A New Middle East Strategy?

Once again a US President is going to try to tackle the Middle East problem of Israel vs. everybody else in that region. Ever since Carter’s Nobel Prize winning yet spectacularly failing effort each President has felt compelled to bring about peace in the Mid-East. When will they realize it isn’t going to work? That no matter how often you get a photo of some high level Saudi or Egyptian or even Palestinian shaking hands with a high level Israeli they will then return to their countries and continue plotting the destruction of each other.

Let’s face it. These people have been fighting each other for centuries. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, this is all about religion. Sure the agnostics and atheists will again clamor for the end of religions yet you can’t help but wonder if maybe there really is something sacred about Jerusalem and the surrounding land. First it was told to the Jews that this was their holy land, promised to them by their God. Many centuries later a Jewish rabbi preached a new religion while he wandered throughout these same lands. Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Galilee and all the surrounding areas then became sacred lands to Christians. A few centuries later, Mohammed visited Jerusalem and from there he is said to have ascended into heaven and returned making Jerusalem a sacred site for Muslims. You have to admit that it is a little spooky that three of the largest Religions in the world. Judaism, Christianity and Muslims, each believe that this one small piece of dusty land is sacred. Unfortunately, although the Jews and Christians coexist peacefully with each other, the Muslims in the area would prefer to kill any non Muslim.

And now it is President Obama’s turn to try to bring about harmony between Israel and basically everybody else in the Middle East. But there are some very important differences this time. First, Iran is close to having nuclear weapons, if they don’t already have them. Again, religion is at the heart of the matter. Both Iran’s Ayatollah and President Ahmadinejad have repeatedly stated that Israel should be wiped off the map simply because their Muslim religion orders them to kill all Jews. So if somebody has repeatedly stated they wanted to kill you and are developing the weapons to do just that, wouldn’t you be more than a bit worried? And would you really blame the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, if he made plans to take offensive measures before it is too late and Iran has made good on their threat to wipe Israel off the map?

To make this dangerous situation even shakier we now have President Obama stepping into this mess. Unlike all previous Presidents, Obama is showing signs of favoring the Muslim countries and not Israel. Tomorrow the President is planning a major speech from Egypt which has Israel worried. And they probably should be concerned. According to the NY Times Global edition, the Saudi ambassador to the Arab League said “I think we should hear something positive from President Obama. I think he is going in the right way.”

If Obama does take a more pro Muslim stance and if I were Israel, I would seriously consider taking action now. What choice does Israel have? Does Obama believe that Israel, which has always been a friend of the US, will passively listen to a harsh lecture from our President? How could Israel not feel isolated as it is boxed in on all sides by nations who want to kill them and now to lose their staunchest ally? Should they simply sit and wait for Hezbollah or Iranian or Palestinian terrorists to make the first move? If Obama’s speech on Thursday is pro Muslim and anti Israel then this country, feeling it is now totally on its own, just might decide it has nothing to lose by taking action.

Maybe I am wrong. Maybe Obama’s speech tomorrow will show that this country will continue to be a staunch supporter of Israel. But all signs are showing that the US President will be true to his upbringing and align himself with the Muslim nations, not Israel. He may not bow this time but his words and speech will belie his attitude toward the Muslim nations and leaders. I just hope that unlike that bow, Obama will be careful of what he says and truly understands the consequences of his actions….

When Fiction Become Fact

When I was in college I discovered the books written by Allen Drury. Many may have heard of his Pulitzer Prize winning 1950’s novel Advise and Consent. However, most do not realize that this novel was just the start of a series of books regarding Washington politics*. I loved those books for they opened my eyes to so many issues and were one of the reasons I became a Republican.

Much of this Drury series were leading up to a major presidential election. The series then ended in a very unique way. There were two “final” books; one in which the very naïve and idealistic liberal candidate becomes President and in the alternate ending the staunch Conservative became president. Each book then reflected how the winning President dealt with the Communist threats facing America during the 60’s and 70’s.

