The Price of Ambivalence

In the years since President Bush took office, those who would have his job or would help others GET his job,  have done (what must be fairly pointed out) exactly what they SHOULD be doing, and likely what we on the right would do and HAVE done when the tables were turned.

[Note: Compulsory graciousness ends here]

In these 5 odd years, we have witnessed the gunning down of a Commander in Chief beyond the pale.  I am aware that this is not a first; much debate has swirled about past Presidents and their own villification and demonization in times of war, but I have yet to see or hear that any of those past Presidents' critics went on to claim responsibility for causing the US to lose a war or insert, in the vacuum of defeat, tyrannical heads of state and subsequently cause the subjugation and oppression of their peoples.

At least as far back as the (l)affable President Jimmy Carter, liberalism and her mouthpiece the so-called mainstream media, have embarked on a path of understanding; of compassion and putting themselves in the shoes of the enemy, and sadly, at the mercy of them.  Liberalism gave birth to apologizing for being the greatest power on earth, and set out to level the playing field (much as they LOVE to do in Domestic politics), and has contributed in part to the emergence of rogue states that now demand attention, command respect, and garner fear among her peoples and her neighbors.  These countries might have otherwise remained second class and pitiful on the international scene, but now they stand in the crosshairs of guns the left has loaded with rubber bullets.

Under the Administration prior to George W. Bush, we reduced funding for intelligence and for defense.  We closed military bases and installations, and in showing a "kinder, gentler" America to the world through repeated capitulation to the "new world order", we implicitly announced that we chose weakness as the means to show "good faith"...that these policies would somehow show we were to be trusted not feared; this last a FAR cry from the approach used by the sadly missed (and now dramatically needed again) Gipper.

All around us today there is uncertainty.  Some camps are uncertain about the legitimacy of our President.  Some are uncertain about our roles in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in places like Darfur or the Balkans.  Some fear we find ourselves in wars for which sound, undeniable justifications can be scarcely found, or are insufficient to support the actions we have subsequently taken.  Many among us fumble and struggle to get our arms around immigration, or Judges, or the state of Conservatism in America.  I have personally been troubled by either my own naivete, or a lack of quantifiable articulation of fact and import on many topics.

While we have been uncertain, and ambivalent, and unsure and wringing our hands as a Nation, our modern-day enemy Islamo-facism has been growing stronger, more powerful, and increasingly bolder.  While we have been resting after President Reagan tore down the Great Wall and stared down the oppressive and tyrannical ways of Communism our enemies have been growing in numbers.  While we have worried about world hunger and aids and green house gases, our enemies have gotten weapons, established back-door supply channels, and have indoctrinated themselves in the ways of death and chaos.

Our enemy declared holy war.  We ignored them.  They brought the fight to American soil.  We finally responded.  While we wage the fight the best we can, the ambivalence rises again.  While they wage their religious war we busy ourselves with trying to frame™ this "localized threat" as a law enforcement issue; a battle with thugs or insurgents or lawbreakers or unemployed teenagers.  Many go out of their way to remind us that this is NOT a war with Islam...just havin' a little trouble with some of the disgruntled ones among them.

The President of Iran, for one, is not an underemployed teenager, nor is he in any way disgruntled and under-privileged.  I find myself with that link, and THIS LINK enraged, filled with hate, and completely disgusted with what he says, what he does, and the extent to which we have, as a nation, created this beast through our own hand-wringing ambivalence, and short-sighted view of this "world order" we all seem so excited to be a part of.  He has every intention of committing suicide if necessary to ensure the destruction of Israel.  Let there be no mistake, his pursuit of nuclear materials and his acquisition of the means necessary to deliver them guarantee that this day is coming.  That his ideology is not of the "peaceful Islam" variety, but rather of the martyrdom and Jihad variety, should be of vast, significant, and dramatic concern to everyone.  That not very many people have the testicular fortitude to stand up and say he goes now, he goes today, and we will commit every possible resource to see to it, should be of even more concern.

Our missteps with Islamo-Facism have brought much to bear on us.  While 3,000 American died on our soil, many more Americans and other Nationals have died fighting on their soil.  Iran and her allies rely on us continuing to be uncertain and ambivalent; if only a little while longer so they can finish the weapons and delivery systems.  It is not for us to debate whether it will be 16 days or 5 years; what is clear is his ntentions.

What is not clear is how many Israelis, Iraqis, Jordanians, Syrians, Lebanese, Egyptians, Turkish, Kuwaiti, or countless other nationalities will have to die before we finally GET it.