by
Tom Molloy
A Red Herring Beginning to Smell like Rotten Fish
The attack on 9/11 was a wake up call, but we are still asleep. Instead of punishing the terrorists and their supporters, we are punishing ourselves.
Our President declared war on terrorism and then initiated actions that were more detrimental to the United States than to the enemy. It’s as if we are puppets and the terrorists are pulling the strings.
This so-called war on terrorism is a red herring. It will lead to our defeat, not to victory over the terrorists.
Let’s review the record. In response to 9/11, we occupied Afghanistan and we created a massive homeland security apparatus. We declared victory in Afghanistan, a country in which we may be bogged down for the next century. Our claims of victory are belied by mounting casualties and calls for more troops and more money. As for homeland security, we have spent billions of dollars and have learned that, no matter how much money we spend, we are still vulnerable. We haven’t even scratched the surface of our vulnerability.
Then there is the invasion of Iraq, a fiasco of colossal magnitude, costing around half a trillion dollars. I really don’t understand why we invaded Iraq. Whatever the rationale, the war in Iraq is an enormous financial burden. Moreover, this war is not making us more secure; on the contrary, Iraq has become a breeding ground for terrorists.
The common thread among our actions in response to terrorism is that each one costs a lot of money—money we don’t have. We are spending money as if it were confetti and, if we don’t stop hemorrhaging money; the value of the dollar will approximate that of confetti.
So after spending enormous amounts of money, what have we accomplished? Are there fewer terrorists? No, there are more. Are we in less danger of being attacked by terrorists? No, many experts think that we are in greater danger of a terrorist attack than we were before we declared war on terrorism. Moreover, anti-Americanism is rife in every corner of the world.
We have little or nothing to show for the massive amounts of money we have spent. According to some economists, we are on the road to insolvency and according to others we have already arrived.
There isn’t enough money in the world to protect us against terrorism. I have no doubt that Al-Qaeda is jubilant that we are spending so much for little. Terrorism will not be defeated by our money, but by resolute, decisive, draconian action.
The day we spent the first extra dollar on homeland security after 9/11 was the day that we started to lose the war. The very fact that we are diverting billions of dollars from important needs to establish an enormous security apparatus is a major victory for the terrorists. Education, health care, and defense are being short –changed while we flush money down the toilet.
Uncle Sam has become Uncle Sap. Is there some moral imperative that says we have to permit ourselves to be abused by these cheeky bastards? Or, are we moral cowards because we won’t face up to what we have to do to rid ourselves of this scourge called terrorism?
Up to this point, Hollywood has not been writing the script for the war on terror; Riyadh, Damascus, and Tehran have. Our declaration of war was an acceptance of an invitation to play by their rules. We don’t need “no stinking war”. It’s time for us to rewrite the script.
The new script should read like this:
The United States of America wishes to make the following announcement.
The war on terrorism is over. We have won.
We simply will not tolerate any more terrorist attacks. We will bomb the snot out of any country that supports terrorism.
In the event of another terrorist attack, we will annihilate entire cities in the country that supported the attack. (We will not employ nuclear weapons. There are some marvelous new weapons in our inventory that you really don’t wan to meet)
In the event that we do not know which country funded the act of terrorism, we will bring devastation to all those countries that are suspect. Our reaction will be swift and sure. There will be no warnings or negotiations. There will be only devastation on a scale that the world has never witnessed.
Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria are now funding terrorists and insurgents in Iraq. They will desist immediately or they will cease to exist. If their governments do not comply with our wishes, citizens of these countries should evacuate the cities or they will die.
Forget threats and talk of oil embargos. We simply will not put up with you or your crap anymore.
We regard citizens of countries that support terrorism as enemy combatants.
We now urge countries that trained terrorists to eliminate them before they become the cause of your destruction.
Have a nice day!
Friday, December 22, 2006
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Iran Back in its Box
By
Tom Molloy
Iran has been a pain in the ass since the 1970’s and is now in the process of becoming lethal. I have been reading so-called experts’ comments about Iran’s development of nuclear weapons. There seems to be a consensus among the experts that there is no viable military option to thwart Iran’s entrance into the nuclear club. Although most experts recommend diplomacy and, if necessary, sanctions. I get the impression that few, if any, believe that diplomacy or sanctions will be effective.