The ending with the naive President was a warning to the liberals who believed that the Communist regime was really not as bad as Conservatives make them out to be. Even after enemy aggression, this liberal President still counseled talk and not war. In their naivety, the liberals also believed that the UN would step in and do the honorable thing of helping us. Instead the UN members gloated at what they perceived to be US weakness and condemned us. I also liked Drury’s treatment of the media. Drury portrayed the press as being the first to write glowing stories about the liberal President while ignoring his weaknesses. But after the Communists took over the first freedoms to be revoked were our Freedom of Speech and the Freedom of the Press. By the time the journalists realized they had been wrong it was far too late.

The parallel last book showed the Conservative candidate becoming President. In this book, the Conservative President was demonized by the media as he continued to take a strong stance against our enemies. I loved the part where the US had met with the Soviet Union to try to reach a détente. If my memory serves me correctly, earlier in the series, the Russian Premier started to rant and rave and blame America for all the ills in the world. Instead of listening to him or even try to reason with him, the Republican President simply walked out of the room and to Air Force One and flew home. Yes!

I hadn’t thought of these books in years until I read a number of recent headlines in the Drudge Report; “Iran sends six Warships To International Waters”, “Ahmadinejad rejects Western Nuclear Proposal”, and “N. Korea fires more Rockets, Says USA Hostile”. These actions and threats remind me of what faced the new President in Drury’s book. And I can’t help but wonder if fact is like fiction and that our enemies are now testing our new liberal President.

In the book, the naïve President who’s platform had been peace not war, did nothing when threatened because he was afraid that if he retaliated he might “offend” our enemy and that the confrontation could escalate into war. But by not retaliating, the enemy became bolder and more aggressive while the new President, who was encouraged by the press, continued to back down rather than go to war. In spite of the truth, that the enemy really did want to destroy us, this President continued to think that if he could just sit down and talk they could find an answer. Sound familiar?

Today we, too, have a new liberal President who is adored by the media and far left groups. Like the naive President in the book, Obama also urges peace at all costs and believes the propoganda spread by those who hate this country. For example, Obama didn’t even wait for the enemy to blame us for the problems of the world – he did it himself with all of his sickening apologies! He is also going forward with the naive idea that we can talk to those who truly want to destroy us - such as Hugo Chavez whom he recently shook hands with. And what message is sent by the President of the USA bowing to another leader? How much harm has he already caused by denigrating the position of the greatest leader of the free world?

So how will Obama react to the blatantly aggressive action by Iran and N. Korea? Will he ignore it and let them continue on this aggressive course because he and the media are afraid of war? Will he continue to say that the answer is to sit across the table from them and talk? Or will he stand firm against our enemies? I can only hope that Obama does no lasting harm to my country and that in four years we can have our own alternate ending with a Conservative President.



* These books are no longer in print. However, you should be able to find them in used book stores and they are also available through Amazon.com. The books, in order, are: Advice and Consent, A Shade of Difference, Capable of Honor, Preserve and Protect and then the two final books”: Come Ninevah, Come Tyre and The Promise of Joy.

Crazy Idea or Chilling Reality?

Yesterday after listening to the news, I came up with this really crazy thought….

We know that there have been a lot of meetings and discussions between Chavez, Castro and Putin. In fact I googled on the three names and came up with over a million hits, including one from back in 2001 “Putin, Venezuela’s Chavez Plan Anti-American Alliance”. Fast forward to October 2008 and you have this opening sentence in a newspaper article “Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who arrived in Russia with a short visit upon the invitation from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, had his first meeting scheduled with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Chavez said hello to Putin from Fidel Castro.” The newspaper with this article? Pravda: http://english.pravda.ru/russia/economics/26-09-2008/106471-russia_venezuela-0. So for at least seven years, perhaps even longer, these three (with Castro’s brother stepping in to replace the ailing Castro) have been building this alliance.

