The Sunni's were never going to cooperate with the United States.

The MSM continues to misunderstand the basic strategic political situation in Iraq. Does the media truly think that invading Fallujah enraged the Sunni's? But they were OK with us invading Iraq?

The Associated Press article sums it up: "Anger among Sunnis rose after Iraqi troops backed by U.S. soldiers Friday raided the Abu Hanifa mosque in Azamiyah - one of the most revered sites in Sunni Islam. Three worshippers were killed, witnesses said."

No, the "Anger among Sunnis" can't be any higher than it already is!

Almost any reporting from the MSM on Fallujah and Mosques etc is premised on the following:

is going to be the primary reason the Sunni's revolt against the upcoming elections.

Ah sorry, but the Sunni's have been in hatred driven revolt from day one of the coalition invasion. Do you think they are going to be particularly supportive of free democratic elections as they continue watching their brutal despotic powers slip through their blood covered hands? Watching their power and influence reducing day after day isn't going to make their anger any more heightened than it already is.

They hate us for having taken away their power!

Nor does it matter how many Mosques we invade. The Sunni's are always going to make alot of noise when we take our infidel military boots into their righteous spaces. It won't matter how many worshippers (who may turn out to be insurgents or innocents) get killed. They hate the fact that we remain in country with no sign of leaving. We troop around owning the power and redistributing it at our own will.

The Sunni's hate the simple fact that we came uninvited into their blood covered country and rested power from them with the intention of handing it back to people other than Sunni's. They were and remain the big losers and they don't like it one bit. They don't like anything we do. They hate everything we do. And they are going to oppose us, as long as we stand between them ruling Iraq and the Iraqi people ruling Iraq.

Unless we subdue them, they will never stop opposing us. Let them fear us first. Then perhaps we'll get their respect and later, their cooperation.

The French Government might not be our allies after all.

It says alot that French President Chirac snubs Interim Iraqi President Allawi and then visits a dead terrorist called Arafat and says, “I have come to bow before president Yasser Arafat and pay him a final homage,” saying this after a 25-minute visit.

Credit my most insightful wife Stella who picked up on this within a nano second of seeing Chirac parading in front of the cameras.

We Distort, You Comply

I commute from Connecticut to New York on the Metro North railroad. Foxnews channel chooses to place billboards ads in the carriages. From time to time, Foxnews also puts up billboards in the New York subway system. Check out another bloggers comments and photos on the Foxnews billboard defacements in New York. I've noticed that the billboards are always defaced within a very short period of time. Over the last six months I've noticed maybe half a dozen different billboards defaced. Sometimes a thick marker is used to pen "Liars" or some other similar scrawl. On one occasion someone had made a failed attempt to rip the sign in half.

But recently I noticed two separate occasions where a smaller than usual bumper sticker was used to obsure the Foxnews signage, "We report. You decide.". The defacing sticker is carefully made to fit exactly over the motto so that it is replaced with, "We distort. You comply."

Now defacing billboards is nothing new and perhaps it's not that important to note that Foxnews gets its own special treatment along with all the other hapless billboards of the world.
But what I find particularly unique in this instance of vandalism is the level of effort put forth. The vandal was particularly careful to accurately place the sticker exactly positioned in perfect horizontal and vertical alignment. This was no misguided youth making mischief. Someone went to a great deal of trouble to measure the size of the billboard white space for the text and went on to produce a sticker with closely matching typeface, then positioned the nefarious text in exact position.

The miscreant would then have to have the supply of stickers handy and on their person at all times as they ride the system. Or otherwise they would have to ride the trains all day long to come upon the billboards. If there is more than one person at work here, do they actually walk the carriages looking for the Foxnews billboards?

A Google search on "we distort you comply" returns T-shirt websites along with the usual sites that slam Foxnews. But I couldn't find any bumper stickers with that particular text. Does some leftist group actually produce these stickers? Or is some leftist showing rare entrepreneurial skills?

