Daily Rant: What’s in a Name?
By Steven Osborne | Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 | Catch-AllWhat’s in a name? I mean, President Obama seemed to have no trouble changing the “War on Terror” to an “Overseas Contingency Operation.”
So what does this mean? Are we no longer in a war? Here’s the problem. The Islamic fascists are still at war with us, however, we have basically downgraded our efforts to a global law enforcement operation. We are making the same mistake that Israeli Leader Ehud Olmert made in Lebanon back in 2006, he pulled back too soon. Today Hezbollah has regrouped and now presents argueably a greater threat than before.
President Obama’s state department also allowed the SWAT area of Pakistan to be handed back over to the Taliban. Sharia law is now the norm there. The Obama Administration’s “smart power” has proven to be a dud.
The attention is focused on the economy right now, and Obama’s numbers are dropping because he is not being seen as competant. Even if the economy were booming though, I think that he would be in trouble politically because of his laxed approach toward an ideology that attacked us almost eight years ago.
And that is my Daily Rant.
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About the author
Steven Osborne is a grassroots conservative activist from Central Virginia. He is currently furthering his education at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. In addition to writing for Bearing Drift he is also a columnist for the Christian Law Journal.
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10 Responses to "Daily Rant: What’s in a Name?"
1. There’s no such thing as an “Islamic Fascist” it’s a term made up by the right-wing to simplify the middle eastern conflict
2. Obama has been killing terrorists in Pakistan on an almost daily basis
3. So yes, we’re still at war, did you miss the whole President Obama is increasing our presence in Afghanistan – which, in case you didn’t know (and if you listened only to Bush/ Cheney’s propaganda machine you probably missed it) is where Osama planned 9/11 and the hijackers were trained.
4. FATA (Federally Administered Territorial Area) of Pakistan has been going through this whole Talibanization for the past 3-4 years – and yes, Bush was too focused on Iraq and was thus unable (or unwilling) to assist the Pakistanis. So, while you would obviously like to blame Obama for somehow screwing up FATA in 65 days, he is only inheriting the mess left there by the awesome Bush/ Cheney plan. And, oh by the way, if you hadn’t noticed B/C also screwed the pooch on Afghanistan. We went from controlling the entire country 6 years ago to controling Kabul today. Thanks…
5. Here’s a rant for you, if you are going to start bitching about Obama actually get out there and educate yourself. Don’t decide something is true becuase a) you want it to be true or b) because it feels truthy. Sorry bub Bush is the one responsible for everything you are complaining about above. You may not want it to be true, it may not fit your worldview. But, that doesn’t change the fact that it is, in fact, true.
Mark,
I know you love to hate Bush and Cheney, however, that doesn’t change the facts. You have not refuted my point that Obama has made several foreign policy gaffes. It was the OBAMA state department that okayed the final handover of SWAT to the Taliban. He could have stopped it, unfortunately he did not. I am glad to see that Obama is continuing the policy of striking the Taliban in Pakistan, intelligence showed that we had been doing it for the past few years. Bush kept his mouth shut about it, Obama sees the benefit in appearing strong. To give him credit the Pres. is sending the 17,000 troops, however, the generals on the ground asked for 30,000. This goes to my point that President Obama obviously no longer considers this a war, his pulling back will give the Radical Islamic Networks time to recharge. They are not stupid and they learn from their mistakes. Next time, they may be backed by a major world power.
I would also encourage you to study up on the various forms of radical Islam. There is Islamic fascism and it finds it’s roots in Nazism, I’m not kidding, I’m serious, look it up!
Where do you get it that the Obama state department ok’d the handing over of FATA to the Taliban? (Which was the de facto condition on the ground and has been for years).
Seems like another Hannity fact (or as we in the real world call them – BS).
There is no such thing as Islamic Fascism, there is Ba’thism which does have its roots in Nazism – but was a secular movement (part of the overall Arab Nationalist movement).
The Pakistani government made the decision after the state department gave them the OK.