Then it occurred to me to see where Venezuela is in South America. Unfortunately, I think I learned most of my geography while playing Risk in college and could only remember that Chavez’s country was somewhere in South America. After getting a map on-line I was extremely startled by this country’s location. Wow. This really isn’t good. To illustrate my concerns, I highlighted the three countries; Cuba, Russia and Venezuela in red for the old communist red. As Mexico is now very unstable and could fall I highlighted them in pink. Here is what my map looks like:

Everybody knows that Cuba is right off our southeastern coast, but who remembered just how close Venezuela was to Cuba and therefore from us? Now with Mexico possibly in play, how easy would it be for them to deploy troops at that border? If we can’t stop unarmed illiterate Mexicans, how could we possibly stop highly trained armed troops crashing across our unmanned empty borders? And will people some day remember with regret how they contemptuously dismissed Sarah Palin’s comment about seeing Russia from her home in Alaska? If I were playing Risk and was blue, I would be very worried about an invasion of some kind.

I realize that this is one of my crazier ideas. Then again, now would be the perfect time for a coordinated attack. America is weaker than we’ve ever been. Our economy is in shambles. We have no money. Our troops are spread out, with most of them in Iran and Afghanistan. The State Department is more concerned about Israel and the Hamas while Homeland Security is more worried about Islamic terrorists than with what is happening on our own border with Mexico. And of course, we have a very young, naïve and inexperienced President. What better time for our enemies to strike against America on American land?

Add into this crazy thought that up until 9-11, the idea of anyone attacking us never even came into our consciousness. A lot of men and women fought and died in WWII and WWI but it was all over seas, including Pearl Harbor, none of the destruction and death was on continent. As awful as 9-11 was, it was still a one shot attack; over and done with in a matter of minutes. Yes, men and women have since died because of it but again it was all over seas and not here. So we have no memories, nothing to guide us by if enemy troops flooded our boarders and immediately engaged in destroying out towns and killing our citizens. Sure we have nuclear weapons but would Obama ever use them much less deploy them in Texas? OK maybe he wouldn’t mind if he bombed TX but definitely not in Harry Reid’s Nevada!

Plus we might not be the only ones with nuclear weapons. Russia already has them and there has been a lot of talk in the lately that Iran will have them in the near future in spite of potential UN sanctions. The Wall Street Journal even has an article this month entitled “How Europe’s Companies Are Feeding Iran’s Bomb”: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123379548035950207.html?mod=googlenews_wsj.

There was another article from September 2008 with the chilling title of “Putin and Chavez in Nuclear Talks”. Great. That’s all we need is for Chavez to have the bomb (take another look at that map!). It also said that Russia has loaned $1 billion to Venezuela to buy arms. And then there was this picture along with these paragraphs:

“Earlier this month, in deployments not seen since the Cold War, Russia sent two long-range bombers to Venezuela for exercises and has dispatched a flotilla of warships from the Arctic base of Severomorsk to Venezuela near US waters.

Venezuela has bought Russian fighter jets, tanks and assault rifles and is planning to purchase anti-aircraft systems, armoured personnel carriers and more combat aircraft, Kommersant reported earlier, quoting Russian officials.”

Oh and the source of this article? Aljazeera. Getting worried yet? http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2008/09/200892518282265489.html

I’m beginning to think that we should be as worried about this as about our economy. I also found a lot of old articles talking about Chavez and Putin and their dealings with oil. If the rising and falling price of oil contributed to our current economic downfall then how much of this could be attributable to Putin and Chavez manipulating the sales of their barrels of oil? Fixing our economy is important but I sure hope Obama and Clinton are keeping their eyes on this. For if Putin and Chavez purposely sabotaged our economy then what might be their next step? Then again, maybe I am sounding like a conspiracy theorist now. But what if there really is a conspiracy?