Bush and Napoleon Both Believed Their Own Propaganda About a "Greater Middle East"
Juan Cole, Tomdispatch.com
There are times when the resonances of history are positively eerie. The parallels of Napoleon's occupation of Egypt with Bush's disaster in Iraq are enough to make you jump out of your chair.
http://www.alternet.org/story/60652/
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2 comments:
Mr. Smith,
Are you the same Snuffy Smith that Colonel David Hunt mentions in his book, "On the Hunt?"
I am a deep admirer of Colonel Hunt, and his book, "They Just Don't Get It" is one of my favorites.
Anyway, anybody that Mr. Hunt admires is somebody I would like to shake the hand of as well.
Some of my views might not be where yours are (or they might), but I am the son of a military man with a deep respect for the military.
If you are the same person mentioned in Mr. Hunt's book, I would consider it an honor and a privilege to interview you by email for my blog, The Tygrrrr Express.
www.blacktygrrrr.wordpress.com
Attached are links to two articles I wrote, one about Mr. Hunt, and one about Mr. Petraeus. That is to prove my credentials so you know my interview request is not a "hit job."
http://blacktygrrrr.wordpress.com/2007/06/02/colonel-david-hunt-the-jfk-plot-they-still-just-dont-get-it/
http://blacktygrrrr.wordpress.com/2007/07/10/unless-your-name-is-general-david-petraeus-your-opinion-on-the-war-is-irrelevant/
Thank you sir.
With deep respect,
Eric Golub aka eric
www.blacktygrrrr.wordpress.com
I don't know if I am the same Snuffysmith. But I liked one of your posts and thought to add it here:
President Bush simply gets it
August 24th, 2007 at 10:28 am (POLITICS)
I have said it before, and I will say it again. I love “The Dub.”
I am an unabashed, unashamed supporter of the President.
I love the guy. I voted for him in 2000. I grieved with him On September 11th, 2001. On September 14th, I cheered when he grabbed that bullhorn and hugged that fireman and let the people who murdered my fellow New Yorkers know that they, “soon would be hearing from all of us.” On September 20th, as he and I both fought back tears during one of the greatest speeches in World history, I looked in his eyes, and saw potential greatness.
Ladies and gentlemen, he has met that potential. Forget today. Forget the next 20 months. It is about the next 20 years. In a world full of confusion, this man simply “gets it.” He gets it.
Very few people in life get it. Colonel Ralph Peters in the New York Post gets it. The Wall Street Journal gets it. Guliani, McCain, Romney and Fred Thomson all get it. Reagan, Thatcher and Ariel Sharon certainly got it. John Howard and Nicolas Sarkozy get it. Columnists John Podhoretz and Charles Krauthammer get it. Dick Cheney definitely gets it, more than most people ever realize. Sean Hannity gets it. Colonel David Hunt gets it.
“It” is the defining issue of human existence. It is about making the world a better place. It is about forcefully, aggressively and proactively making the world a peaceful place by rooting out evil wherever it exists. Not just proactively, but preemptively. That is the Bush Doctrine, and it should be mandatory American foreign policy forever.
Make no mistake about it. This is not a morally relative world. There is good and evil. Good does not win just because we pray to God. God helps those who help themselves. Blood sweat and tears are shed, so that good people everywhere can enjoy peace, and liberty. Without liberty, there is no life.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/08/lessons_from_history.html
President Bush’s entire remarks should be mandatory reading, but I will try to do this great man a modicum of justice by offering a moderately effective summation.
“I want to open today’s speech with a story that begins on a sunny morning, when thousands of Americans were murdered in a surprise attack — and our nation was propelled into a conflict that would take us to every corner of the globe.
The enemy who attacked us despises freedom, and harbors resentment at the slights he believes America and Western nations have inflicted on his people. He fights to establish his rule over an entire region. And over time, he turns to a strategy of suicide attacks destined to create so much carnage that the American people will tire of the violence and give up the fight.
If this story sounds familiar, it is — except for one thing. The enemy I have just described is not al Qaeda, and the attack is not 9/11, and the empire is not the radical caliphate envisioned by Osama bin Laden. Instead, what I’ve described is the war machine of Imperial Japan in the 1940s, its surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and its attempt to impose its empire throughout East Asia.”
I have absolutely nothing to add to that. I was genuinely surprised by the intro.
“The lesson from Asia’s development is that the heart’s desire for liberty will not be denied. Once people even get a small taste of liberty, they’re not going to rest until they’re free. Today’s dynamic and hopeful Asia — a region that brings us countless benefits — would not have been possible without America’s presence and perseverance.”
Everybody wants to be free. Freedom is not American. It is human. Kunta Kinte refused to call himself Toby. Why should Arab women be beaten if they choose to take off their burkas and demand equality to their husbands? Why should children be taught that suicide vests are the way to glory? Human beings should never be forced into such pain.
