Have the highest-ranking officials of the U.S. government been kidnapped or brainwashed?
Over the past weeks or so, it seems as though all caution, in terms of operational
security and planning, has been tossed to the wind.
Before the U.S. launched this great “War on Terrorism," no one – not George W. Bush, Dick
Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and certainly not that battlefield-proven retired U.S. Army
general, Colin Powell, would say when, where, or with whom the next state of the battle
would be fought. Now that the United States’ role in the cave-to-cave searches in eastern
Afghanistan is drawing to a close, and confidence levels are high, could the U.S. be
feeling a little too cocky? You know the cockiness I’m talking about, don’t you? It’s like
a schoolyard bully: let him push around a few of the toughest or roughest or meanest, and
he gets a big head, thinking he can do the same to everyone else. Sure, Afghanistan isn’t
a world power now, nor was it on September 11, 2001. Afghanistan also wasn’t a matched foe
in any battle against the U.S., but it was home to the Taliban, the notorious
al-Qaida fights, and the safe house or safe-cave for Usama bin Laden. For those reasons, the U.S.
justified flexing its military muscle against the rogue nation. Before the U.S. began the
initial bombing raids, and even since, no one in any branch of the U.S. government or
military offered any specifics of the battle plan, except to say that Afghanistan needed
to surrender bin Laden.
Now, however, after what is beginning to appear like military success in Afghanistan, is
the U.S. getting cocky with its approach to battling terrorism, or what it is calling
terrorism, in other parts of the world? It seems as though most everyone has the words
"invade" and "Iraq" on their lips. If that's the goal, why isn't it being kept secret?
The U.S. has a terrific history for fighting wars and winning. It has a poor track record,
however, when it comes to conflicts. The Korean conflict ended in a draw, but still isn’t
over – just ask anyone who’s ever been to the Korean DMZ if things are settled. The
Vietnam debacle saw the U.S. leave a country with the original intent undone: winning the
hearts and minds, and bringing a country to some form of democracy. Then there was that
fiasco in the Iranian desert. Remember that? That was a true horror story for America,
which was followed-up by the attack in Beirut. Then came the shining day for the nation’s
military: Grenada. Ah, how sweet victory can taste at times. Remember the glory? The
American flags being waved by the Grenadines, cheering the U.S. troops. The U.S. set out
to kick Russian and Cuban butt, and did.
Glory wasn’t long lived, however. The Panama invasion came about, shaming the nation once
again, followed by the war that never was over in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Remember, there was this guy, Saddam Insane, who was causing some trouble. It seems
America fought the war from the air, and before the war had a chance to get started, the
enemy was surrendering. All the glory from Operation Desert Storm was followed up by the
horrible jaunt into Mogadishu.
The U.S. has gotten a few black eyes since then, and after September 11, the world sat
back, watching to see what the United States’ responses would be in such a crisis. Would
the U.S. strike back as callously as it was hit during the terrorist attacks, or would it
deliver a measured response? Well, the answer seems fairly clear right now, with the
battles in Afghanistan being wrapped up.
Sure, the terrorists are not all rounded up and routed out, as Bush would like, but hey,
guess what? You’re never going to nab them all, and that’s the problem with terrorists.
They are an unseen enemy. Isn’t that the lesson the U.S. has been learning, often the hard
way for a long time? No, it isn’t anything new. Terrorism is the new term for an old game.
Call it terrorism, freedom fighters (remember, there was these people in Afghanistan
fighting off the big, bad Russians back in the late 70s and early 80s – they were freedom
fighters), colonists, guerrillas, and other terms. Anytime military-style tactics are used
to meet a challenge, it’s either a military action or an act of aggression. Interesting
point, huh? Military actions are aggressive, though, aren’t they? Ponder that.
If you look back into history, you will see that the great battles and wars were not
generally discussed ahead of time. Now, it seems, however, that the “Axis of Evil" has
been named, and Bush has strong words against Saddam Insane. In fact, on March 14, Reuters
reported that Bush said Saddam is still a pain in the butt (my wording, not Dubya’s) and
that the U.S. is “going to deal with him." The wire service further noted Bush saying that
he was “deeply concerned about Iraq. This is a nation run by a man who is willing to kill
his own people ... a man who won’t let inspectors into the country. He is a problem and
we’re going to deal with him."
UN inspectors have claimed that Saddam still has the capability to build, at the very
least, biological weapons, and perhaps more. Is that a threat? Absolutely. But if this is
a war on terrorism, shouldn’t the U.S. be more concerned with other nations harboring
terrorists, as Bush told Congress, America, and the world, back in mid-September 2001?
If we're going to invade Iraq, why are we discussing it so freely? I mean, let’s get real,
people. If I were planning to kill someone, unless I really wanted to get caught, would I
tell the person of my plans? Of course not! Now, if you were the most powerful figure in
the Free World, garnering all the military weaponry available to the leader of the Free
World, would you be telling your next victim you are planning an attack? Come on! Think
about this. It makes no sense, unless you’re a little to cocky, of course.
If people are going to discuss future invasion sites, let’s do it here, as well. It seems
Iran is much more a target than Iraq. Iran has allowed al-Qaida and Taliban members to
move through the country, on their way to other locations. Iran has had its fingers
dipping in all sorts of dirty bowls over the past several months. Iran, as a matter of
fact, has been pooling its resources with some of its allies, and even a few rival
nations, to begin development of intermediate- and long-range missiles, its been reported
over the past two weeks. Agencies here in the U.S. have even gone so far as to say that
Iran is believed to be joining forces with such countries as Libya, North Korea, Pakistan,
and Syria to circumvent sanctions by the West on missile technology and components. In
fact, those agencies have also said that cooperation between Pakistan and Iran is a major
departure from prior intelligence assessments that the two Muslim nations, rivals, if you
will, would never cooperate on strategic weapons programs, and is believed to be a
concerted effort, on the part of Iran, to circumvent Russia, which is believed to have
decreased the supply of missile technology and components over the past year. Moscow
continues to help Iran with its Shihab-3 program, but appears to have backed away from
helping Iran develop the longer-range missile, the Shihab-4.
In other developments, the U.S. is worried that bin Laden may have told his dedicated
suicidal terrorists to re-establish a base in Sudan. The U.S., according to many reports,
is one of several countries being monitored for extra activity since the destruction of
bin Laden’s camps and caves in Afghanistan. According to those same reports, hundreds of
al-Qaida combatants have fled Afghanistan, headed west through Iran, trying to get to
other locations, such as Lebanon and Syria.
Over on the alt.2600.programz newsgroup, I found a thread, “Re: Eliminate Islam Now," with
PabloNet and Viper arguing about the proper way to deal with Afghanistan, and Muslims, as
well as Islam. Maybe they, and others, will find a solution to the world’s problems, but I
doubt it.
It’s going to be interesting over the next few weeks to see just how all the tough talk is
going to pan out in world of military action and battles. U.S. troops have been spotted
talking with Kurdish leaders in Iraq’s northern region.
"Who Brainwashed the Leaders?"
