Top of the
fold...President George W. Bush signed an $87.5 billion
supplemental spending bill for troop support and infrastructure reconstruction
in Iraq and Afghanistan yesterday, and not a moment too soon. This week proved
one of the costliest since Operation Iraqi Freedom began. There have been 27
American service personnel killed in Iraq in recent days, including the
deadliest single strike against American forces since the war began -- a
Chinook
helicopter shot down, killing 16 and wounding 20. Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld said of the latest attack, "It was a terrible day. In war, there
are going to be terrible days, and unfortunately, it's necessary to work
our way
through these things. Ultimately, we're going to prevail."
Indeed,
President Bush has said all along that our war with Jihadistan would be
long and
difficult. Fortunately, thanks to the blood, sweat and tears of many of our
service personnel and their families, the warfront with Jihadistan remains in
Iraq and has not returned to our shores since 9/11. Keeping it there is our
primary strategic objective, though all the war's detractors seem intent on
bringing it closer to home.
As for why the attacks on U.S. forces
are on
the increase -- as previously noted, the conflict is drawing out Jihadis in the
region, who are joining forces with Saddam's Ba'athist loyalists under the
doctrine that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." As such, they have
formed a
unified front endeavoring to stop the Iraqi Governing Council from establishing
a democratic foothold in a Muslim nation. Most of the Jihadis are itinerant
Islamist militants entering Iraq through Syria and Iran, while the conflict is
also drawing Islamists from a few European nations, including Saddam's
apologist
ally, France, which hosts a large population of Muslims.
Syrian
dictator
Hafez al-Assad, who, like Saddam, fully expected the French and Germans to keep
the U.S. out of Iraq, was stunned at how fast Saddam's regime fell. As a
result,
Hafez has suspended his nation's decades-old policy of suppressing Islamic
militants in a gambit to stir up enough Jihadi support for Iraq to keep the
U.S.
out of Syria.
The Federalist
estimates a U.S. invasion of Syria is highly probable. As we noted again last
week, "There is a substantial body of intelligence supporting our report last
year that Iraq shipped some or all of its biological and nuclear Weapons of
Mass
Destruction stores to Syria and Lebanon's heavily fortified Bekaa Valley." In
addition to the Jihadi threat from Syria, discovery and eradication of Saddam's
WMD remains a critical objective, though these weapons are not likely to move
into al-Qa'ida hands under current conditions.
On the subject of
WMD and
Syria, we also noted last week that Lt. Gen. James Clapper, director of the
National Imagery and Mapping Agency, estimated on the basis of evidence from
surveillance satellites that there is "no question" that people and WMD
materiel
were moved by truck convoys into Syria.
As for why Saddam didn't use
his WMD on invading allied troops: first, because it would have confirmed the
stated rationale for the invasion (Saddam was a tyrant, not an idiot); second,
because any order to use such weapons would have had to pass among several
strata of his military hierarchy -- and his command and control disintegrated
very quickly once the invasion began; third, because bio-weapons tend to be
minimally effective in that type of environment; and fourth, perhaps most
important, is the same reason that Osama bin Laden didn't use 767s against
targets in the Iraqi desert -- because we "infidels" live here in the
continental U.S. Thus, if Saddam's WMD emerge again, it will likely be much
closer to home -- which is precisely why we endeavor to keep the warfront with
Jihadistan on
their turf.
As for
all the Democrat presidential candidates ranting against the war and bleating
about the lack of WMD, they can only hope to be somewhere other than the next
urban center targeted by al-Qa'ida and supplied by Saddam. Perhaps it would be
instructive for the Thundering Herd of Jackasses to review their own ilk's
comments on Iraq's WMD:
http://federalist.com/news/clintonistas.asp
Quote
of the week... "We're waging this war in relentless pursuit
of the al-Qa'ida network. We're waging this war in Afghanistan against Taliban
remnants and al-Qa'ida killers. We're waging this war in Iraq against Saddam
loyalists and foreign terrorists who seek the return of tyranny and terror.
We're pursuing long-term victory in this war by promoting democracy in the
Middle East so that the nations of that region no longer breed hatred and
terror. Today, the United States is making a critical financial commitment to
this global strategy to defeat terror. We're supporting our servicemen and
women
in the field of battle. We're supporting reconstruction and the emergence of
democratic institutions in a vital area of the world." --President George W.