Our sanctimonious European allies, taking the word "peace” in vain, have forged lucrative business connections with Iran. They accuse us of being warmongers. Could it be that these paragons of rectitude are just greedy, short–sighted profiteers? At any rate, we can’t count on many of our European allies to support any aggressive policy toward Iran. With respect to the Russians and Chinese, they have profitable commercial ties with Iran and are not all interested in severing these ties. It is obvious that the UN Security Council is not gong to take any action strong enough to deter the Iranians from developing nuclear technology
Although I am not an expert on Iran, I spent about a year and a half there before and during the revolution that brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power. I was impressed by the determination and resolve of those who overthrew the Shah. I also came away with the impression that Khomeini and his disciples were nuts.
The issue is not just what Iran intends to do, but what it is doing. Iran is providing total support to the Shiites in Iraq. That is to say, it’s complicit in killing American soldiers. The Bush administration seemingly chooses to ignore this problem.
In my opinion, the time for action has come. I disagree with the experts about the possibility of a viable military solution. In fact, I think there is an obvious military option that will put Iran back in its box. Just who am I to disagree with experts? I am someone who thinks that, if we listen to the experts in this instance, we are going to lose the war on terrorism. I think it’s important to stop the Iranians now. These guys are resolute, defiant and demented. They are supporting all forms of terrorism and sooner or later they are going to fund a devastating terrorist attack on the United States.
Given the resources, think how easy it would be to shoot down a dozen planes in one day with shoulder fired missiles or to plant ten nuclear suitcase bombs in the downtown of 10 major cities. The guys running Iran hate us and they have the money to express this hatred in unspeakable ways. Now they are developing nuclear weaponry and our response is to engage in illusory diplomacy. No one believes that diplomacy per se will effect the desired changes in Iran’s behavior. These lunatics are going to going to bring about a terrorist act that is going t make 9/11 a footnote in the history books. Unless Iran knows that failure to change its behavior will result in awesomely severe consequences, diplomacy is a fool’s errand.
One of President Bush’s often stated bromides for continuing the Iraq campaign is: “We are fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them here.” This is one of the cardinal tenets of the administration’s disinformation campaign. The implication is that the bad guys can’t spare 20, 50, or 100 guys to come over here and cause trouble. This, of course, is nonsense. I would accuse Bush of demagoguery, except that I really think he is dumb enough to believe what he is saying. We are not going to get a solution to the Iranian problem from an administration that thinks we are winning in Iraq.
The Iranians have turned the tables on us. The United States, the greatest power on earth, is desperate for crumbs from the negotiating table while the Iranians feast on our impotence. There is something very wrong with this picture.
What is the solution to the Iranian problem? How about overwhelming, devastating brute force? Let me suggest one option for the use of military force that would work.
Give the Iranians a list of instructions (note: instructions, not requests) and tell them that if they fail to comply with these instructions, we are gong to destroy a city (name the city) on a given date. Suggest that they evacuate the city. Tell them that, after this demonstration of power (no nuclear bombs, thank you), we are going to give them a week to comply. Lack of compliance will result in the loss of anther city each week. The catch is that we will not announce in advance which city will be the “City of the Week.” It will just be “Now you see it; now you don’t”. Inform the Iranians that any act of reprisal on their part will result in annihilation of their country. Iran will either comply with our instructions or there will be no more Iran. There will just be millions of people inhabiting piles of rubble. We might rename the country “Rubblestan”.
Can you imagine the entire Iranian urban population abandoning the cities? Total chaos. The Iranian government will cease to exist. The last thing on their minds will be developing nuclear weapons. If they want to be martyrs, let us help them on their way. They had better put in an order to paradise for a lot of virgins.
Now I ask the experts, “Is this a military option that will work? Damn right it will.
And just what will the rest of the world say? Most nations, including our Western and Asian allies, will hem and haw. You see, according to their rules, we must wait for Iran to take out a dozen of our cities with suitcase nuclear weapons before we react. Nevertheless, after the initial shock, I think these nations will feel a sense of relief that the Untied States assumed a leadership position. They will also feel a sense of relief that the United States has begun to enforce the “Pax Americana.”
In short, we have to make terrorism clearly inimical to Iran’s interests. As long as they think terrorism is in their interests, they will continue to support it. For the sake of my grandkids, the time has come to beat the snot out of these guys.
By
Tom Molloy
Iran has been a pain in the ass since the 1970’s and is now in the process of becoming lethal. I have been reading so-called experts’ comments about Iran’s development of nuclear weapons. There seems to be a consensus among the experts that there is no viable military option to thwart Iran’s entrance into the nuclear club. Although most experts recommend diplomacy and, if necessary, sanctions. I get the impression that few, if any, believe that diplomacy or sanctions will be effective.
