When I first heard that phrase I wrote it off as merely an unusually silly bit of verbiage from a man who was justifiably angered by the attack on the World Trade Center. Wrong, Michael! These leaders of ours may be silly, but our George was right on target. He has indeed begun an attack on freedom unparalleled since Lincoln's mercenaries drove old Dixie down.
Let's take the pulse of this war, and determine just what is really happening and to whom.
First off – who are the targets, who are the enemy? Have to have an enemy to fight a war, right? Our troops have sent the Taliban back to the bushes in an attack that predictably bogged down once those folks got a taste of First World firepower and went back to their guerilla roots. Having scattered the Taliban, a disagreeable bunch who happen to have NOT destroyed the World Trade Center, it's on to the war against that guy, what's his name, and "sixty thousand" Al Queda "fighters." A sin really, to have to use so many words in quotes but then in honesty we have simply no idea how many of those dolts are running around nor are those bozos anything remotely near what I'd call "fighters."
Our troops are now arriving in all sorts of arcane little countries but managing to stay far away from places where what's his name might be. I call him that since the "War Leader" has declared that the former Osama Bin Laden no longer matters. But wait – if he is the guy who took down the towers, how can it be that he no longer matters in a war on terror? We are not supposed to think about that, in the Brave New World of Tom Ridge and Donald Rumsfield. We fight because, well, because!
Our leadership has no coherent foreign policy that I can discern unless we are simply playing "good cop, bad cop" with the whole world. We may or may not attack Iraq, a country that had nothing to do with the Towers coming down. We may or may not support Israel, a country with a military force which ranks about fourth in the world and needs our help like a hole in the head. We have not said so much as an unkind word to our wonderful Saudi allies – even though most of the terrorists appear to have been Saudis and what's his name hails from that neck of the woods.
So where is this fabled "attack on freedom itself" unfolding? Why that at least is an easy question to answer. It's happening right here in the US of A and the "enemy" consists of those pesky American citizens like you and me. If you happen to live in the South you've had a taste of it long before the Trade Towers were hit. But if not, Uncle is playing catch-up at the airports so all you have to do is park your dignity at the door and get in line.
Unless of course, you are of Middle Eastern extraction… No body will pick on you at the airport – after all, it was Granny who blasted those Towers, right? No, get serious folks – you know who the enemy is: it's those rascally white European males that go around looking for minorities to pick on – who else could have committed such a dastardly act?
For anyone still naïve enough to believe this is a real war, simply consider what is going on. Airline pilots were disarmed just before the attack – that disarmament of the pilots confirmed last week by that pathetic government flunky Mark Steyn calls "non performin' Norman," Norm Minetta. Were this a real war, the pilots would be armed and Minetta would be in jail for treason – it's just that simple.
The various states including occupied Georgia, have "given" the governors power to set up police roadblocks and confiscate guns from natural born citizens. Could someone please tell me of a "war" were disarming friendlies occurred? The Japanese, Germans and Soviets all rejected a land invasion of the USA because we are so well armed. Are we making sense yet? Will we ever?
Mass inoculations are planned to protect us from the biological threat that was traced back to whom? Why, our own government labs, where else? Funny how the investigation stalled at that point. But the mass inoculation plan did NOT stall so roll up your sleeves folks.
Since we are at war, one might assume the borders of the nation are well protected. One who assumes that is awfully darn silly. Yes, Mexican troops have violated our borders pretty routinely of late, but then, someone has to protect the drug runners or the War on Drugs will get off track. Hold please, I have to reboot again. My word processor only handles so many contradictory statements and then overheats! The War on Drugs is about as meaningful as the war on terror – both are being "fought" for the same reason: to finish up the job of flushing our Constitutional Republic down the hopper.
In that respect, you might conclude that we are successfully fighting two wars simultaneously. Or, on the other hand, you might conclude that as a nation, we have gone stark raving bonkers.
Will we be attacked again by terrorists? Surprisingly, after all the unconstitutional laws that have been passed to "protect" us of late, the consensus among our leaders is that we have no way to stop such an attack. What they fail to mention is that our terrorist enemies are incompetent at a level that Americans are only familiar with when government is involved so that question remains an open one.
Since our borders remain open as well, even the most pathetically incompetent terrorist will ultimately get the chance to blow up something. Be of good cheer – the government officials are now well protected so it will only be us nobodies that get hurt.
Meanwhile, back at the holocaust, our "ally" Pakistan is preparing to fight our "ally" India in a war that is almost certain to go nuclear and lest anyone fail to notice just how dangerous this is, our friend / enemy the Chinese are sitting right next to them. How come no shuttle diplomacy guys? Or is a pending nuclear exchange not important enough to justify it? Unlike say, a "real" problem like Israeli troops in a three story "refugee camp"? Pakistan is a major player on both sides of the War on Terror so I can only assume our leaders truly aren't sure how to play this so they merely stand back and hope for the best. Has Tom Ridge come up with a color-coded security alert for incoming radiation? Probably not, but give him six months.
Meanwhile, Osama bin what's his name watches all this on TV and perhaps we'll get him at last – he may well die laughing!
May 25, 2002