Bush, upon signing the $87.5-billion supplemental-spending bill for troop
support and infrastructure reconstruction in Iraq and
Afghanistan
Notably, President Bush added: "Sixty years of Western
nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did
nothing to make us safe because in the long run stability cannot be
purchased at
the expense of liberty. ... The global wave of democracy has barely reached the
Arab states. For too long, many people in that region have been victims and
subjects. They deserve to be active
citizens."
On
cross-examination..."Iraqis are grateful for the tremendous
efforts and sacrifices the United States is making on our behalf. Yet,
ultimately, only Iraqis themselves can restore security, rebuild national
institutions, enact a constitution and elect a democratic government. America
must not rebuff Iraqis who are eager to have a stake in this intimate national
process. Like any free people, we want to ensure that we are in control of our
own destiny." --Iyad Alawi, president of the Iraqi Governing Council for the
month of October.
Open
query..."Under John Kerry's 'plan,' Saddam would still be in
power, the French would still be selling him the 68mm missiles used in the
attack on Paul Wolfowitz's Baghdad hotel last week, and there would still be
Iraqis being fed feet-first into the industrial shredders. Or have I missed
something?" --Mark Steyn
In other
news...Last week, Allen B. West, Lt. Col., U.S. Army, was
indicted on criminal assault charges for the psychological intimidation tactic
he used to acquire vital intelligence from a captured enemy combatant in Iraq.
Col. West's interrogation -- which included, as a last resort, twice firing his
sidearm
away from the detainee -- obtained
information of an imminent attack against soldiers under his command,
undoubtedly saving an untold number of American lives. Apart from his
prosecution, Col. West's so-called "criminal assault" produced other, more
constructive results: "There were no further attacks from that town," notes the
colonel. "We further apprehended two other conspirators (a third fled
town) and
found out one of the conspirators was the father of a man we had detained for
his Saddam Fedayeen affiliation."
He now faces an Article 32 hearing
scheduled for November 10 in Kirkuk, which could result in his court-martial.
The 4th Infantry's divisional judge advocate initially offered West the option
to resign his commission and forfeit his retirement benefits (one week short of
his 20-year retirement eligibility) or face a general court-martial and a
sentence of eight years in prison. (Gee, thanks, Your Honor.)
Article
128 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice describes criminal assault in these
terms: "Any person subject to this chapter who attempts or offers with unlawful
force or violence to do bodily harm to another person, whether or not the
attempt or offer is consummated, is guilty of assault and shall be punished
as a
court-martial may direct." The Army's judge advocate interprets West's actions
to be in violation of this restriction. This may be correct, but in both
civilian and military courts, decisions are frequently made to decline
prosecution based on extenuating circumstances -- and this, clearly, should be
one of those cases.
In his only statement since the incident, Col. West
asks, "[The enemy detainee] and his accomplices were a threat to our soldiers
and the method was not right, but why should I lose 20 years of service or be
forced into prison for protecting my men?"
The
Federalist asks the same question and calls on fellow Patriots to
come to the aid of Col. West and all officers on the front line in our nation's
ongoing war against Islamic terrorism and its state sponsors. How can we
expect
our frontline officers to fight wars the Bush administration calls "preemptive"
if they are not given the latitude to respond --
preemptively -- to the asymmetric
threats of
terrorist aggressors? Would the deaths of American soldiers in the ambush Col.
West thwarted at Saba al Boor have constituted a more acceptable result for the
Army's judge advocate? While the military is successfully adapting its
capabilities to meet the challenges of asymmetric, anti-terrorist warfare, a
paradigm shift in how the military expects its officers to carry out such a war
seems to be in order.
In the last two days, almost 70,000 Patriots have
signed our petition to exonerate Col. West from this grossly misguided criminal
prosecution. Please join us. Link to --
http://PatriotPetitions.US/colwest(If
you don't have Web access, please send a blank e-mail to:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Each e-mail sent to this address will
be counted as one signature for the
petition.)
News from the
Swamp...As promised, President Bush signed legislation
banning partial birth abortions Wednesday, further pledging to continue his
efforts to enlarge the "culture of life" in this country. In response, the
ACLU
and others, in their ongoing quest to trample the rights of all Americans,
initiated lawsuits in U.S. district courts in Lincoln, Nebraska; San Francisco;
and the Southern District of New York. By Thursday, stays had been issued
in all
three cases. In Nebraska, Judge Richard Kopf granted one of the stays,
observing, "It seems to me the law is highly suspect, if not
a
per se violation of the constitution,"
adding that the congressional record of the legislative debate did not reflect
"an objective presentation of the facts," and that the law has a "serious
vagueness problem." Perhaps Mr. Kopf should bear witness to a partial-birth
abortion in order to clear up that "serious vagueness problem."