“The militarists of Japan and the communists in Korea and Vietnam were driven by a merciless vision for the proper ordering of humanity. They killed Americans because we stood in the way of their attempt to force their ideology on others. Today, the names and places have changed, but the fundamental character of the struggle has not changed. Like our enemies in the past, the terrorists who wage war in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places seek to spread a political vision of their own — a harsh plan for life that crushes freedom, tolerance, and dissent. Like our enemies in the past, they kill Americans because we stand in their way of imposing this ideology across a vital region of the world. This enemy is dangerous; this enemy is determined; and this enemy will be defeated.”
There is nothing “hokey” about wearing a t-shirt of an American flag that says, “These colors don’t run.” This country was founded on noble ideals, and I will be d@mned if those ideals will be crushed in my lifetime because I did not do everything I could to support them.
“Some said Japanese culture was inherently incompatible with democracy. A lot of Americans believed that — and so did the Japanese — a lot of Japanese believed the same thing: democracy simply wouldn’t work.”
Are people saying Arabs are not human beings? That they can’t do it? Nonsense. They can, they should, and with God’s help, and America’s, one day they will. Otherwise, barbarism has won and civilization has lost. That is not an acceptable outcome. God gave us this world, and man will not destroy it.
“Whatever your position is on that debate, one unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America’s withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms like ‘boat people,’ ‘re-education camps,’ and ‘killing fields.’”
Being right is subjective. Doing right is imperative. To quote Bob Dole, who knows more than a little about protecting freedoms, “Everything in this world flows from doing what is right.”
“There was another price to our withdrawal from Vietnam, and we can hear it in the words of the enemy we face in today’s struggle — those who came to our soil and killed thousands of citizens on September the 11th, 2001…after the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden declared that ‘the American people had risen against their government’s war in Vietnam. And they must do the same today.’”
The entire world is watching. Will we embolden our enemies? Will we betray our friends? Or will we keep our word? Treasury bills are the safest investment worldwide because the USA has never defaulted on an economic obligation. The entire world trusts the United States Treasury. Shouldn’t our political covenants be just as, if not more, sacred?
“In Iraq, our moral obligations and our strategic interests are one. So we pursue the extremists wherever we find them and we stand with the Iraqis at this difficult hour — because the shadow of terror will never be lifted from our world and the American people will never be safe until the people of the Middle East know the freedom that our Creator meant for all.”
Amen! Somebody buy this man a soda now!
“Across the Middle East, millions of ordinary citizens are tired of war, they’re tired of dictatorship and corruption, they’re tired of despair. They want societies where they’re treated with dignity and respect, where their children have the hope for a better life. They want nations where their faiths are honored and they can worship in freedom. And that is why millions of Iraqis and Afghans turned out to the polls — millions turned out to the polls. And that’s why their leaders have stepped forward at the risk of assassination. And that’s why tens of thousands are joining the security forces of their nations. These men and women are taking great risks to build a free and peaceful Middle East — and for the sake of our own security, we must not abandon them.”
If they can lift their purple stained fingers with bullets flying around them, we can lift a finger to show our thanks. These people want to live freely! They have hope! They have a taste of what we have, and they demand the Iraqi version of the American Dream!
“The greatest weapon in the arsenal of democracy is the desire for liberty written into the human heart by our Creator. So long as we remain true to our ideals, we will defeat the extremists in Iraq and Afghanistan. We will help those countries’ peoples stand up functioning democracies in the heart of the broader Middle East. And when that hard work is done and the critics of today recede from memory, the cause of freedom will be stronger, a vital region will be brighter, and the American people will be safer.
Thank you, and God bless.”
God Bless President Bush. He will be the first man to tell you that he is far from perfect. He is a simple, plainspoken, sincere man. I used to think he was a good man. I was wrong. He is a great man.
The world will be a better place if we do our part. I don’t care if I am the last man standing next to the President. He is right, and the history books will be very kind to him. I know this, because to paraphrase the great Winston Churchhill, “I will help write it.”
I get what you are trying to do Mr. President.
I get it sir. I thank God that you get it as well.
May God Bless America, our soldiers, their missions, and freedom loving human beings worldwide.
Luv ya Dubya!
eric
Permalink 21 Comments
Hurricane Howard Dean, Haiku, and Fraggle Rock Revisited
August 23rd, 2007 at 12:49 pm (POLITICS, Uncategorized)
I am not willing to imply that there is truly nothing going on in the world. There is a War on Terror. However, judging by the way half the nation acts, all is peaceful everywhere on Lollipop Lane in Candyland.
The Seattle Post Intelligencer, besides being misnamed (Seattle and intelligence do not belong in the same sentence, unless your IQ is a higher number than the cost of your coffee), has managed to turn a serious issue involving criminals being sought by the FBI into a Haiku contest. This smug, liberal paper (it is Seattle after all) admitted this was boneheaded after everyone else in America outside of Seattle pointed this out.
http://michellemalkin.com/2007/08/22/seattle-p-i-no-we-wont-help-the-fbiwell-hold-a-haiku-contest-instead/#comments
My first attempt at this 5-7-5 idiotic excuse for poetry was as follows.
