Master CraftsMon - Aired Monday, March 6, 2006 at about 11pm CST - Segment 1
Master CraftsMon - Aired Monday, March 6, 2006 at about 11pm CST
Segment 1
There's this guy named Michael Totten and he decided that he wanted to live his life a certain way. He did not want to work for a newspaper. He wanted to travel and see things and have people pay him to do that.
At the present time, Michael is living in Lebanon. He recently made a trip to Kurdistan in northern Iraq.
Oh, you probably never heard of the Kurds. For the last fifty years they have been trying to set up a country where they could live their lives. When Gulf War I ended, the U.S. established a no-fly zone over northern Iraq. Under that umbrella, the Kurds establish a democracy. It was not a very good one, but it was a light year better than Saddam's rule. Since 2003 and the fall of Saddam, the Kurds have proceeded at warp speed to establish a safe place for themselves. The Kurd who had fled their country have been streaming back... bringing the cash they made on their sojourn. The economy in northern Iraq is booming. Michael Totten makes the case that Kurdistan now is starting to look like Utah. They even have something close to our fast food places like McDonalds, but not quite. They have stolen the Golden arches symbol, but not the way of making the burgers.
Michael's last report on his blog was about a nasty little killing factory Saddam had there. The Peshmerga, the militia in Kurdistan, fought and took the place from Saddam loyalists. The Kurds have turned it into a museum.
Whether you believe that "Bush lied and people died" or "No WMD, thus it was all a stupid waste of time" or any of the other talking points from the Left, is beside the point to me. I am proud of warriors for stopping what is pictured in this photo essay. I am proud of our warriors for building schools and roads. I am proud of our warriors for crying when an Iraqi child is murdered by an IED meant for them. I am proud that we have stopped the killing factories in Iraq.
Throughout the Cold War, I was ashamed that we supported evil bastards like Saddam. I was ashamed that we left the Kurds high and dry multiple times over the years. When the Wall fell, I prayed that we could start living our morals instead of mouthing them. When I realized what Saddam was doing to his people, I wanted him gone. I do not care what the reason Bush gave for going there. I am proud that the museum that Michael showed us is just that, a museum. This killing factory and hundreds like it were in full swing throughout Saddam's rule. They are now museums or scrubbed from the face of the Earth. Saying that containing evil like this is a good idea is insane to me.
I am now absolutely convinced that the Iraqi War was a good idea.
I am convinced of that because of... Georgia.
Yeah, Georgia. During the Civil War, Sherman's March to the Sea put paid to the Confederacy. The South had to surrender when Confederacy was split. Liberating Iraq was a strategic necessity to separate Iran and Syria. We can talk all night about what might have been. The facts remain that Iran, Iraq and Syria WANTED weapons of mass destruction. They cannot easily get them now with us on their doorstep.
We are stuck with what IS. Lebanon is relatively free. Syria is in so much turmoil that they cannot use whatever Saddam gave them in the waning days of his rule. Iran looks like it can do some major damage, but I doubt it. The Middle East has been a cesspool for 60 years. Are things better now than before the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq? If you say they are worse, I doubt your sanity.
Leftists in this country seem to be saying, "I am kinda proud that we might have closed down a small number of killing factories like the one in this photo essay, BUT blah, blah, blah." Why does the pride in what we have accomplished have to be so lukewarm, so tentative? Why must Leftists when confronted with the evil shown in pictures of the killing fields of Iraq struggle to find some reason not to say, "America did a good thing. I proud of my country for doing this."? When I hear quibbling like that, I want to scream, "Have you lost your mind? How can anyone look at pictures of Saddam's infamy and try to find a reason for not stopping a killing factory?"
The biggest threat to our country right now is nation states willing to create WMD to give to terrorists. Al Quaeda and all its evil siblings can do some damage, but it takes a willing nation state to create biological, chemical or nuclear weapons. By destroying Afghanistan and Iraq, we have served notice to every nation state on Earth that they could be on our list of targets, if they produce a WMD that takes out a huge number of our citizens. The Left, like the disarmament movement of the 1930's, is filled with True Believers. They honestly believe that men like Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden can be appeased. Appeasement is not an option.