More importantly, what sort of weirdo, whether one or more, thinks that this is making any point other than that there are some seriously misguided people in the world?

A word on the Republican victory of 2004.

The National Review editorial says, "The president overcame the hostility of liberals, the media, European public and elite opinion, and some of the deepest pockets of the Left. He also guided his party to a broad victory: Not since 1936 has a president won reelection with expanded majorities in the House and Senate. Democrats will now have to rethink their positions on foreign policy and, if they have the stomach for it, on social issues as well."

Now, notice left leaning pundits, consultants, and hacks, in concert with main stream media; immediately implying that it is Bush who needs to "change the tone" and "bring the divided country back together".

Buncombe!

Actually, it is the liberals, and in particular, the Democrat party leadership that needs to cast a critical eye upon itself. For it is they who have the divisive platform and the nasty poisonous tone. It is the Democrat leadership who are "out of step with the American people". It is the - now defunct - John Kerry, John Edwards ticket who sees "a divided Amercia", "two America's".

As I write this, Neil Cavuto is interviewing Mark Levin (WABC radio) and after hearing nothing but "Bush needs to become a uniter", it is Mark who finally breaks my frustration with the media (courtesy of Foxnews, of course). His paraphrased words? "Actually the Republicans need to lean over the aisle and slap some of these democrats around."

It is the Democrat minority leader, Tom Daschle, who is now joining the unemployment line. It is the Democrat party that lost more seats in the Senate. It is the Democrat party that lost more seats in Congress. It is the Democrat presidential ticket that delivered a 51% to 48% majority to President Bush.

This is about the American people choosing the Republican party and the President, despite and in spite of, all the divisive rhetoric from the Democrats.

All of the states that had a referendum on marriage showed 60% or more support for marriage as being between a man and a woman.

Bush says in his victory speech "we have good allies on our side" and "we want our children to live in freedom and in peace".

Now we know Americans are not stupid or angry. They are team players - family people with family values. In other words, they are religious.

God bless America!

On Zarqawi and supporting al-qaeda:

One brief thought on al-zarqawi and his announcement of an alliance and support for al-qaeda.

My theory is that this is his opening gambit for taking over "leadership" of this fractious group. Figure head is extraordinarily important to any cult following. For some time now, al-qaeda has been operating without the cult figure head. And al-qaeda has suffered terrible losses, both strategic and tactical, over the last few years.

Zarqawi knows that now is the time to step in and fill the absence. He has the credentials. Brutal torture and throat cutting. Suicide bombings that make Hamas look small. Wide notoriety. Infamous!

His recent announcement is intended to increase recruitment (which we've seen others mention) but that plays second fiddle to him increasing his "prestige" and opens up a path for becoming "the leader".

I ran across a Chrenkoff artical talking about a Brendan Minter WSJ piece on Iraq and Post Totalitarian Stress Disorder. Here are my comments:

You ask if there is a cure for post totalitarian stress disorder. You mention time - and yes, that is one cure.
But there are two other strong curative pills that shorten the lifetime of PTSD.

i) strong infusions of external information about democratic, peaceful societies. Such information helps people to learn the new ways. Books, television, radio, libraries, photos, Internet, email, blogging, direct involvement with foreigners and foreign organizations, all are subtle change agents that facilitate individual life behavioral modifications. The process is one of self learning, self realizations and then finally, implementation in the self.

ii) the higher the level of brutalization by the totalitarian regime the more likely the group and individuals will reassess their thinking and behaviors to fit a new replacement model way of living. Saddams regime reached down to such a depraved level of brutality that even Sharia Islamic law pales in comparison. The Iraqi people as a whole and as individuals are able to be more readily "jolted" out of the old life behaviors as a result of the realization of the stark contrasts and differences between the old way. Such realizations point people toward the benefits of potential new ways.

