88 advisory councils. Baghdad's first democratic transfer of power in 35 years happened when the city council elected its new chairman.

... today in Iraq chambers of commerce, business, school and professional organizations are electing their leaders all over the country.

... 25 ministers, selected by the most representative governing body in Iraq's history, run the day-to-day business of government.

... the Iraqi government regularly participates in international events. Since July the Iraqi government has been represented in over two dozen international meetings, including those of the UN General Assembly, the Arab League, the World Bank and IMF and, today, the Islamic Conference Summit. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs today announced that it is reopening over 30 Iraqi embassies around the world.

... Shia religious festivals that were all but banned, aren't.

... for the first time in 35 years, in Karbala thousands of Shiites celebrate the pilgrimage of the 12th Imam.

... the Coalition has completed over 13,000 reconstruction projects, large and small, as part of a strategic plan for the reconstruction of Iraq.

... Uday and Queasy are dead - and no longer feeding innocent Iraqis to the zoo lions, raping the young daughters of local leaders to force cooperation, torturing Iraq's soccer players for losing games, or murdering critics.

... children aren't imprisoned or murdered when their parents disagree with the government.

... political opponents aren't imprisoned, tortured, executed, maimed, or are forced to watch their families die for disagreeing with Saddam.

... millions of longsuffering Iraqis no longer live in perpetual terror.

... Saudis will hold municipal elections.

... Qatar is reforming education to give more choices to parents.

... Jordan is accelerating market economic reforms.

... the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for the first time to an Iranian -- a Muslim woman who speaks out with courage for human rights, for democracy and for peace.

... Saddam is gone.

... Iraq is free.

... President Bush has not faltered or failed.

... Yet, little or none of this information has been published by the Press corps that prides itself on bringing you all the news that's important.

Iraq under US lead control has come further in six months than Germany did in seven years or Japan did in nine years following WWII. Military deaths from fanatic Nazi's, and Japanese numbered in the thousands and continued for over three years after WWII victory was declared.

It took the US over four months to clear away the twin tower debris, let alone attempt to build something else in its place.

Now, take into account that Congress fought President Bush on every aspect of his handling of this country's war and the post-war reconstruction; and that they continue to claim on a daily basis on national TV that this conflict has been a failure.

Taking everything into consideration, even the unfortunate loss of our brothers and sisters in this conflict, do you think anyone else in the world could have accomplished as much as the United States and the Bush administration in so short a period of time?

These are things worth writing about. Get the word out. Write to someone you think may be able to influence our Congress or the press to tell the story.

Above all, be proud that you are a part of this historical precedent.

God Bless you all. Have a great Holiday.

Semper Fidelis,

CO

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Fri. 12/19/03 07:08:04 AM
Categorized as War.