Revisionist History

 

 

"When you take a lie, and shine it up to look like the truth, it is still a lie..."

The Left is at it again. They never stop. Now it is the Russian incursion into Crimea that has them all spun up, whining about out lack of "moral authority" to say anything. In particular, that Commie who does the editorial cartoon for the Twin Cities fish wrap. So, it is once again up to the Bird to put a stop to revisionist history.

Every now and again I need to put this article I wrote years ago out of the closet and dust it off. Anyone who doubts the authentic nature of the facts is free to vet anything in the article. I will first give a summary of why we went into Iraq:

• The Iraq war was a continuation of a UN brokered truce from the Gulf War.
• Saddam gassed his own people.
• We did not take a drop of Iraq's oil. If we were a conquering nation, we could have.
• Saddam did have WMD. He was just smart enough to hid it in the Bekaa Valley prior to us removing him.

First some recent history concerning our relationship with Iraq. On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait for the expressed purpose of annexation. United Nations Security Council Resolutions 660 and 662 condemned Iraq's invasion and annexation plans and called for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi forces. Resolution 660 has never been rescinded by the United Nations. A United Nations ultimatum, Security Council Resolution 678, followed on November 29, 1990.  It stipulated that if Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein did not remove his troops from Kuwait by January 15, 1991 a U.S.-led coalition was authorized to drive them out. 

 

Early in the morning of January 17, Baghdad time, the U.S.-led coalition launched air attacks against Iraqi targets.  On February 24, coalition ground forces begin their attack.  On February 27, Kuwait City was declared liberated, and with allied forces having driven well into Iraq, President Bush and his advisers decided to halt the war.  A cease-fire took effect at 8:00 the following morning.

 

United Nations Security Council Resolution 687, signed by Iraq on April 3^rd, 1991 spelled out the conditions by which the cease fire would remain in effect. From a viewpoint of how the United Nations charter works, if resolution 687 was violated, then resolution 678 (which authorized hostilities with Iraq) would be in effect.

 

As we know, it is well documented that Iraq has violated the terms and conditions of 687 numerous times. So many times in fact, that the United Nations passed an additional 17 resolutions condemning and warning Iraq to adhere to the conditions of resolution 687. To use an analogy, Iraq was on probation after committing a crime and violated (many times) the condition of probation. The results of Iraq’s actions were that Desert Storm (under resolution 678) would and should continue.

 

Holding Iraq in “material breach” of its obligations under previous resolutions, the Security Council decided to afford it a “final opportunity to comply” with its disarmament obligations, while setting up an enhanced inspection regime for full and verified completion of the disarmament process established by resolution 687.

 

By the unanimous adoption of resolution 1441, signed on November 8, 2002, the Council instructed the resumed inspections to begin within 45 days, and also decided it would convene immediately upon the receipt of any reports from inspection authorities that Iraq was interfering with their activities.  It recalled, in that context, that the Council had repeatedly warned Iraq that it would face "serious consequences" as a result of continued violations.

 

This brings us to the current situation in Iraq. Iraq was warned numerous times to comply with resolution 687, culminated by the final warning in resolution 1441. The United Nations should have first imposed economic and military sanctions on Iraq and then followed that up with a resumption of conflict by a newly created coalition. Due to the inability of the United Nations to execute those remedies, the United States, along with a much smaller coalition than Desert Shield/Storm, went into Iraq and removed its government.

Stuck in the Land of Hyperbole

 

"I am starting to understand why this country is still stuck in neutral..."

Earlier this week, my wife and I went to a seminar on how to recognize mental illness, especially in youth.  Towards the end of the session, the topic of suicide came up. The instructor told us that thoughts of suicide amongst teens were "common" these days. I challenged her on that point. I was corrected as the data validated her point. When I asked "why?", a young man from a local college gave me this answer - "Kids have no hope these days. They read the paper. They know what is going on. They have no hope for the future."

I thought about that on the drive home. This young man was right. It is not the fault of young people - it is ours. We set this table. We elected (twice) the inexperienced incompetents that govern us right now.

A good example of why kids become disillusioned happened yesterday in the ongoing IRS investigation. It turned out to be a mess, a real kerfuffle, and made everyone look bad. So what are the facts, and please, no hyperbole:

• The IRS was caught with their hand in the cookie jar, targeting conservative groups such as the Tea Party. This was validated through many FOIA requests and the documentation on this point is immutable and solid.
• In the center of the storm is Lois Lerner. She is a careerist who has a long history of going after conservative groups. She had it in her former job at the FEC, and still has it at her IRS job as head of the Tax Exempt Organizations Division.
• Targeting conservative groups was not just "some rouge employees" at the Cincinnati office (as reported by the lap dogs) - it was endemic throughout the entire organization.
• The President and his defenders may refer to this as a "phony scandal", but is far from that. Most Americans, including myself eschew the misuse of this most powerful government organization for political reasons. It is simply un-American.
• Ms. Lerner's attorney's promised Congressman Issa she was ready to testify. Then she reneged, and again took the fifth. All hell broke loose with Representative Cummings who thought he had been "dissed" when the meeting was adjourned. It then became Issa's issue, and not Lerner's. Hyperbole, pure and simple.