We are in a war that will span 30-50 years. The pictures that Michael Totten brought back from northern Iraq define what we are fighting. How can anyone attempt to say that we should not have stopped the actions that they describe from happening to anyone?
It's all about symbols, when you get right down to it. The members of Islam have a way of looking at the world that is all encompassing. I was reading this other blog and one of the people posting made the point that we call Islam a religion, but it is not just a religion. Islam is an entire way of living and viewing the world.
Various people seek to excuse the behavior of the Irreconcilables by showing how we have done similar things in the past. We can do a tit for tat all night but it does not change anything about the Irreconcilables of radical Islam. Osama bin Laden has explicitly said that he wants to recreate the Caliphate as the first step of taking over the world. He has said explicitly that he wants to kill, forcibly convert to Islam, enslave or make second class citizens all who oppose him. The Muslims out there have been mostly silent in condemning his goals.
When I see images of protestors in foreign lands with signs that say, "Behead those who insult Islam", I must assume that most Muslims agree with the goals of Osama bin Laden and the other Irreconcilables. What are we to make of this type of behavior? Are we to sit idly by and allow ourselves to lose our freedom or worse become slaves? How can anyone say that our fears are unjustified when we are confronted day after day by ugly images like that? Fear begets hatred. That is just the way it goes. A real Christian hates the behavior not the person who does it. Admittedly there are not too many real Christians anymore, but that is the theory.
By throwing the race card, which is what a large number of people are doing, they are saying that we hate members of Islam because of their race. I don't think that is exactly true. Everything I have seen leads me to believe that most people in the U.S. are frightened that they will be going about their daily lives and suddenly some splodey dope will detonate a bomb in their midst. In America people like to think they have control of their lives. With that loss of control comes fear and hatred addressed to the people who advocate such behavior.
If your position is that America has it coming because of... fill in the blank. Again, we can do tit for tat all night long. The major question should be: Is it correct behavior to kill women and children in the name of Islam in order to exact revenge on the West for doing these real or imagined wrongs against Muslims?
The case made by various apologists for the Irreconcilables that the U.S. has killed women and children of Islam. I have to point out that I do not believe that America intends to kill noncombatants on purpose. If anyone then says that there is no difference between unintended casualties and intended casualties, I have to disagree.
There is another set of people who say that this is a racist war. Racism is the irrational fear of the Other. What you are seeing is rational fear based on the information before us. The riots, the burning of the Danish embassies seem to bear out the worry that Islam is violent, barbaric and basically evil. Osama bin Laden is the face of Islam we see. The marchers with their hate filled signs are all we see. The daily drum beat of beheadings and destruction of holy sites in Iraq do not allow us to feel that Islam is really a Religion of Peace. The screams of Iranian President Amadingdong that he will incinerate Israel and the West with nuclear fire do not make us feel that Islam's leaders are sane.
The big cry of the protesters is that we are not showing enough respect to Islam. I've got to ask, "Why should we?" What have they done to cause us to respect them. We are frightened that the Irreconcilables will destroy our way of life and force us to convert to Islam. Those may not be the goals of most Muslims, but they sure are the goals of the Irreconcilables.
I recognize that it looks like the West is doing the same thing as the Irreconcilables. It looks like we plot, salivate, lust to attack Islam and convert Muslims to our way of life. The truth is Muslims are frightening us. Our solution to the problem is that in Middle East we are promoting democracy, because that is what worked with the Germans and the Japanese.
I would also point out that most of the Muslim apologists for the Irreconcilables' bad behavior do not help their case much, because they come across as paranoid, bitter and whiny individuals looking for pity. The West is frightened. When the Arab street screams for blood, nothing happens. Governments in the Middle East do not go to war against the West. When the American street cries for blood, a huge amount of blood flows onto the Arab street. To most American, the Irreconcilables' hatred of our cultural intrusion into their lives is the cry of an addict saying that he cannot stop himself so he HAS to kill his pusher.
We, the moderate Muslims and Americans, have to come up with a way to stop the Irreconcilables. We have to come up with a way where we can live together without attacking each other short of us kowtowing to Irreconcilables' every demand.