The stays mean the legislation will be tested on
Constitutional grounds, and Attorney General John Ashcroft has vowed to "devote
all resources necessary” to defend the law.
On the Hill, the Senate passed its version of
financial-privacy standards for the nation's citizens, overturning more
stringent protections on personal information enacted by states, such as a
recently passed California law that bars financial companies from information
sharing without explicit customer approval. The bill, approved 95-2, makes
permanent provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act that were set to
expire at
year's end, including a ban on states' writing greater legal protections on
financial privacy. But under any fair reading of constitutional federalism,
states must surely retain the power to restrict intrastate data transfers to
protect citizen privacy. After all, isn't information about a state resident
considered "resident" within that state, rather than a possession of a national
corporate entity?
From the "Department of
Military Readiness"... Plans are in the works for reducing
the overall U.S. force presence in Iraq by the spring -- and this will be
accomplished in part by deploying around 20,000 active duty Marines for
long-term tours on that battlefront in the war with Jihadistan. In addition,
about 43,000 Reserve and National Guard service-members have received notice of
a possible year-long tour in Iraq or Kuwait.
There are new
concerns for
tank crews in Iraq. Recently, an M1A1 Abrams on routine patrol in Baghdad had
an unknown yellow molten projectile penetrate its considerable armor, crippling
the 69-ton tank. The projectile entered through the vehicle's skirt and drilled
a quarter-inch hole through the hull into the crew compartment, where it lodged
in a hole 2 inches deep in the armor across from its entry point. Fortunately,
the heretofore unknown projectile, most likely fired from an RPG, caused only
minor injuries to the Abrams's four-man crew, members of the 2nd Battalion,
70th
Armor Regiment, 1st Armor Division. We suspect this new weapon projectile was
likely Russian or French.
Speaking of France, not only were they
supplying Iraq with weapons after the UN embargo (weapons used against U.S. and
allied forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom), but they continue to refuse any
substantive support for Iraq's reconstruction. Of course, according to the
U.S.
Treasury Department, the French still have an outstanding debt from their
liberation in WW II. (That's right, folks -- in addition to the priceless debt
eternally owed for the tens of thousands of American lives lost liberating
France, the Vichy government still owes an estimated $11.8 billion in principal
and accrued interest on WW II reconstruction debt.)
Judicial
Benchmarks...From the Supremes, the Constitution,
particularly the First and Tenth Amendments, suffered additional indignity
Monday as the High Court refused to hear Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy
Moore's second appeal over the removal of a Ten Commandments monument from the
rotunda of the state's judicial building. The federal district court ruled
that
the monument had to go on the grounds of the First Amendment's separation
clause; Moore responded, correctly, that such lower federal courts do not have
jurisdiction over a state judiciary on matters internal to the state. The high
court offered no comment on its refusal, leaving the erroneous
interpretation of
the Constitution's intended relationship between church and state intact.
Justice Moore, now suspended for his original defiance of the court order, goes
before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary on November 12 to answer charges of
ethical violations of office.
From the "Files of Justice Avoided," in a
Seattle court, Green River killer Gary Ridgway pleaded "guilty" 48 times
Wednesday, after cutting a deal sparing him from death row. In a courtroom
packed with weeping relatives of his victims, Ridgway declared, "I killed
the 48
women. In most cases, when I murdered these women I did not know their names.
Most of the time I killed them the first time I met them, and I did not have a
good memory for their faces. I killed so many women, I have a hard time keeping
them straight." Ridgway, it should be noted, will now spend the rest of his
natural life being fed, housed and entertained at
your expense. Unless, of course, a fellow
felon sees fit to “Dahmer” him.
From the "Court Jesters"
File, Colorado mother Cheryl Clark is appealing a child-custody decision in
which Denver County Circuit Judge John Coughlin barred her from teaching her
adopted daughter Emma that homosexuality is wrong. Ms. Clark, who recently
became a Christian, ended her lesbian relationship with Ms. Elsey McLeod.
Despite this, Judge Coughlin awarded McLeod, who had no legal relationship with
the child, joint custody and ordered Clark to "make sure that there is nothing
in the religious upbringing or teaching that the minor child is exposed to that
can be considered homophobic."
Regarding
the redistribution of your income... A few weeks ago,
The Federalist noted that the U.S. Treasury
is spending millions of dollars promoting the "new look" of its $20 bills.
