Senator Lieberman on the Iraqi Elections

Making us all once again wonder why he sticks with the moonbats of the Democratic Party, Senator Joe Lieberman reports on what he saw on his recent trip to Iraq:

WASHINGTON Dec 30, 2004 ó Sen. Joe Lieberman, traveling in the Middle East Wednesday, said there is strong support in Iraq for the Jan. 30 election, and postponing it would only be a victory for the insurgents.
In a telephone call from Tel Aviv, Israel, the Connecticut Democrat said conditions in Iraq, including an increase in trained Iraqi security forces, have improved since his last visit in July. And he said the escalating violence aimed at intimidating Iraqis to postpone the election or not vote is not working in most of the country.

Now, for our Democratic readers, I’d like to point out that what you have here is a report from an intelligent man who is not a fan of President Bush who has actually gone to Iraq and seen how things are going – this, to make it clear, is very different from a Michael Moore who sits in his pizza-box cluttered apartment spinning conspiracy theories and then putting out a film disconnnected from any semblance of reality. The former is worthwhile, the latter is worthless. What you have to do is learn the difference between the two – go out to a farm and start by having a farmer explain the difference between sh** and shinola.
As to the subject at hand, I agree with Senator Lieberman – the Iraqi people by deed are opting for a democratic future, the terrorists with their barbarism are only managing to kill but not to change minds and the coming vote next month will seal the fate of terrorism. Thank God we’ve got a President who can lead, soldiers who are brave and dedicated, and at least some Democrats who can see things as they are.
Hat Tip: Stranded on Blue Islands

The Truth Will Come Out, Always

Those of you who have read my stuff over the past year know that my endless mantra about figuring out what is going on is to watch what people do rather than what they say. People will say the most amazing things, but they’ll generally do what is good for them, or what they perceive is good for them. An example of this was back during the election while the Democrats were pushing the “gloom and doom” and polls ostensibly discovered a great deal of anxiety about the economy among the American people – meanwhile, these same anxiety-ridden people were buying houses and cars at a record clip. They might have said they were worried, but they were doing things indicating great faith in the economy. Now we have another example.
The MSM/Elitist mantra is that all is going to heck in a handbasket in Iraq – a “burgeoning” insurgency and growing violence are making life impossible in Iraq and casting doubt about the elections coming at the end of January. This is what people are saying…but what they are doing is returning to Iraq from refugee camps:

The UNHCR is to close several camps for Iraqi refugees in Iran because more than half of the 202,000 exiles have returned home.
The UN’s refugee body said 42,000 out of 50,000 Iraqis at the centres had left since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Six out of the UN’s 22 camps in south Iran are empty and another two are due to close by the end of the month.
The agency has discouraged repatriation because of insecurity in Iraq and the border-crossing is riddled with mines.
About 107,000 refugees have left Iran since the former Iraqi leader was removed last year.

What is really funny is that the UNHCR is discouraging people from going home – they are so wedded to the MSM/Elistist worldview that they are denying reality and trying to keep Iraqi’s in miserable refugee camps rather than wanting them to return to the new, free Iraq! The plain fact of the matter is that the security situation must be well in hand or the camps would be filling up rather than emptying out. Certainly, there is fear of terrorism in Iraq – but on balance things must be good. What people are doing confirms this.
Just another example of how you have to look way past the headlines and the pictures in order to find out what is going on.

Troops Support Iraq War

Michael Moore must be shocked. A Military Times Poll found that 63% of those who responded approve of the way Bush is handling the war and 60% believe the war is worth fighting.