The founder of the anti-zionist movement was an ally of Hitler, who conspired with him concerning the Holocaust. This was going on before Israel was a state. The movement that this founder belonged to was not secular, but rather religious. If it were secular then he would not have supported exterminating Jews who were living hundreds of miles away. His hatred of the Jewish people was based in Islamo-fascism which is merely a form of Nazism.
The Nazis began as a group of terrorists before taking control of Germany and building an army. President Obama would do well to remember this.
With the fascists now in control of SWAT in Pakistan. They will have a secure base from which to harass our troops in Afghanistan. The Obama Admin. tried to employ “smart power,” they believed that by giving our enemies the SWAT region, that our enemies would somehow become divided. That still has not happened and the risks to our troops in Afghanistan far outway the benefit, if there is any.
You are so far off the ball I don’t even know where to begin. You are confusing the naitonalist Arab movements (like the Ba’thists) with the Islamic fundamentalist terrorists we are now dealing with. They aren’t even on the same team – they killed each other.
What anti-zionist movement? That’s another question, the entire middle east is an anti-zionist movement. Yes, I assume you are referring to the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem when you say “he was an ally of Hitler” which is true. So was the secular government of Iraq (which was overthrown by the Brits), seriously the entire middle east (save the Jews) – secular and not were (and generally are) anti-zionist. Let’s face it, if the Russians decided their homeland was Washington State and they started moving in, we wouldn’t like it much either.
As for FATA (which is the formal name for the region), the Pakistanis have NEVER controlled the area. It got worse over the past 10 years – particularly under Bush. I know you really, really want to blame Obama, but you are doing so in spite of reality.
If you want to be part of the solution, and not another uneducated American railing against Arabs, the Pakistanis “Islamic Fascists” (which is a made up term that has no meaning), you should start educating yourself. I would recommend begining with the book “From Beirut to Jerusalem,” it’s a bit dated at this point but Friedman provides an excellent text to continue your studies. Good luck.
Mark,
I can see that I have as much a chance at convincing you as you have of convincing me. The Arab nationalist movement was a movement of Arab nations to be independent of the Ottoman Empire.
Are you suggesting that the Grand Mufti was simply a nationalist? He played a part in supporting the Holocaust. An Arab nationalist might be upset about Israel being a nation, however, Israel was not a nation during World War 2. The Grand Mufti favored eliminating the Jewish race out of a radical Islamic worldview. He was a fascist and he founded the modern day Islamic fascist movement. Which does exist.
Are you suggesting that the Jewish people are intruding into Israel? There has always been a Jewish community living in that area. Even some historians who support the Islamic contention, now admit that the land was originally deeded to the Jewish people.
All of this plays into the larger narrative of what is going on. President Obama has addressed the problem in the Middle East without a clear understanding of Middle Eastern culture, as his soft toned video to the Islamic Republic of Iran demonstrated. Diplomacy in the Middle East requires a different tone than community organizing. There is a common misconception on both sides of the political isle as to what motivates our enemies. They are not motivated by economics, as many in the West are. Some of these areas currently ruled by the Islamic Radicals have been operating on sustinance economies for years. Our enemies are motivated by Wahabbi-style Islam and a fundamental thirst for power. To our enemies money means little. What they cannot raise they will attain through marketing opium.
We need to understand our enemies before we can defeat them.
Oh good God, you are so completely out of your depth.
Do you even know who/ what the Grand Mufti is?
You obviously have absolutely no understanding of Arab Nationalism.
Steven, as Jim can tell you not only did I serve in uniform addressing some of the very issues you lay forth above, but prior to joining the miltiary I served in the State Department in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (the Middle East). I spent a semester studying in Jerusalem and was invited by the government of Kuwait to study at the University of Kuwait.