"Why," we asked. But not to be outdone by Treasury, the Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services have contracted the services of a blimp to promote the
bankrupt Medicare system at sporting events -- for $600,000. Worse yet,
this is
merely part of a $30 million ad campaign. Again we ask,
"Why?"
From the "Regulatory Commissars"
File...Amid the California flames, two weeks ago the Russian
government offered the U.S. a pair of its Ilyushin-76 "Waterbombers" capable of
releasing more than 11,000 gallons of water in a single dump. In doing so, the
Russians asked only that the cost of fuel for the plane and food and
lodging for
the crew be reimbursed. But officials in the U.S. Forest Service have refused
the aircraft.
The formerly Golden State, now severely singed, has,
fortunately, had a reprieve from the fires, as gentle rains and cooler
temperatures are helping douse the flames. President Bush toured hard-hit
areas
of San Diego County on Tuesday, saying, "Now, I want to know whether or not the
help that is available is being expedited and made available." If the President
reads the preceding paragraph, he’ll have his answer.
The BIG lie...How was
the Cold War won, and who restored America's place as an economic and political
superpower at the end of the last century? If you don't already know the
answer, you certainly would not find out if CBS had followed through with plans
to air the hatchet piece miniseries "The Reagans." The facts notwithstanding,
the true legacy of Ronald Reagan as the greatest 20th-century leader of the
free
world would have once again been despicably sullied in this latest Leftmedia
adulteration of history.
SeeBS, however, pulled the plug on its
plan to
air the four-hour miniseries scheduled for 16-17 November, after corporate
president Les Moonves realized that fundamental human decency requires a
president to be deceased before his presidential record can be re-written. We
suspect, too, that the sponsor for this show slot, Hallmark, realized it needed
to pull support for the show if it wanted to stay in business. The revisionist
propaganda will thus air on Showtime, a cable service owned by Viacom, the
parent company of CBS. CBS is available in 100 million homes, while
Showtime is
seen in 28 million, prompting RNC chairman Ed Gillespie to complain,
"Misleading
a smaller audience of viewers is not a noble response to the legitimate
concerns
raised about this program."
The part of Ronald Reagan is "played" by
James Brolin, husband of Clintonista Barbra Streisand. Babs, predictably, is
furious about the cancellation: "The Republicans, who deify President Reagan,
cannot stand the fact that some of the more unpleasant truths about his
character and presidency might be depicted in the movie. ... This was an
organized Republican spin machine at work. I don't believe Democrats often, if
ever, try to muscle the First Amendment like this."
Memo to Babs: The Left
has "muscled the First Amendment" with such vigor as to read into it such
things
as "separation of church and state" and "pornography is free
speech."
On the
Left...Sen. John Rockefeller, senior Demo on the Senate
Intelligence Committee, gave the nation a clear indication of how the political
Left, ever betraying itself and our country, does business. This week, a
dastardly Demo Intelligence aide's memo made it into the public's eye -- a memo
that outlines a strategy for undermining the intelligence committee's 9/11
security and intelligence inquiry for political gain in the 2004 presidential
election. The memo suggests that minority members "pull the majority along as
far as we can," exploiting the bipartisanship of the committee chairman,
Republican Sen. Pat Roberts. And when that strategy has exhausted itself, the
minority should call for the formation of an independent commission in order to
"castigate" the work of majority Republicans. The memo calls for "pulling the
trigger" on the ploy "probably next year," to maximize embarrassment for
President Bush during the election season.
Sen. Zell Miller, fresh
from a
series of unbridled criticisms of his party in a new book, said of the
memo, "If
this is not treasonous, it's the first cousin of treason. This is one of those
committees that you should never, ever have anything politicized because you're
dealing with the lives of our soldiers and our citizens. Heads ought to
roll."
Beginning with Rockefeller's. Senate Republicans are threatening removal of
Democrats' power-sharing privileges if the wicked strategy is not promptly and
publicly disavowed.
To read the full text of the memo, link to --
http://Federalist.com/news/demo_memo.asp
From
the "Non Compos Mentis" Files...This week's "Braying
Jackass"
award: Howard Dean announced that he wants "to be the candidate for guys with
Confederate flags in their pickup trucks." Or does he? No sooner had he
attempted to reach for votes in the Deep South than he apologized, saying, "I
deeply regret the pain that I may have caused. [The Confederate flag] is a
painful symbol and reminder of racial injustice and slavery." He said he would
lead the nation in a "difficult and painful discussion" about race. By day's
end, in New Hampshire, he added that he also "apologized for any people in the
South who thought they were being stereotyped."