Never liked Haikus
I find them very pointless
So is Seattle
Realizing that nothing else was relevant to the Seattle liberals of the world, and that it is easier to lower the level of intelligence than raise it, I decided to revisit an issue that affected children throughout the 1980s…Fraggle Rock.
In the past, while debating with the lads whether or not C3PO is gay, we also debated the political philosophies of the Fraggles.
http://blacktygrrrr.wordpress.com/2007/07/01/c3po-fraggle-rock-and-the-log-cabin-republicans/
I then realized the sheer of brilliance of why these issues converged. The theme to Fraggle Rock is in that wonderfully beautiful non-pointless Haiku format.
Dance your cares away
Worries for another day
Let the music play
Yes, Haiku folks…Down in Fraggle Rock.
Some may say that one should focus on serious matters, but given that there is an entire political party that speaks even more gibberish then anything in this column, why bother? They cannot raise the level of intelligence and discourse because they are led by a screaming megalomaniac. While watching the weather report, it seems that Hurricane Howard Dean is all the…rage.
The Chirac News Network had its version of Hurricane Howard Dean, but since I do not speak French, I have translated the CNN article into English.
“Once a monster Category 5 hurricane, Dean was downgraded to a tropical depression Wednesday evening as it rapidly lost strength after battering Mexico’s eastern coast.”
Once a monster who raised 40 million dollars from the dregs of society, Dean rapidly burned through all the money, and was downgraded to 4th place in Iowa.
“But the storm continued to be dangerous as it diminished.”
Howard Dean will not shut up and go away quietly.
“Authorities worried the influx of water, possibly coupled with rains over the mountains to the west, could lead to flooding.”
Authorities in the democratic party worried that Dean would lead them over the cliff, unable to relate to anybody in the South or Mountain West, triggering a republican tidal wave.
“It has been steadily weakening since. At 11 p.m. ET, Dean’s winds had dropped to 35 mph, the center said in its last public advisory on the system. The storm was moving west at near 21 mph.”
The democratic party disavows its own national committee chairman. He still rants as he disintegrates, but nobody listens. He is banned to rural areas far away from television cameras.
“All tropical storm and hurricane warnings have been canceled.”
Democrats try to scramble television stations when he is about to speak.
“After losing some intensity crossing the peninsula, Dean regained some strength Wednesday over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.”
Dean’s socialist rhetoric plays well in Vermont and Mexico, and nowhere in between.
“In preparation, Mexican government officials on Tuesday traveled from beach to beach warning people to prepare for the weakened hurricane.”
Unlike Dean, many Mexicans like America and want to come here. They come to America for a dream, and do not understand why this white doctor is so angry.
“‘Fortunately, based on initial information, the damage is not as bad as we had expected it would be, thank God,’ (Mexican President) Calderon said. He credited preventive measures taken by federal and state workers.”
By ignoring and marginalizing Dean, Rahm Emanuel was able to give strict orders to Nancy Pelosi to prevent any democrat running for congress to discuss any policy or, program, or offer any idea whatsoever. Liberals at the state and federal level were ordered to call themselves progressives.
“Power was knocked out, but most of the city’s 130,000 residents appeared to have heeded government warnings to seek shelter or evacuate.”
The democrats lost their grip on power several days after they stumbled into a victory in the 2006 election, when moderate democrats that did not despise all republicans or think the President was the artist formerly known as Adolphus Schickelgruber ran for the hills every time Dean spoke or Pelosi embraced Syrian terrorist Assad.
“Dean is being blamed for at least nine deaths in its march across the Caribbean, including two in Jamaica, two in Haiti, two in Martinique, two in Dominica and one in St. Lucia.”
Dean’s support now consists of his wife in Vermont, a charming married gay couple in Massachusetts, a Rhode Island drifter, and five San Francisco teenagers that burn President Bush in effigy in the town square to raise money to buy marijuana.
“Ahead of the storm, the Mexican government deployed 4,000 troops to the area, and a state of emergency was declared in the state of Campeche.”
Howard Dean is still the head of the DNC. Panicked democrats insist that his referring to republicans as white Christians that never worked an honest day in their lives was taken out of context, and that hating everything these Christians stand for is only bad if one knows what hate actually is.
To put it in Haiku form, the issue is simple.
Quiet Mr. Dean
Hurricane Howard is done
Libs sit down, you’re wrong
For those who find Haiku to be more elitist and complex than a Jayson Blair Times crossword puzzle, I shall dumb it down one final time so that even Patricia Schroeder liberals do not cry due to a failure to understand it.
Reid, Pelosi, Drunken Kennedy, and Hurricane Howard Dean call the president everything from a liar to a loser.
The President laughs at them like the fun loving guy he is. They are beneath him on every level. In the world of Fraggle Rock, each one of them is a hopeless, failed, ignored, Doozer.
eric
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