"The Russians did not pour troops into the defense of Stalingrad; they only sent what was absolutely necessary to prevent its total collapse. That way they ensured that the German forces would stay committed to a lost cause. ... That said, let's see where the Bush Administration has led us in the War on Terror [WOT] . ... I shall start in Iraq. Thus, according to Bush, Iraq had become the central battleground in the [WOT]. ... Regrettably, it simply does not seem to have occurred to Bush that perhaps that is exactly what bin Laden wanted us to think. As long as he could tie American forces down in Iraq, and lots of them, he would be free to regroup and retrain in Pakistan, and make progress in regaining territory in Afghanistan. ... So, the summation of the [WOT] to date is that we have become 'determined to win' a battle that really has no strategic value, while the Islamic forces have regrouped and retrained in what the DNI calls their 'de facto safe haven' in Pakistan and Afghanistan. ... We have now fallen for what I expect may well go down as one of the greatest military and foreign policy blunders the [US] has ever made. In the midst of this [WOT] we have somehow managed to provoke a confrontation that could spell the end of Western Civilization as we know it. And I have no doubt that we have provoked that confrontation on the urging and advice of our Islamic 'friends'. Nothing could serve the Islamic cause more effectively than a military confrontation between the West and Russia. ... So how on earth have we managed to provoke Russia into openly threatening armed conflict with the West? But the question should be put the other way round: why on earth is the West prepared to see what will be the certain destruction and incineration of most of its people and territory to appease a bunch of Islamic terrorists and criminals in Kosovo? ... The answer ... I expect lies in 'advice' Bush receives from the likes of Prince Bandar and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. ... The images of Bandar lecturing Bush in the Oval Office after 9/11, and King Abdullah boasting about having given Bush a 'history lesson' at the ranch in Crawford, turn my stomach", emphasis mine, Joseph McMillan (JM) at http://www.intellectualconservative.com/, 3 March 2008.
"Regarding your editorial 'The Birth of Kosovo' (Feb.19): In 2025 or 2030 or whenever, Latinos will constitute the majority of the population in California, Texas, New Mexico and whatever other state. At that time, reflecting the democratic will of the majority, leaders of the Latino community will appeal to the United Nations and demand that the world body recognize California, Texas, New Mexico and whatever other state as an independent countries. ... You say it's an implausible and ridiculous scenario? Think Kosovo", Peter Bartha (PB) letter to the WSJ, 3 March 2008.
Right on JM! I have long wondered if Jimmy Carter's pushing out the Shah of Iran, which gave Iran to Khomeni, was the US greatest post WWII foreign policy blunder. Now I conclude the Clinton-Bush Balkans policy is worse. Special note to the Mearsheimer-Walt crew who worry about the Israeli lobby: why not worry about the country that has controlled US Mid East policy since 1932, Saudi Arabia? Or are you, like many academics, on the Saudi payroll? See also my 22 and 28 February 2008 posts.
Right on PB! See my 28 February post.
2 comments:
Hello i.a.,
OBL is a boogeyman, the WOT is a boogeyman too. The Neo-Libs are after the oil. They don't care about national security, as witnessed by their immigration policy.
Buzz Saw:
I agree with you in part. I agree, OBL is irrelevent. If we had killed say, Heinz Guderian at the outset of WWII, would Germany have surrendered? No. The search for OBL is a distraction from fighting a real war. As for being "after the oil", if it were only true. Spending $600 billion on Iraq to let the Iraqis pump their own oil makes no sense to me. I agree, Bush doesn't care about national security. If he did why would he admit 500,000 illegal aliens a year to the US as well as about 100,000 people with visas from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, etc.?
The GWOT is a scam. My take: it's a diversion to protect Saudi Arabia, one of the world's two principal sponsors of terrorism.
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