Segment 1
There's this guy named Michael Totten and he decided that he wanted to live his life a certain way. He did not want to work for a newspaper. He wanted to travel and see things and have people pay him to do that.
At the present time, Michael is living in Lebanon. He recently made a trip to Kurdistan in northern Iraq.
Oh, you probably never heard of the Kurds. For the last fifty years they have been trying to set up a country where they could live their lives. When Gulf War I ended, the U.S. established a no-fly zone over northern Iraq. Under that umbrella, the Kurds establish a democracy. It was not a very good one, but it was a light year better than Saddam's rule. Since 2003 and the fall of Saddam, the Kurds have proceeded at warp speed to establish a safe place for themselves. The Kurd who had fled their country have been streaming back... bringing the cash they made on their sojourn. The economy in northern Iraq is booming. Michael Totten makes the case that Kurdistan now is starting to look like Utah. They even have something close to our fast food places like McDonalds, but not quite. They have stolen the Golden arches symbol, but not the way of making the burgers.
Michael's last report on his blog was about a nasty little killing factory Saddam had there. The Peshmerga, the militia in Kurdistan, fought and took the place from Saddam loyalists. The Kurds have turned it into a museum.
Whether you believe that "Bush lied and people died" or "No WMD, thus it was all a stupid waste of time" or any of the other talking points from the Left, is beside the point to me. I am proud of warriors for stopping what is pictured in this photo essay. I am proud of our warriors for building schools and roads. I am proud of our warriors for crying when an Iraqi child is murdered by an IED meant for them. I am proud that we have stopped the killing factories in Iraq.
Throughout the Cold War, I was ashamed that we supported evil bastards like Saddam. I was ashamed that we left the Kurds high and dry multiple times over the years. When the Wall fell, I prayed that we could start living our morals instead of mouthing them. When I realized what Saddam was doing to his people, I wanted him gone. I do not care what the reason Bush gave for going there. I am proud that the museum that Michael showed us is just that, a museum. This killing factory and hundreds like it were in full swing throughout Saddam's rule. They are now museums or scrubbed from the face of the Earth. Saying that containing evil like this is a good idea is insane to me.
I am now absolutely convinced that the Iraqi War was a good idea.
I am convinced of that because of... Georgia.
Yeah, Georgia. During the Civil War, Sherman's March to the Sea put paid to the Confederacy. The South had to surrender when Confederacy was split. Liberating Iraq was a strategic necessity to separate Iran and Syria. We can talk all night about what might have been. The facts remain that Iran, Iraq and Syria WANTED weapons of mass destruction. They cannot easily get them now with us on their doorstep.
We are stuck with what IS. Lebanon is relatively free. Syria is in so much turmoil that they cannot use whatever Saddam gave them in the waning days of his rule. Iran looks like it can do some major damage, but I doubt it. The Middle East has been a cesspool for 60 years. Are things better now than before the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq? If you say they are worse, I doubt your sanity.
Leftists in this country seem to be saying, "I am kinda proud that we might have closed down a small number of killing factories like the one in this photo essay, BUT blah, blah, blah." Why does the pride in what we have accomplished have to be so lukewarm, so tentative? Why must Leftists when confronted with the evil shown in pictures of the killing fields of Iraq struggle to find some reason not to say, "America did a good thing. I proud of my country for doing this."? When I hear quibbling like that, I want to scream, "Have you lost your mind? How can anyone look at pictures of Saddam's infamy and try to find a reason for not stopping a killing factory?"
The biggest threat to our country right now is nation states willing to create WMD to give to terrorists. Al Quaeda and all its evil siblings can do some damage, but it takes a willing nation state to create biological, chemical or nuclear weapons. By destroying Afghanistan and Iraq, we have served notice to every nation state on Earth that they could be on our list of targets, if they produce a WMD that takes out a huge number of our citizens. The Left, like the disarmament movement of the 1930's, is filled with True Believers. They honestly believe that men like Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden can be appeased. Appeasement is not an option.