These pyschological aspects are very similar to any person or group who has succumbed to or was born into, what are now known as, "high mind control organizations". Such organizations use thought reform as a way of controlling and influencing the group and individual membership. A person who escapes such organizations exhibits many of the symptoms of PTSD. Indeed, these people are suffering a form of PTSD in the conventional sense.

The process of recovery is long and painful. Victims may exhibit old dysfunctions from time to time and some of the old ways can be particularly difficult to overcome. But thankfully, the end result are people who live life with renewed and heightened vigor, inspiration and "soulfulness". Their eyes widen as they overcome one concept after another and their enjoyment of life becomes all the more heightened. Indeed in many ways, such people become more passionate about their new found freedom and understanding of the true value of such freedom. They even exceed levels of appreciation that those of us who grew up in freedom and democracy can never understand - we having never lived through the horror of Saddam's regime.

Paul buddy,

As long as you keep the conversation going and don't mind, I'm going to keep posting this on my blog. Now to business.

I don't think there are two America's. There's the left, the right and larger than I thought possible swinging center but the media trys to portray a "bipartisan divide". I don't see it.

The media in the US is very similar to the media in Australia. If you only read the newspapers and only watch 2,7,9 & 10 (OK a little SBS too) then you're not learning what the real Australia is. The same applies to the US. The main stream media actually subconsciously prefers to portray issues as left and right polarised. It makes it easier for them to make their output entertainment rather than put the hard work into teasing out the issues. Also, market forces tend to naturally push the media into polarising everything. Not just politics.

I'm not saying F/911 is completely wrong in all its footage and commentary. But it most certainly is a propaganda movie. The real problem I have with it is not the movie itself. It's the fact that Moore ends up winning an award under the guise of the movie being a documentary. It is not a documentary. Just the same for Bowline for Columbine. One was an anti-gun propaganda movie, the new one is an anti-bush propaganda movie. Neither of them are documentaries and I take issue with Moore for having portrayed them as documentaries. That is dishonest. One of the very things the left accuses Bush of (dishonesty) is exactly what their new poster boy Moore did to promote his movie.

As you mention, I have bad memories of Sept 11. I don't know any other way to put it. Fortunately, I was not actually close enough to feel the full horror. So the bad memories are good in a way, if that's possible. More importantly, I can say that my personal world was permanently shifted by September 11. As a result, I had to investigate just war theory. For too long I was willing to stroll along with sloppy thinking that allowed me to accept the basic premise that all new wars are bad. But in fact, that position is untenable. It implies that things can become far worse than even the horror of war and yet the Nation state won't use it's executive powers and prosecute a war to right wrongs. It also implies that history has somehow become detached from the present and future. No, I disagree with both ideas and left them behind shortly after Sept 11 along with several other flawed ideas. This has inevitably pushed me toward the right. And quite a long way right at that.

Bush did exactly the right thing when he chose to take the US military and remove the broken regimes of Afghanistan and Iraq. Now both countries have a chance to do things a little better. The end result in both Nations may not be Aussie or US or even Malaysian style peace and harmony. Infact, I very much doubt that either country will turn into downtown KL let alone downtown Sydney or New York. Still, it's possible! But at the very least, it would take a few decades. Regardless, what we do know is that whatever happens in those countries will be and is already a whole lot better than what they were before. And those Nations won't be outputing (as many) jihadi terrorists. Those would be the terrorists who are willing to massacre people like and you and me. People who just go to work and expect to be able to come out at the end of the day alive rather than incinerated - or forced to jump out from 1,200 ft to get away from the flames where moments before our laptops and our pictures of our wifes and our cubicles were peacefully enabling us to be productive citizens of a buzzing, humming society.

I find it extremely difficult to understand how the left has become so completely and utterly opposed to unleashing the dogs of war against the most brutal regimes when those two brutal regimes were the most likely candidates for removal to make the world safer from terrorism. Facts on the ground are that Saddam and the Taliban were directly aiding and supporting terrorism. That is grounds for removing them. Direct connection to September 11 or not, there was plenty of terrorist acts beforehand stretching back decades. The UN agreed and has several security council resolutions to prove it. But the UN doesn't intend on pretty much doing anything about it. So the US pulls together a group of allies who are willing to do something about it and they did.