Our sanctimonious European allies, taking the word "peace” in vain, have forged lucrative business connections with Iran. They accuse us of being warmongers. Could it be that these paragons of rectitude are just greedy, short–sighted profiteers? At any rate, we can’t count on many of our European allies to support any aggressive policy toward Iran. With respect to the Russians and Chinese, they have profitable commercial ties with Iran and are not all interested in severing these ties. It is obvious that the UN Security Council is not gong to take any action strong enough to deter the Iranians from developing nuclear technology
Although I am not an expert on Iran, I spent about a year and a half there before and during the revolution that brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power. I was impressed by the determination and resolve of those who overthrew the Shah. I also came away with the impression that Khomeini and his disciples were nuts.
The issue is not just what Iran intends to do, but what it is doing. Iran is providing total support to the Shiites in Iraq. That is to say, it’s complicit in killing American soldiers. The Bush administration seemingly chooses to ignore this problem.
In my opinion, the time for action has come. I disagree with the experts about the possibility of a viable military solution. In fact, I think there is an obvious military option that will put Iran back in its box. Just who am I to disagree with experts? I am someone who thinks that, if we listen to the experts in this instance, we are going to lose the war on terrorism. I think it’s important to stop the Iranians now. These guys are resolute, defiant and demented. They are supporting all forms of terrorism and sooner or later they are going to fund a devastating terrorist attack on the United States.
Given the resources, think how easy it would be to shoot down a dozen planes in one day with shoulder fired missiles or to plant ten nuclear suitcase bombs in the downtown of 10 major cities. The guys running Iran hate us and they have the money to express this hatred in unspeakable ways. Now they are developing nuclear weaponry and our response is to engage in illusory diplomacy. No one believes that diplomacy per se will effect the desired changes in Iran’s behavior. These lunatics are going to going to bring about a terrorist act that is going t make 9/11 a footnote in the history books. Unless Iran knows that failure to change its behavior will result in awesomely severe consequences, diplomacy is a fool’s errand.
One of President Bush’s often stated bromides for continuing the Iraq campaign is: “We are fighting them over there so we don’t have to fight them here.” This is one of the cardinal tenets of the administration’s disinformation campaign. The implication is that the bad guys can’t spare 20, 50, or 100 guys to come over here and cause trouble. This, of course, is nonsense. I would accuse Bush of demagoguery, except that I really think he is dumb enough to believe what he is saying. We are not going to get a solution to the Iranian problem from an administration that thinks we are winning in Iraq.
The Iranians have turned the tables on us. The United States, the greatest power on earth, is desperate for crumbs from the negotiating table while the Iranians feast on our impotence. There is something very wrong with this picture.
What is the solution to the Iranian problem? How about overwhelming, devastating brute force? Let me suggest one option for the use of military force that would work.
Give the Iranians a list of instructions (note: instructions, not requests) and tell them that if they fail to comply with these instructions, we are gong to destroy a city (name the city) on a given date. Suggest that they evacuate the city. Tell them that, after this demonstration of power (no nuclear bombs, thank you), we are going to give them a week to comply. Lack of compliance will result in the loss of anther city each week. The catch is that we will not announce in advance which city will be the “City of the Week.” It will just be “Now you see it; now you don’t”. Inform the Iranians that any act of reprisal on their part will result in annihilation of their country. Iran will either comply with our instructions or there will be no more Iran. There will just be millions of people inhabiting piles of rubble. We might rename the country “Rubblestan”.
Can you imagine the entire Iranian urban population abandoning the cities? Total chaos. The Iranian government will cease to exist. The last thing on their minds will be developing nuclear weapons. If they want to be martyrs, let us help them on their way. They had better put in an order to paradise for a lot of virgins.
Now I ask the experts, “Is this a military option that will work? Damn right it will.
And just what will the rest of the world say? Most nations, including our Western and Asian allies, will hem and haw. You see, according to their rules, we must wait for Iran to take out a dozen of our cities with suitcase nuclear weapons before we react. Nevertheless, after the initial shock, I think these nations will feel a sense of relief that the Untied States assumed a leadership position. They will also feel a sense of relief that the United States has begun to enforce the “Pax Americana.”
In short, we have to make terrorism clearly inimical to Iran’s interests. As long as they think terrorism is in their interests, they will continue to support it. For the sake of my grandkids, the time has come to beat the snot out of these guys.