So as we continue to bicker and obfuscate the truth, hungry bears are on the loose in the world. We govern like we are ungovernable - maybe we are. Truth has become a stranger and decorum is on long term disability. Nobody cares any longer about real justice, we are stuck with hyperbole and sophism. Maybe Washington needs to adopt the spirit of Lent and repent for past sins. Maybe, just maybe  we can then forgive those who got us in this mess.

A Man for No Seasons

 

 

"Anticipation of pleasure is often times better than pleasure itself..."

Many pundits have said our current President is the best campaigner in modern times. Even better than Clinton. The main difference between Clinton and Obama is once in a while Clinton would get around to governing. Obama never has. It is as the chase to become President was what he was really after. He does give the impression the job frightens him, it overwhelms him.

Why do I say that? In the middle of the biggest international crisis of his presidency, he did two very strange things. The first was another delay in parts of the problem ridden ACA. Again, like the other delays, it was for political reasons. The car is a lemon, and he does not want the new owner to know it until he is out of town.

The second thing was his GFY 2015 budget. It was straight out of the Twilight Zone. If the President had a sense of humor, many would have thought it was a joke. Nope - he meant every word of it. Raise taxes a trillion dollar in an economy which refuses to heal. Raise the Earned Income Credit which would throw even more people off the tax roles. Not address one penny in entitlement reform, and (get ready) spend like a drunken sailor.

It as if the President said, "I have to turn in the rental car, so I am going to beat the heck out of it one final time." He really does want to rescue Jimmy Carter from the dumpster of history. This is almost hard for me to say - the President seems to have a habit of turning left when he should either be going straight or turning right. Instead of being the man for all seasons he promised us in both campaigns, he has turned out to be a man for none. Not even winter.

More than one of my friends has said the next two years is going to be dreadful and dangerous for our country. I really was hoping this guy would have learned something from his first tour. He has not. I just hope when he turns in the rental car at the end of his term, it is not totaled.

Nuttin' Honey

 

 

"It is like watching a football game where one of the teams forgot to bring its defense..."

Prior to World War II, when every country in Europe was weak except for Germany and England, the table was set. When the Nazi menace started to roll, Euro countries (except for the UK) fell like dominoes. With the exception of some resistance movements, most of the countries on the Euro mainland did absolutely nothing to stop the Nazis. Nuttin' honey, Nada. Game over almost before it started.

Flash forward to today. With the Cold War over, the self-protection posture of most Euro countries is once again abysmal. In addition, many have become highly dependent on the Russian Bear for natural gas and oil. As mad as some may seem due to the recent Russian intrusion in Crimea, let me frame what the Euro Zone will do in response - nuttin' honey.

What our President should have done yesterday (and hopefully will today), is authorize the Keystone Pipeline. Then, open up more public land for drilling. Show the world we are ready to be a major supplier of natural gas and oil with no strings attached. You know - free market stuff.

We can kick Russia out of the G8 and have it go back to the G7. We can cancel our military cuts. We can penalize Russia's banks. We can further weaken the Ruble. I think Vladimir took most of these into consideration prior to making his move. This thing was war planned long before the Olympic Torch was lit. We were caught flat footed (again). If we allowed our NSA to once again snoop on the bad guys instead of our citizens, we might have known about it also.

If we sit an do nothing, the Russian Bear will enjoy his first bite of new territory. I doubt if it will be his last. History is replete with dictators and megalomaniacs who took advantage of the weakness of others. As much as we hate to admit it, the War on Terror continues AND we have bad guys running some countries in this world. For the first time in many decades, we are set up to be spectators to the carnage, rather than the deterrent. 

Chess and Marbles

 

 

"In the land of the blind, even a one eyed man can become king..."

Mike Rogers quotable quote from this weekend was "Putin is playing chess while Obama is playing marbles." I thought that summed up the current world situation nicely. To threaten the leader of Mother Russia is like a parent who does not believe in corporal punishment threatening to spank a child. Empty words.

My, oh my! How far we have fallen since Ronald Wilson Reagan was in charge! The "Gipper" was not cowed by Mikhail Gorbachev in the least. In fact, he was calling the Soviets out long before he became President. Even though the left leaning press LOVED Gorbachev, Reagan called a spade a spade. He called out the Soviets as "the evil empire". In turn, the Soviets respected and feared Reagan at the same time. We had peace through strength, complements of our 40th President. The Soviet empire dissolved because our President could play chess better than Gorbachev.