From War to Peace

I recently read a book entitled Europe’s Last Summer. It is about the run-up to the First World War, a sort of who did what to who to get the war started. It is a good book (I highly recommend it) all in all, but one thing the author pointed out struck me forcefully: While it takes two or more parties to prevent a war, it only takes one party to start a war.
This is a pretty obvious thing, but it mostly escapes people as they discuss the causes of war. As regards the First World War many theories have been put forth as explaining the cause of the war – rampant nationalism, imperialism, fear, hatred, etc have all been put forth severally or independently as the cause of the war. What most people don’t seem to want to realise is that the war started because Germany wanted to start a war – or, more accurately, the military leadership of the German Empire felt that July of 1914 was an excellent time to fight the war they considered inevitible at some point. So, using the excuse of an assasination and playing upon nationalist feelings, they created a war.
Much has also been written about the cause of our current War on Terrorism – it has been variously asserted (by critics of the war) that it is US support for Israel, US intervention in Arab affairs, US dependence on Arab oil, US greed, etc which has caused the war; what most critics of the war don’t want to see is that these are not causes, but excuses. The cause of the war is that a certain segment of the Arab/Moslem population believes it cannot achieve its political goals absent a war against the United States. The political goal of our enemies is some sort of Arab/Moslem superstate able to challenge the West for control of the world – their means to this end is a war against the leading western nation, the United States of America. If we didn’t exist, they’d just be attacking whomever was the most powerful western nation at the time, regardless of what this nation may have done or left undone.
So, war we have – whether we want it or not. This is another thing the critics of the war do not understand; just as it takes only one party to start a war, it only takes one party to keep it going. No matter how much we try to not be at war with our enemies, they continue at war with us. To get from war to peace requires victory on one side and defeat on the other – there is no “peace process” to magically create peace out of war. That one side broke the peace states with certainty that there is no peaceful solution – if there were, the side the broke the peace would have attempted it.
How long this war will last is beyond anyone’s knowlege. My view, however, is that we’re much closer to the end than to the beginning. This is surprising to me as I thought that the War on Terrorism would be at least a decade-long struggle. I imagined this because I didn’t think we’d be able to so swiftly kill so many of the enemy, while sucking most of their efforts into an American-controlled shooting gallery in the heart of the Arab world – I had thought we’d be working around the periphery and still suffer regular and serious terrorist attacks at home which would absorb a great deal of effort. A war was started one bright day for the enemy and it will turn from war to peace when the enemy knows he cannot win – and that day is coming and the major signpost will be the Iraqi elections.

The Sole Path to Victory Over Terrorism

As the eminent scholar Daniel Pipes likes to say, the “war on terror” is a politically correct misnomer. Wars are not fought against tactics, but against enemies. World War II was not the “war on sneak attacks.” Our enemy was not a mode of warfare, but the Axis powers. Likewise, says Pipes, we need to name our enemy here. He also hastens to add that, in this war against radical Islam, the only solution is moderate Islam. While many wonder whether such a thing exists and, if so, why it is so silent, maybe, just maybe, that is starting to change.
In the Jerusalem Post, Nonie Darwish, founder of Arabs for Israel (I was surprised, too), discusses the need for an Islamic Reformation. Significantly, she does this openly:

I witnessed the oppression of women, honor killings of girls, female genital mutilation, and polygamy, with its devastating effects on family dynamics.
I was happy, finally, to leave all this behind and move to America in 1978. Suddenly I enjoyed freedom of religion and equality between classes and races.
My first job was given to me by a Jewish businessman. I witnessed Christians and Jews practicing their faith peacefully. Among my Jewish and Christian friends I heard the words love, compassion, forgiveness and shalom.
Sincerely they asked: What can we do to have peace with Arabs?
I felt betrayed by my culture of origin for advocating violence or talking about peace only in the presence of Westerners.
I realized that I had grown up behind a wall of fear, media lies and deception that separated us from the rest of humanity. But I did not yet dare verbalize these thoughts.
When I visited Egypt in 2001 the situation there had become even more difficult. Pollution, hazardous materials and garbage were to be found along the banks of the Nile. I witnessed extreme poverty, unemployment, high inflation, widespread corruption and mismanagement.
We returned to the US on September 10, 2001. Next morning, the whole world changed.
I knew – the very instant I saw the second plane hit the Twin Towers – that jihad had come to America. To my horror, the country that had given me shelter, protection and hope was under a monstrous attack from my own culture of origin.
I immediately telephoned a number of Muslim friends. Without exception, they made excuses for terrorism, denied the responsibility of Muslim culture, and concluded that 9/11 was an Israeli conspiracy.
These were not radical fundamentalists but moderate, educated and well-traveled Muslims.
I BEGAN to reflect on the society in which I had grown up.

Read the whole article, it’s quite interesting. More importantly, however, is that it is hopeful:

It is the duty of good Muslims to bring out the compassion and tolerance in Islam, not only verbally but also through action.
We need a Middle East culture that reflects the diversity of its people and respects equal rights for all – Jews, Christians and Muslims.
One goal should be to welcome the people of Israel as neighbors and invite them to flourish with us in an atmosphere of coexistence and peace.
I am cautiously optimistic that the good side of human nature will prevail.

As we close the book on one year and look forward to the next, let us pray that her hopefulness proves to be well founded.