Arab-Israeli Conflict: Let's End It
By
TOM MOLLOY
I have always been a strong supporter of Israel’s right to exist, but it sometimes appears as if Israel is leading us around by the nose. I wonder if we were consulted before the recent invasion of Lebanon? I assume we were. If so, did we give our consent? Are we nuts? If we weren’t consulted or didn’t give our consent, are we letting Israel know in no uncertain terms that this aberrant behavior is unacceptable?
I don’t think this invasion of Lebanon was Israel’s finest hour. I don’t understand exactly what Israel wanted to gain from this stunt. At any rate, every country in the world assumes that we were complicit in this lunacy and we share the opprobrium equally with Israel. Whatever else the invasion was or wasn’t, it was a tremendous public relations coup for Israel’s opponents.
The Arabs vilify the USA because it is a strong supporter of Israel, but the USA does more to help the Palestinians financially than they do. It appears that Arab governments are more interested in exploiting the tension between the Israelis and Palestinians to divert attention from the lassitude, venality, corruption, and gross incompetence of their own regimes. I do not believe that these governments really desire a resolution of this conflict any more than Al Capone wanted an end to prohibition.
This whole Arab-Israeli conflict has become tedious and onerous for the United States. The world perceives us as supporters of Israel and enemies of the Palestinians. We should move heaven and earth to ensure that the Israelis and Palestinians reach a fair agreement. We must ensure that neither side obtains an unfair advantage over the other.
The time has come for Israel to sit down with Palestinians and reach an agreement. Unfortunately, Hamas doesn’t recognize Israel’s right to exist and refuses to negotiate. The Palestinians have a knack for choosing bad leadership. The worst enemy of the Palestinians is not Israel; it’s their own leadership. Arafat turned down the Clinton plan cold. This plan was close to being as good as it gets. The Palestinians launched the Intfada. There was no chance that the Intifada would succeed in changing Israel’s position. No Israeli government could give the appearance of giving into to terrorism. Killing Israelis was just an end it itself. It may have been gratifying to the Palestinian hoi polloi, but by the end of the Intifada, the per capita income of the Palestinians had plunged from about $3500 to $300.00. The Palestinian people bore the brunt
The Palestinian people, seemingly ever in pursuit of misery, then elected Hamas to govern them, thereby ensuring further impoverishment. The United States and other Western countries, not thrilled at the prospect of funding Hamas, an avowedly terrorist organization, drastically cut funding for the Palestinians.
Reportedly, a good deal of the money the US and European nations contributed to the Palestinians over the years was diverted by venal officials and squirreled away in foreign bank accounts. I have read that Arafat himself (a salaried civil servant) had socked away a princely sum. While the Palestinian people did without, the leadership gorged itself at the foreign aid trough. Mrs. Arafat’s shopping sprees in London became legendary. Reportedly, the money spent during one shopping spree far exceeded Arafat’s annual salary.
Israel has to either destroy the power of Hamas or compel Hamas to negotiate. Hamas is currently conducting frequent rocket attacks on Israel. In my opinion, Israeli responses to these attacks have been too feeble to dissuade Hamas from making these rocket attacks. Presently, Israel is responding proportionately to terrorist attacks. A rocket lands in Israel and Israel reacts by destroying a military facility or killing a Hamas leader or two. Each side is using enough force to irritate the other side, but not enough to dissuade the other side from using force. In fact, each application of violence strengthens enemy resolve and provokes the other side to employ more violence. This approach to the application of violence is futile.
Israel has the power to force Hamas to stop the attacks. It is time that Israel used this power. I would suggest that, to dissuade Hamas from using violence, Israel will have to engage in cumulative, disproportionate response (CDR). How does CDR work? First, Israel will have to divide up Palestinian occupied territory into large destructible units (LDUs) consisting of contiguous residences, factories, bridges, roads, power plants, schools, hospitals, shops etc. Israel should show the LDUs to the Palestinians and explain that each act of violence will result in the total destruction of one or more LDUs. If a suicide bomber kills 15 Israelis, Israel should respond by destroying a disproportionate number of LDUs--perhaps, the equivalent of a third of a city. The Palestinians have to understand that each terrorist act results in devastation. Of, course, the effect is cumulative. It won’t take the Palestinians long to figure out that, if they continue to launch terrorist attacks, they will be sitting on a pile of rubble. This would exert intolerable pressure on Hamas to negotiate.
At the same time, Israel has to be prepared to negotiate and reach an agreement. We should insist that the Israelis make a fair agreement with the Palestinians. Ultimately, this conflict has to end. It enormously complicates our relations with countries in the Middle East. We should, if necessary, dictate the terms of the agreement to the Israelis.