I say - Bravo!

As always, great to be able to talk to you again bud and look forward to hearing from you.

PatrioticDuo

My old friend Paul asks:

"Whats your take on the Election now (the US one I mean). I am surprised that Bush is ahead given the situation in Iraq with Americans footing the bill. Is Kerry really that bad or do you think the media play a part in shaping opinions. Did you like Fahrenheit 9/11?"

I replied:

I think this article just about sums up my opinion on the Democrats, John Kerry et al.

http://www.slate.com/Default.aspx?id=2107193&

I wouldn't see F9/11 on principle but I'll say this: mendacity and paranoia!

I was here on Sept 11 and the planes were real, the fire and destruction were real, and the thousands murdered REAL and it wasn't Mr Bush who did it or conspired to do it. Anyone who suggests such a thing is working from outside of reality.

I guess Mr Bush conspired to kill Australians in Bali, the Beslan school children and the Spaniards too.

I am a strong subscriber to Occams Razor. Bin Laden and Hussein colluded together - see "The Connection - Stephen F Hayes" - Radical Islamic terrorists are waging a war on the West. It began in the late sixties, early seventies. It escalated slowly, was largely ignored in the 80's and 90's and became deadly serious on September 11.

And finally, a majority (slim perhaps but I am thinking Bush is going to win by about 5 to 10 points) of Americans support Liberty and Freedom and the same Americans believe that there is no cost that can be placed upon Liberty and Freedom. It doesn't matter what it costs. It has to be paid for - in blood and treasure.

Otherwise, we might as well all accept that radical militant sharia based Islam is going to send the world back into the dark ages. That's not a condition that most Americans are willing to accept - not for us and not for the rest of the world either. I won't let the western system of governance and justice be turned over to a blunt knife on my own infidel neck.

On beheadings:

Michael Ledeen at NRO finally puts some thinking forward that aligns with my own opinion on Islamic beheadings. This is a point that needs to be made - "This is not about us — it is about them. The beheading films are recruitment tools."

Notice how Islamic groups constantly use the collapse of the Twin Towers in recruitment videos. There are two points I would like to make as an extension to Michaels point.

One, there is simply not enough discussion about the nature of the horror of September 11. Apparently, we creatures are too sensitive and fragile to have to ponder, contemplate and work through the pain and the suffering and the horror, and besides, it smacks of ghoulish behavior - right? Wrong, I have many times pondered the horror that would have been experienced by one of the poor souls who would have faced the choice between having the skin melt off of their back versus taking their chances at surviving a 1,000 ft + fall. Imagine the feelings of those in the north tower who watched the south tower fall and knew it was only a matter of time before they met the same fate. What were people thinking as they made the commitment to jump? From 1,000 feet it would have taken 15-20 seconds of falling before impact. That's enough time for a person who has blacked out with fear as they leapt to come to and realize that they have just moments left to live. Why have we collectively chosen to block out the emotional impact of the pain and suffering of those murdered? Is it perhaps because we might get justifiably angry? Has anger been written off as permanently bad, even when justified? Is it possible to be angry while also remain steadfastly anchored to logic and reality? Ofcourse!

Two, Islam faces a problem when trying to find ways of straddling the justification of beheadings as part of its justice system whereas measured against the brutal summary executions carried out by Zarqawi and his ilk. The executions with a blunted knife demonstrate the tenuous nature of judicial control by any religion. Such religious authoritarion situations lead directly to the brutality that we are witnessing today. What will Islam do with the paradox that is i) promoting religion to a position of supreme judicial power along with endorsment of brutal punishments as compared to ii) political movements that endorse and revel in the brutal execution of innocents.

Or are they one and the same?