General Update

The following are brief updates of topics previously discussed in detail.

The War on Terror:

Three years ago I noted that the United States had chosen a strategy that was more offensive than defensive in nature to deal with the worldwide threat of terrorism.  My position at the time was that I favored a more defensive strategy.  In retrospect, our military has achieved a number of successes in eliminating certain terrorist leaders and no major terrorist attacks have succeeded during the period.  However, our defensive measures, as well as a degree of good luck, have also played a significant role in thwarting several planned or attempted attacks.  The question is whether or not our continued military operations in the Middle East will produce a net positive or net negative outcome.  Does our military presence provide impetus for continued recruitment of terrorists?  Indeed, we now seem to be mired down in the Afghanistan conflict while terrorist groups continue to reform and replace fallen leaders.

Al-Queda, the Taliban, Osama bin Ladin and the like remain threats and the source of terrorist recruits in the Middle East seems almost limitless.

We keep hearing that victory in Afghanistan is essential but it’s unclear to me how one would define victory.  If it means driving out the Taliban and installing a democratic government in Afghanistan, have we not already done that once?  I seriously question if such a lasting goal can be achieved in a country ruled for so long by warlords and terrorists.  Is a strong central Afghan government achievable and capable of securing the peace anytime in the foreseeable future?

A Digression:

The situation in Iraq and our need to intervene there was a totally different matter.  Before there was any serious talk about WMDs in Iraq, I was convinced that we were morally obligated to rid that country of Saddam Hussein’s regime.  After hearing first-hand accounts of how Iraqi people were being brutalized, tortured and murdered in his effort to maintain iron-fisted rule, I knew that U.S. intervention was the only hope these people had of escaping the horrors of Saddam.  The many U.N. resolutions were doing no good.  Aside from attacking his neighbors, Saddam used poisonous gas in killing thousands of Kurds in his own country.  He tortured parents in front of their children and murdered many others as evidenced by our discovery of mass graves.  This man was every bit as evil as Adolf Hitler and no one with compassion for human life would want to allow this brutality to continue.  It’s unfortunate that this aspect of Saddam’s reign of terror rather than WMDs was not brought forward as the primary reason for our intervention in Iraq. (see following chronicle of atrocities)

Chronicle of the atrocities committed by Saddam Hussein:
Hussein's regime killed, tortured, raped and terrorized the Iraqi people and its neighbors for over two decades.
Hundreds of thousands of people died as a result of Saddam's actions.
Saddam had approximately 40 of his own relatives murdered.
1980-88: Iran-Iraq war left 150,000 to 340,000 Iraqis and 450,000 to 730,000 Iranians dead.
1983-1988: Documented chemical attacks by Iraqi regime caused some 30,000 Iraqi and Iranian deaths.
1988: Chemical attack on Kurdish village of Halabja killed approximately 5,000 people.
1987-1988: Iraqi regime used chemical agents in attacks against at least 40 Kurdish villages.
1990-91: 1,000 Kuwaitis were killed in Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
1991: Bloody suppression of Kurdish and Shi'a uprisings in northern and southern Iraq killed at least 30,000 to 60,000. At least 2,000 Kurdish villages were destroyed during the campaign of terror.      
2001: Amnesty International report: "Victims of torture in Iraq are subjected to a wide range of forms of torture, including the gouging out of eyes, severe beatings and electric shocks... some victims have died as a result and many have been left with permanent physical and psychological damage."
Human Rights Watch: Saddam's 1987-1988 campaign of terror against the Kurds killed at least 50,000 and possibly as many as 100,000 Kurds.
Refugees International: "Oppressive government policies have led to the internal displacement of 900,000 Iraqis."
Iraq's 13 million Shiite Muslims, the majority of Iraq's population of approximately 22 million, faced severe restrictions on their religious practice.
FBI: Iraqi government was involved in a plot to assassinate former President George Bush during his April 14-16, 1993, visit to Kuwait.
The Iraqi regime has repeatedly refused visits by human rights monitors.
From 1992 until 2002, Saddam prevented the U.N. Special Rapporteur from visiting Iraq.

(Sources: Office of the White House Press Secretary: Life Under Saddam Hussein: Past Repression and Atrocities by Saddam Hussein's Regime; April 4, 2003, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/04/iraq/20030404-1.html; "Iraq: Crimes Against Humanity," State Department, May 7, 2002, http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/iraq/crimes; "Iraq: U.S. Alleges Role in Bush Death Plot," Facts on File May 20, 1993; http: www.2facts.com; http://www.2facts.com/stories/temp/10882temp1993053677.asp)

This history presents us with a broader question that we must be prepared to address whenever it arises in the future.  What is our moral obligation as the world’s remaining super-power to protect innocent people from being brutalized by truly evil tyrants?  Should we turn a blind eye to such things as the most horrible forms of torture and murder simply because they are taking place in another country or, in the absence of any effective UN, should we intervene when the degree of inhuman brutality reaches such proportions?  I for one feel that we must intervene in order to preserve the best of human nature while helping to rid the world of the worst.

Getting back to the current problem of terrorism, I still feel that defensive measures may prove the best in the long run.  If we seal our borders (also needed to counteract the influx of illegals), closely monitor the activities on non-citizens in the U.S. and convince the Islamic world to police themselves, eliminate fanaticism and renounce terrorism.  Understanding Cultural Relativism, I am somewhat hesitant to express the following but I truly believe that the peace loving Muslims themselves hold the key to solving this problem.  Terrorists, suicide bombers and the like should not be considered martyrs by the Islamic world, but as enemies of Allah.  A growing number of moderate Muslims favor such a transition and, hopefully, a more up-to-date and refined face of Islam will be appreciated by the world.

The Immigration Problem:

As I pointed out in a recent article we need to stop thinking of people who illegally enter our country as some form of immigrants.  Those who immigrate to the U.S. follow a prescribed legal procedure for becoming permanent residents of this country.  Those who crash our borders disregard our laws and are simply criminals.

This criminal activity can and should be stopped.  By not taking decisive action in this regard, our government is failing to perform its primary role of defense.  The reason for not doing this is clear.  The politicians are more interested in votes than in the best interests of the country.  We certainly have the manpower and advanced technology to accomplish this.  It’s ironic that existing federal laws are not being enforced and that enforcement of similar state laws is even being opposed by the federal government.

Climate Change (Global Warming):

Yes the climate is changing.  It has been changing for millions of years and will continue to do so in the future.  The contribution of human activity to this change, if any, has not been established.  There are literally scores of scientists on both sides of this issue.  I’ve published my own assessment of this question and will not rehash it here.  The only update that I will add at this time is that there appears to little chance that human intervention will alter the course of nature in any significant way.