Author: VD

From the Washington Times: Two of Fox News Channel’s most ubiquitous military analysts, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas G. McInerney and retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul E. Vallely, are out with a new book on how to win the global war against al Qaeda and other terror groups. In “Endgame: The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror,” the two Vietnam combat veterans call for ratcheting up the global conflict by taking on Iran, North Korea and Syria — now.

It has to be Saudi Arabia, not North Korea, and the enemy needs to be identified specifically in order to rally the nation, but I note that I am not alone in failing to be terribly sanguine about the current conduct of the war on method. And for those Bush defenders who argue that this has really been the secret plan all along, well, any commander-in-chief whose strategy is escalation by inevitability should be removed for incompetence. Not to mention violating the Constitution, the oath of office and the right of the American people to decide if and when they will go to war, and with whom. I don’t believe George Bush lied the nation into Iraq – the many violations of the 1991 peace treaty were sufficient justification to invade and unseat Hussein long before Bush was even elected – but at this point it remains possible that he is lying the nation into a far more serious conflict.

The problem that libertarians and conservatives have in looking at this conflict is that both tend to look at Iran, Iraq and the other Arab nations as being distinct countries equivalent to the USA, UK and France. They aren’t, they are more properly viewed like Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas in the loosely federated Islamic nation. On the libertarian side, for all that war is the health of the state – and the present administration is certainly attempting to use its war-on-method to ratchet up central federal power – war has been declared on the USA by the Dar-al-Islam for the last 20+ years. That is the well-established fact, and it must be recognized that the war does not persist because of the noxious global American troop presence, but because the Dar-al-Islam seeks global sharia. A global American troop presence did not cause Northern Africa, Egypt, Spain, Hungary, Romania, Southern Italy and parts of Austria to be overrun 1200 years ago and it is not causing the global jihad now. As was the case in 1940, the real war lies below the Phony one.

Conservatives, on the other hand, must recognize that the Bush administration is as power-hungry as its predecessor, and if it is to be trusted to fight this war, it must significantly change its ways. One reason that the present administration pretends to be so focused on terror – even as it protects Arafat and warns Israel about killing terrorist leaders – is that it can eliminate the rights and liberties of its citizens, whereas these things aren’t necessary in fighting a proper, Constitutional war against the jihad. It is wrong, both historically and morally, to give the administration a pass simply because there is a war to be fought. FDR and LBJ are anathema to conservatives for the many evils they committed during WWII and Vietnam, no more should George Bush or any Republican be excused for similar unconstitutional excesses under the aegis of war-fighting.

The lessons of history are clear. If a free people do not go willingly and knowingly into battle, they will lose. Attempts to manipulate them are not only wrong, they are likely to lead to failure.

Hello Cthulhu, that is. This is easily the best Internet comic. It was gone for about a year, but it’s finally back. Oh frabjous day! The new Spring Break one is hilarious.

From the AP: An Israeli missile strike killed Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi as he rode in his car Saturday evening, hospital officials said. Rantisi’s son Mohammed and a bodyguard were also killed in the attack. The militant Hamas leader was one of Israel’s top targets after it assassinated Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin in an airstrike last month.

The Brits are saying that this was a counter-productive action. Meanwhile, Debka reports that Hamas is afraid to tell anyone who its next leader will be. The number of suicide bombers are down. But I guess you could say it’s counter-productive if you’re a fan of the terrorists.

…when they tell you that the UN is a mechanism for world peace: Three UN police officers — two Americans and a Jordanian — were killed in northern Kosovo and 11 others were injured after a quarrel between UN officers led to an exchange of gunfire, UN and hospital sources said. UN police spokesman Neeraj Singh said the UN officers were all stationed at a prison in the town of Kosovska Mitrovica. Sources close to the UN mission said the incident was the result of a dispute between Middle Eastern and United States officers serving in the same international police force.

I’ll be hanging out with the Fraters Libertas and company on Northern Alliance Radio at 2 PM central. It’s on the Patriot, 1280 AM, in the Twin Cities. St. Paul says we’ll probably take some calls; the number is 651-688-3131. However, do try to lay off the inside jokes since neither they nor the audience will have any idea of what you’re talking about even if I do.

By the way, they were kind enough to blogroll me as well. I do appreciate it. I have to say, this is the most I’ve looked forward to doing a radio show since the time in Toronto when the host was openly inviting feminists to call in after I wrote “Spiting Their Pretty Faces”. It felt just like playing Doom. “Say hello to my little friend!”

Robert Novak explains how it works: Following her impressive performance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” April 4, Bush adviser Karen Hughes’s friends and supporters in both Washington and Texas started quietly boosting her for governor of Texas in 2006. Gov. Rick Perry, who succeeded to the governorship in 2000 when Gov. George W. Bush became president, has indicated he will seek another term. But Perry has many enemies, and the word in Texas political circles is that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison could challenge him for the Republican nomination. Conservative activists do not consider Hughes one of them and are not talking about her for governor. However, Republican insiders who are not fond of either Perry or Hutchison are starting to promote Hughes, a former television journalist who never has run for public office.

So, even if the party has someone in office, or an experienced conservative (ADA rating 0, ACU rating 88) interested in pursuing it – Perry has been hounded by incessant rumors that he’s gay, that is the elephant around which Novak is dancing – the wishes of the GOPolitburo must take precedence. If a conservative senator can be passed over in favor of a rookie courtier, what does that tell you about your chances, as a complete outsider, of effecting any change at all?

Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and confirmed maverick in general, isn’t afraid to speak out about the Wrinkled Whores. I bet they’d like to figure out a way to fine him. Maybe they can take some hints from David Stern.

Savvy investors? I was shocked. Of the 63 companies and 400-plus participants we visited, I would be exaggerating if I said we got 10 good questions about our business and how it worked. The vast majority of people in the meetings had no clue who we were or what we did. They just knew that there were a lot of people talking about the company and they should be there. The lack of knowledge at the meetings got to be such a joke between Todd and I that we used to purposely mess up to see if anyone noticed. Or we would have pet lines that we would make up to crack each other up. Did we ruin our chance for the IPO? Was our product so complicated that no one got it and as a result no one bought the stock? Hell no. They might not have had a clue, but that didn’t stop them from buying the stock. We batted 1.000. Every single investor we talked to placed the maximum order allowable for the stock….

Price-earnings ratios, price-sales, the present value of future cash flows, pick one. Fundamentals are merely metrics created to help stockbrokers sell stocks, and to give buyers reassurance when buying stocks. Even how profits are calculated is manipulated to give confidence to buyers.

Strange Semantics writes on his blog: There’s also an air of Fascist-like propaganda that wafts through the current right-wing zeitgeist. Notice Bush’s constant assertions that you are either for or against him, and Carl Rove’s acknowledgement that he can spin (read propagandize) anything his opponents might say so that it harms them, rather than his team. There’s the misuse of pre-war Iraqi intelligence, and the spinning of the post-war reality in Iraq, to say nothing of the constant reference to a connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda, which we know never existed in any meaningful sense. So, the commission, because it dissents from the President’s message, which is simply “I am infallible; follow me,” is decried as partisan (it’s a bipartisan commission!) at best, and a complete complete joke at worst.

This is fascinating. It came to my attention through Technorati, which lets you see who is linking to you, as the “complete joke” was a link to my recent post. But, as is his wont, Strange cocks it up entirely since the notion that I am dismissive of the 9/11 commission because it is insufficiently pro-Bush is utterly nonsensical to anyone who is a regular reader of this blog.

First, one of the commission’s members is hopelessly conflicted, given that she was directly involved in the events leading up to 9/11. Second, they aren’t asking any of the significant questions about 9/11. Where is the wreckage of the plane that supposedly hit the Pentagon? Oh, right, it liquified after making a hole far too small for a Boeing, and yet there’s plenty of items from the two planes that hit the Twin Towers. Why did the FAA fail to respond to the hijackings for 45 minutes? Is it true that some of the supposed hijackers are alive and giving interviews in European newspapers, and how were they identified so quickly given that none of their names appear on the passenger manifests? Why was gravel and dirt dumped over the pristine lawn that went right up to the Pentagon while the firefighters were still putting out the fire? How is it that the same names keep cropping up in the TWA 800, OK City and 9/11 investigations?

Those are the questions I’m interested in hearing the Commission ask. But they won’t. And that’s why the Commission is a joke. As usual, the partisan uproar is merely noise to keep everyone, in both parties, looking in one direction. Bush and Kerry are identical, again, in this regard.

And, for the x-millionth time, the fascists are left-wing. They always were left-wing big government lovers, they always will be left-wing big government lovers, and the Bush administration has at times looked increasingly fascistic AS IT MOVES TO THE LEFT and disregards individual rights in favor of increasing central government power. In any case, Jonah Goldberg’s forthcoming book should be the final word necessary on the subject.

Watching Arsenal this season reminds me of the 1998 Vikings. Every time they break forward with the ball, the crowd hushes just like when Randy Moss would go deep and Randall Cunningham put the ball in the air. They play the prettiest passing game in the world, they attack mercilessly and without hesitation, and they are totally unselfish. In the process of destroying dirty Leeds today, they had four lightning-quick one-touch passes leading up to a one-time strike and goal by Pires. It’s like watching a finely tuned machine transform itself into a work of art.

Their utter confidence is brilliant too. After a hand ball led to a penalty, Henry chipped a soft lob directly at where the goalie had been standing a moment earlier. But the goalie had already dived to the side and had to lie there watching the ball float over him. That’s total self-assurance. 24-0-9 after today… the Premiership should be in the bag, but here’s hoping they can finish the season undefeated.

Okay, I’m actually thinking about the band. I happened to pop Cosmic Thing into the CD for the first time in about ten years and realized that I’d completely forgotten what a good CD it is. Junebug is just impressively strange: “Let’s get in the mud! Go! Go! Go Junebug!” I’m not much of a concert guy, but they’re one of the few bands I regret not ever seeing live. Freaks.

But as to the other sort of B-52 I had to laugh when I was reading about how some US troops were saying that it’s just a few bad apples causing most of the trouble over in Iraq. This is surely true, but as PJ O’Rourke pointed out years ago in All the Trouble in the World after a trip to Northern Ireland, that’s what the occupying soldiers always say. And while it may be true, that doesn’t mean that you’re not going to be there for 30 years dealing with the trouble caused by those comparatively few troublemakers.

I also thought it was interesting that the fatality rates seem to be generally running around 10-1. That’s precisely where the Israeli-Palestinian rate was until the suicide bombing campaign dropped it down to 3-1 for a while. This might explain why no one is in a hurry to take away America’s guns. Even allowing for the many advantages of a professional army, there’s simply too many guns in the hands of too many people for anyone to even think about it, unless you managed to import the troops from China. Then again, on second thought, that’s assuming a desire to avoid civilian casualties.

I don’t actually have a coherent point here, I’m just thinking out loud.