"I tend to be reflective
rather later than sooner," Dean added. "Now, unfortunately, we all know that
nobody's personality is perfect. So the things that make me a strong candidate
are also my Achilles heel." And this from the same man who only a couple of
weeks ago boasted, "I'm insufferably right. The motto of my campaign is: 'I
told you so'." Let's hope this is Howard's
End.
Around the
nation...From the states, a few Republican political
commentators are burbling on with glee about a possible "realignment" after
Ernie Fletcher won Kentucky's gubernatorial seat, and Haley Barbour took the
Mississippi governor's mansion. But not so fast, as we have a cautionary
question. "Realignment" has two senses -- the first is the (laudable) trend in
which voters realize their political interests are better represented by a
different party from the one that has their current allegiance; the other
has to
do with a political party "moving the lines" of its political
platforms. Is the
Republican Party actually persuading growing numbers of Southerners it reflects
their interests, or is it really moving its political perimeters Leftward to
capture votes? We suspect some combination of both accounts for this week's
electoral results.
In business/economic news, this week's reports
brought
good news from every corner. Construction spending for September climbed 1.3%
-- a full point above analysts' predictions, while estimates for August were
revised upward by 0.5%. Included in this number, private residential
construction spending jumped another 1.4% to $465 billion, the highest
figure on
record. October's manufacturing output, meanwhile, boasted the highest
level in
more than three and a half years, and spurred jumps in this week's markets,
sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 to new 17-month
highs.
Tracking with these economic gains, the unemployment number also improved --
dropping to six percent.
In faith matters, the Episcopal Church became
the first Christian denomination to elevate a homosexual to national stature,
consecrating Vicky Gene Robinson on Sunday as bishop of New Hampshire. Robinson
told those present for his consecration, including U.S. Presiding Bishop Frank
Griswold and 55 other bishops who surrounded him for the laying on of hands,
"You cannot imagine what an honor it is for you to have called me."
The
action immediately prompted half of the World Anglican Communion's 38
archbishops, representing 75 million communicants, to condemn the U.S. church.
As for how the world church now views the American church's heretical actions,
the Most Rev. Peter Akinola, who represents bishops in Asia, Africa and South
America, called their relationship with ECUSA an "impaired communion," noting
that "authorities within [ECUSA] consider that their cultural-based agenda
is of
far greater importance than obedience to the word of God. Such a church is
bound to become a shrine for the worship of men rather than God."
In
summary, Episcopal pundit Robert Henry notes, "The Episcopal Church is now
asking its members to embrace what the Catholic Church is paying its members to
forget."
For our new subscribers, you can read an updated essay
summarizing the decline of this great denomination at --
http://federalist.com/papers/03-32_paper.asp
Around
the world...Some updates from the other two arms of the
"Axis
of Evil": That nuclear reactor project – the one that would reward North
Korea for abandoning its nuclear weapons development? It’s off. The
agreement, negotiated by the Clinton administration, was honored by the
Pyongyang Reds for ... how long? A nanosecond, perhaps? This week, Team Bush
players convinced allies to put the multibillion dollar energy program on
hold.
Elsewhere on the Axis, the Iranian mullahs are not eager to grant
International Atomic Energy Agency investigators unfettered access to poke
around and verify the purported peaceful uses of Iran's nuclear plants. And
U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham addressed the UN Wednesday, remarking
that
the North Korean regime abused the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty by
redirecting technical assistance "as a cover to build up a nuclear weapons
capability" -- and warning that other nations could go and do likewise. Hmm,
guess who he’s talking about!
And
last...Poor John "Big Ketchup" Kerry. He has built his
campaign on opposition to the war in Iraq, though he voted to authorize it, and
he just can't twist logic enough to escape the hypocrisy. The
bouffant-coiffured Kerry casts himself as an expert on war, never leaving a
microphone without mentioning he spent some time hunting in Vietnam. That
mantra
came back to bite him this week when he noted, "I've been a hunter all my life.
But I make a point of eating what I kill." (Thanks to the
Wall Street Journal's James Taranto for
that
quote!)
Lex et Libertas -- Semper Vigilo, Paratus, et Fidelis! Mark
Alexander, Publisher, for the editors and staff. (Please pray on this day, and
every day, for our Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm's way around the world
in defense of our liberty, and for the families awaiting their safe
return.)
-- PUBLIUS --