We are in a war that will span 30-50 years. The pictures that Michael Totten brought back from northern Iraq define what we are fighting. How can anyone attempt to say that we should not have stopped the actions that they describe from happening to anyone?
It's all about symbols, when you get right down to it. The members of Islam have a way of looking at the world that is all encompassing. I was reading this other blog and one of the people posting made the point that we call Islam a religion, but it is not just a religion. Islam is an entire way of living and viewing the world.
Various people seek to excuse the behavior of the Irreconcilables by showing how we have done similar things in the past. We can do a tit for tat all night but it does not change anything about the Irreconcilables of radical Islam. Osama bin Laden has explicitly said that he wants to recreate the Caliphate as the first step of taking over the world. He has said explicitly that he wants to kill, forcibly convert to Islam, enslave or make second class citizens all who oppose him. The Muslims out there have been mostly silent in condemning his goals.
When I see images of protestors in foreign lands with signs that say, "Behead those who insult Islam", I must assume that most Muslims agree with the goals of Osama bin Laden and the other Irreconcilables. What are we to make of this type of behavior? Are we to sit idly by and allow ourselves to lose our freedom or worse become slaves? How can anyone say that our fears are unjustified when we are confronted day after day by ugly images like that? Fear begets hatred. That is just the way it goes. A real Christian hates the behavior not the person who does it. Admittedly there are not too many real Christians anymore, but that is the theory.
By throwing the race card, which is what a large number of people are doing, they are saying that we hate members of Islam because of their race. I don't think that is exactly true. Everything I have seen leads me to believe that most people in the U.S. are frightened that they will be going about their daily lives and suddenly some splodey dope will detonate a bomb in their midst. In America people like to think they have control of their lives. With that loss of control comes fear and hatred addressed to the people who advocate such behavior.
If your position is that America has it coming because of... fill in the blank. Again, we can do tit for tat all night long. The major question should be: Is it correct behavior to kill women and children in the name of Islam in order to exact revenge on the West for doing these real or imagined wrongs against Muslims?
The case made by various apologists for the Irreconcilables that the U.S. has killed women and children of Islam. I have to point out that I do not believe that America intends to kill noncombatants on purpose. If anyone then says that there is no difference between unintended casualties and intended casualties, I have to disagree.
There is another set of people who say that this is a racist war. Racism is the irrational fear of the Other. What you are seeing is rational fear based on the information before us. The riots, the burning of the Danish embassies seem to bear out the worry that Islam is violent, barbaric and basically evil. Osama bin Laden is the face of Islam we see. The marchers with their hate filled signs are all we see. The daily drum beat of beheadings and destruction of holy sites in Iraq do not allow us to feel that Islam is really a Religion of Peace. The screams of Iranian President Amadingdong that he will incinerate Israel and the West with nuclear fire do not make us feel that Islam's leaders are sane.
The big cry of the protesters is that we are not showing enough respect to Islam. I've got to ask, "Why should we?" What have they done to cause us to respect them. We are frightened that the Irreconcilables will destroy our way of life and force us to convert to Islam. Those may not be the goals of most Muslims, but they sure are the goals of the Irreconcilables.
I recognize that it looks like the West is doing the same thing as the Irreconcilables. It looks like we plot, salivate, lust to attack Islam and convert Muslims to our way of life. The truth is Muslims are frightening us. Our solution to the problem is that in Middle East we are promoting democracy, because that is what worked with the Germans and the Japanese.
I would also point out that most of the Muslim apologists for the Irreconcilables' bad behavior do not help their case much, because they come across as paranoid, bitter and whiny individuals looking for pity. The West is frightened. When the Arab street screams for blood, nothing happens. Governments in the Middle East do not go to war against the West. When the American street cries for blood, a huge amount of blood flows onto the Arab street. To most American, the Irreconcilables' hatred of our cultural intrusion into their lives is the cry of an addict saying that he cannot stop himself so he HAS to kill his pusher.
We, the moderate Muslims and Americans, have to come up with a way to stop the Irreconcilables. We have to come up with a way where we can live together without attacking each other short of us kowtowing to Irreconcilables' every demand.
posted by aRandomTexan at
4:20 PM
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