TOM MOLLOY
I have always been a strong supporter of Israel’s right to exist, but it sometimes appears as if Israel is leading us around by the nose. I wonder if we were consulted before the recent invasion of Lebanon? I assume we were. If so, did we give our consent? Are we nuts? If we weren’t consulted or didn’t give our consent, are we letting Israel know in no uncertain terms that this aberrant behavior is unacceptable?
I don’t think this invasion of Lebanon was Israel’s finest hour. I don’t understand exactly what Israel wanted to gain from this stunt. At any rate, every country in the world assumes that we were complicit in this lunacy and we share the opprobrium equally with Israel. Whatever else the invasion was or wasn’t, it was a tremendous public relations coup for Israel’s opponents.
The Arabs vilify the USA because it is a strong supporter of Israel, but the USA does more to help the Palestinians financially than they do. It appears that Arab governments are more interested in exploiting the tension between the Israelis and Palestinians to divert attention from the lassitude, venality, corruption, and gross incompetence of their own regimes. I do not believe that these governments really desire a resolution of this conflict any more than Al Capone wanted an end to prohibition.
This whole Arab-Israeli conflict has become tedious and onerous for the United States. The world perceives us as supporters of Israel and enemies of the Palestinians. We should move heaven and earth to ensure that the Israelis and Palestinians reach a fair agreement. We must ensure that neither side obtains an unfair advantage over the other.
The time has come for Israel to sit down with Palestinians and reach an agreement. Unfortunately, Hamas doesn’t recognize Israel’s right to exist and refuses to negotiate. The Palestinians have a knack for choosing bad leadership. The worst enemy of the Palestinians is not Israel; it’s their own leadership. Arafat turned down the Clinton plan cold. This plan was close to being as good as it gets. The Palestinians launched the Intfada. There was no chance that the Intifada would succeed in changing Israel’s position. No Israeli government could give the appearance of giving into to terrorism. Killing Israelis was just an end it itself. It may have been gratifying to the Palestinian hoi polloi, but by the end of the Intifada, the per capita income of the Palestinians had plunged from about $3500 to $300.00. The Palestinian people bore the brunt
The Palestinian people, seemingly ever in pursuit of misery, then elected Hamas to govern them, thereby ensuring further impoverishment. The United States and other Western countries, not thrilled at the prospect of funding Hamas, an avowedly terrorist organization, drastically cut funding for the Palestinians.
Reportedly, a good deal of the money the US and European nations contributed to the Palestinians over the years was diverted by venal officials and squirreled away in foreign bank accounts. I have read that Arafat himself (a salaried civil servant) had socked away a princely sum. While the Palestinian people did without, the leadership gorged itself at the foreign aid trough. Mrs. Arafat’s shopping sprees in London became legendary. Reportedly, the money spent during one shopping spree far exceeded Arafat’s annual salary.
Israel has to either destroy the power of Hamas or compel Hamas to negotiate. Hamas is currently conducting frequent rocket attacks on Israel. In my opinion, Israeli responses to these attacks have been too feeble to dissuade Hamas from making these rocket attacks. Presently, Israel is responding proportionately to terrorist attacks. A rocket lands in Israel and Israel reacts by destroying a military facility or killing a Hamas leader or two. Each side is using enough force to irritate the other side, but not enough to dissuade the other side from using force. In fact, each application of violence strengthens enemy resolve and provokes the other side to employ more violence. This approach to the application of violence is futile.
Israel has the power to force Hamas to stop the attacks. It is time that Israel used this power. I would suggest that, to dissuade Hamas from using violence, Israel will have to engage in cumulative, disproportionate response (CDR). How does CDR work? First, Israel will have to divide up Palestinian occupied territory into large destructible units (LDUs) consisting of contiguous residences, factories, bridges, roads, power plants, schools, hospitals, shops etc. Israel should show the LDUs to the Palestinians and explain that each act of violence will result in the total destruction of one or more LDUs. If a suicide bomber kills 15 Israelis, Israel should respond by destroying a disproportionate number of LDUs--perhaps, the equivalent of a third of a city. The Palestinians have to understand that each terrorist act results in devastation. Of, course, the effect is cumulative. It won’t take the Palestinians long to figure out that, if they continue to launch terrorist attacks, they will be sitting on a pile of rubble. This would exert intolerable pressure on Hamas to negotiate.
At the same time, Israel has to be prepared to negotiate and reach an agreement. We should insist that the Israelis make a fair agreement with the Palestinians. Ultimately, this conflict has to end. It enormously complicates our relations with countries in the Middle East. We should, if necessary, dictate the terms of the agreement to the Israelis.
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