On Tuesday, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not just reject President Obama’s latest feckless floating nuclear deadline. He spat on it, declaring that Iran “will continue resisting” until the U.S. has gotten rid of its 8,000 nuclear warheads.
So ends 2009, the year of “engagement,” of the extended hand, of the gratuitous apology — and of spinning centrifuges, two-stage rockets and a secret enrichment facility that brought Iran materially closer to becoming a nuclear power.
We lost a year. But it was not just any year. It was a year of spectacularly squandered opportunity. In Iran, it was a year of revolution, beginning with a contested election and culminating this week in huge demonstrations mourning the death of the dissident Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri — and demanding no longer a recount of the stolen election but the overthrow of the clerical dictatorship.
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Another vote of “Present” by the Empty Suit. It’s been about a year and I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that the American people elected this clown. It’s like, if it isn’t against American interests, he’s not for it.
It’s not fair. We have done the Obama “reset” with the world. We’ve bowed to Sheiks. We’ve apologized for America’s behaviour over the last 200 years. We have not encouraged Iranians to overthrow their Mad Mullahs. We said the War on Terrorism is over. We’re closing Gitmo and even sent some prisoners to Yemen. Yet it is in Yemen where the latest terrorist was trained. (Gosh, just imagine the media howling if Bush had sent terrorists to Yemen “to keep America safe”)
And another thing: we told al Qaeda, the Taliban, Hamas and Hezbollah that we only wanted to fight in the “good war” , the one in Afghanistan. Why do these guys not listen to us? Why do they keep moving around, into the caves of Pakistan and now Yemen? We only want to fight a traditional war according to the Geneva Convention. This kind of war is just not fair.
Some regulars here at JNW have had Obama’s number since day one. We got called names and had labels affixed because of our predictions, which frighteningly have now become reality.
New caption for above picture ‘yes, your shoes are tied right’
‘yes, your shoes are tied right’
And that’s probably what Security said to Richard Reid, the shoe bomber.
The Director of Homeland Security , Janet Nepolitano has reassured us all that
“the system worked”. It is unbelievable that given all the information we now have on the terrorist (on a watch list, warned about by his own father) she can say the “system worked”.
It is not the “system’ that worked, if anything it was the thanks to the incompetence of the terrorist and the courage of the Dutch passenger that the bomb didn’t engage.
There are so many things that liberals like Janet Nepolitano get backwards, such as:
It isn’t guns that commit murderous crimes, it’s criminals.
It isn’t bombs that commit terrorism, it’s terrorists.
The root causes of environmental issues are minuscule by the people who mine oil from the oil sands, it’s the people who burn that oil in their cars who are the problem.
The list goes on and on. But liberals think that if only we had the right “system” then everything would be fine. Particularly if they are the ones in charge of the “system”.
If we are going to stop terrorism we need to go after terrorists with more vigor. We don’t need more “systems”. We simply need to stop playing politically correct games with the deranged like the Fort Hood murderer and this terrorist who was on a list.
I agree Nom but the Americans have been side tracked for sometime from finding and killing the real terrorists (al Qaida) because of their involvement in both the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars.
Its difficult if not impossible to fight a war on three fronts.
Right UV. Obama has to try harder to talk to the animals. Get them to stay in their cage in Afghanistan where the “good war” can be fought according to the Geneva Convention and Jack Layton can dine with the detainees. Maybe these animals should go to puppy obedience school. Only use positive reinforcement like bowing before them and offering treats in this life instead of the after life.
Nom, perhaps if the Americans had finished the Afghanistan war the first time around, we wouldnt be in this mess and could go after al Qaida, the real enemy.
“finished the Afghanistan war”
Actually these regional tribes simply became pretend countries. Afghanistan is simply a geographic battle field (like Normandy) in the larger war. We’re fighting Islamists, utopianism of the past. Just like we were fighting communism (utopianism of some future plan) in Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, many Latin American countries and China. It was a movement whose chief sponsor was the USSR exporting the idea and for all we know were probably sponsoring the FLQ right here. Until the USSR fell we didn’t notice the utopianism of the past, the Islamists, and then we got 9/11.
Anyway UV I don’t believe it is simply a case of “winning the battle in Afghanistan” and not having done that already because of Iraq. Iraq was also tribal and had oil funding and did a lot of damage in the region. The surge worked there and Obama voted against that. Now he is doing a surge and that process will have to go on and on for decades until the population explosion of Islamists in the overall region diminishes and young men get real jobs instead of wanting to return the world to the traditions of nomadic herders. These young Muslim males are a problem all over the place, in Pakistan, Yemen and now homegrown recruits are becoming the new terrorist model. Like the gangs of Harlem in the 70’s, high testosteroned young males bored with life, so they join a death cult.
Look at the difference between Pakistan and India born at the same time, one Islamic and about to implode, the other secular and stepping onto the world’s economic stage.
In the end we are always fighting utopians. The worst are the insidious utopians who dominate our schools and MSM, although like communism they will fail; meanwhile we inadvertently play the host to these parasites. So utopianism is like crime and poverty, you never eliminate it , you simply have to do your best to beat it back constantly.
Thats true Nom and much of this has distracted the west from going after the real villan this time around no matter where they are found, al Qaida.
But lets not tar all Muslims with the same brush, as with many religions they have their fanatics and hopefully their moderate leaders will inform the appropriate governments of these potentially dangerous people as did the father of the recent bomber.
“But lets not tar all Muslims with the same brush”
I totally agree UV!!!
The world continues to wait on these “Moderates” , the silence is deafening. Jake