Sorry dude, it’s not a matter of not convincing me, it’s that you are so completely and absolutely wrong. Seriously a good place to start is Wikipedia. Clearly there are bias issues, especially regarding matters of this nature. But in all seriousness go take some time to read about Nassar – one of the leaders of Arab Nationalism in Egypt. Learn about how he formed the Pan Arab Republic with Syria (another Secular Arab Nationalist state – and yes they briefly formed one country). It’s a fascinating bit of history.
Study the different and developing movements whih lead to the Palestine Liberation Organization – some of which were secular, some communist, some socialist, some Islamic – and some Christian (did you know that the population of Palestine was over 25% Christian when the State of Israel was founded?). Anyhow, what I’m trying to get you to understand is that while you want this to all be very simple, Arabs are Islamo Something or others, Bush good, Obama bad, it ain’t that simple.
If it was missed, it’s your last point that I’m really responding to:
“We need to understand our enemies before we can defeat them.”
Fact is, I completely agree – but, it’s going to take a little more work on your part.
Mark,
Thank You for serving our nation. I am not going to pretend to have the first-hand knowledge that you do, however my observations are drawn from people who have had first hand experience on this issue.
One such person is noted author Bridget Gabriel, she was raised in Lebanon. In her early years, Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived in peace in Lebanon, however, the radical Islamic elements began to mass migrate into Lebanon, and Ms. Gabriel’s house was bombed due to the fact that she was a Christian.
I also base my observations about the Grand Mufti from former PLO terrorist Walid Shoebat and others including a former member of the Hitler Youth who make the case the the Grand Mufti was the founder of the modern fascist movement among Islam.
I agree that there is nationalism in the Arab world. That too is based upon religion, namely the Islamic contention that the Holy Land was birthrighted to Ishmael rather than Isaac.
I am not a mindless drone and I do believe that the United States should only involve itself in a war after it is fully prepared to do so.
When I say that we need to understand our enemies, I mean that we must understand what motivates them. We cannot continue to look through Western lenses and expect to understand the radical elements of Islam. Religion is a key motivator for the “nationalist” movement in the Middle East. Some would contend that under the Islamic plan those “nations” would quickly become caliphates in a larger Islamic Empire, similar to the one that existed in the Middle Ages.
The view that I hold is not an irrational one, I have seen the verses that the Islamic based fascists follow after. I realize that many disparaged Pres. Bush for his “cowboy diplomacy,” however we did not see Russia, China, and Iran pulling the same junk that they are pulling now.
I guess that we will have to just agree to disagree on this one. These kind of discussions are important though, and I respect you opinion.
Steven,
Have you heard of the Lebanese Civil War? Christians slaughtering Muslims, Muslims slaughtering Christians, Druze slaughtering and being slaughtered by both, Sunnis v. Shi’as, the Palestinians setting up a de facto state in the South, etc. It was a big friggin mess.
When you listen to Bridgitte Gabriel (note the spelling, it’s a French name – Lebanon was a French colony) you are getting a very biased perspective. If anything you are engaging in the same dangers that brought us here, the Maronite Christian community is involved in a long strugge against Islam (and the Druze) for the soul of Lebanon (you should look into how the state was set up and why the civil war began, I think you’ll find it eye opening). I’m not saying the Maronite’s don’t have legitimate gripes, they most certainly do (heck, I’ll confess to having a pro-Maronite bias myself – I was disappointed when Israel disbanded the Southern Lebanese Army – which interesting at its end was nearly as much Christian as it was Shi’a, if you don’t know what that is, it’s another intersting historical footnote to look up). My point is you need to be very, very careful in looking to someone with an agenda as your principle source of news. If you really want to learn to “understand our enemies” propaganda is not the way. Remember what happened when Bush listened to Ahmed Chalabi about Iraq? Oops.
Anyhow, dialogue is good, but education is better. As I used to tell my political science students, don’t believe me – or anyone else, go out there and read for yourself everyone has a bias, you need to review multiple sources to even get close to the truth.
As for Russia, Iran and China, sigh… you really do want to defend Bush’s disasterous foreign policy regardless of the facts?
Peace.
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