So what can we do to the Russian Bear when he starts to misbehave? Not much. The table has been set. We have weakened ourselves economically to the point where we are a debtor nation. Our friends don't trust us, and our advisories no longer fear us. In an ever more dangerous world, we have decided to pare down our military to a size most of us have not seen in our life time. "Peace through strength" has devolved into "Turmoil through weakness". The table is now set for something very, very bad to happen.

I told my wife last week there is irony. As bad as things are right now, economically, internationally, if our Constitution allowed a three term President, Obama would probably get re-elected. Why? Because many of us now believe in Santa Clause more than a strict parent who can enforce international rules. The Progressives have convinced us that life under Woodrow Wilson was Utopian. We no longer need to be a super power - that was so yesterday. We can just be a member of the League of Nations, a member of the team. Everybody is expected to get along and play fair. It is thinking like this which allowed Hitler to become Hitler.

So what will happen in the Ukraine and Crimea will happen. We will just be spectators. We can only hope and pray this naked aggression stops there. Some think this might be the beginning of the new Soviet Republic. A new world order. A new single super power. A new nightmare. God help us all if this is true.

Hands and Feet

 

 

"I want to be your hands
I want to be your feet
I'll go where you send me
I'II go where you send me"

Audio Adrenaline

"Hands and Feet"

Some days when I wake up and watch the news, I really wonder where we are going. Then I remember one thing. God is in control. Totally and absolutely in control. That being said, we are still living in a broken world. Even in this broken world, there are things we can do which make a difference. We have been given the book of instructions, the road map if you will, on what to do and how to do it. And it is not complicated. We need to love. We need to serve. We need to forgive.

I have always admired those who decide to shoulder the expense and rigors of traveling to far off lands to help those who really do have nothing. I have never done it, and I don't believe I ever will. That type of service is not for everyone. Like I said, I really admire those who chose that type of commitment.

However, for those who wish to serve the hungry, the homeless, and the hurting, opportunities abound close to home. When I say close to home, for many, it is much closer than you think. March is National Food Shelf Month. It is when the food shelves are low and need to get a huge influx of food. The good news is the number of people who donate keeps going up. The bad news is the number of people who need food assistance is also going up, and fast.

There are many families who are one sickness, one job loss, one major expense away from using food shelves. Very few of us are immune these days. Donating to the food shelf is an "easy give". Most grocery stores have pre-made bags for $5 or $10 containing items the food shelves really need. Even stores like Menards have a food shelf donation box. It is as inexpensive as it is easy.

"There but by the grace of God go I", is something many of us have heard in our lifetimes. As we have been blessed, it is expected we in turn bless others. Clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and helping the hurting has been our call to action since day one. God knows we can't do it all - He just expects we do something.

The Mouse that Squeaked

 

 

 

"If you don't stop doing that, I am going to get really, really, really mad!"

Back in the 1950's, there was a novel (actually a short story) called The Mouse that Roared. It was about a mythical country in Europe called Duchy of Grand Fenwick. In this satirical story, this very puny country decided a cure to its financial ills would be to declare war on America. The plan was to fight to a quick defeat, and then have America take care of the Duchy as a vanquished enemy. It was great fun and a good read.

Today's news out of the Ukraine is not good, not good at all. It seems that Vladimir has used up all of his good behavior during the Olympics and resorted to a wee bit of KGB type diplomacy. In other words, Russia has seen an opening in the Ukraine to reinsert itself. A throwback to the good old Soviet Republic. It is a move reminiscent of the Cold War.

Right on the heels of having his fairly new SECDEF tell the world we are going to unilaterally disarm, our POTUS broke free from a Democratic happy hour yesterday to "warn" the Russians that "there will be consequences" if this intrusion continues. Instead of a roar, our warning came off as more of a squeak. Maybe we could draw another "red line" like we did in Syria. Okay, maybe a pink line then, if we think red is too harsh. The bottom line is this - "we ain't going to do spit" (as they say in the Old West).

We are broke and have faltering credit. We have a military which every year gets smaller and less trained. What exactly are we going to do to this big bully from Moscow? By the way, he has a warship now docked in Cuba. Shades of 1960? The North Koreans are launching missiles into the sea, the Iranians have two warships off our international boundary waters, the Chinese are flexing their "Blue Water Navy" muscle against Japan, and now the Russian Bear is once again waking up. And we are disarming, Woodrow Wilson style.

The President of the United States has said or inferred many times that we should not be a super power. We should be an ordinary power. That is the fair thing to do. The United Nations continues to be a feckless organization against anything aggressive, so without a strong USA and UN, the wolves will once again control the forests.

As a retired vet, it breaks my heart to write what I just did. I lived through the gutting of our military under Jimmy Carter. The way we are going now, this President will make Carter look like a war hawk.