A Foolish Appeaser

Barack Obama declared his intention to seek rapprochement with "moderate" elements within the Taliban to bring them into the political process and bring peace to Afghanistan. The idea that there are any Wahhab fanatics who comprise the Taliban-a collection of hardened Sunni extremists who are the most violent misogynists who have ever lived and who gladly employ horrific barbarism to advance Islamist tyranny,  who can be negotiated with, is absurd. These terrorists, who gladly hosted bin Laden and al Qaeda and offered him their protection even after the September 11 attacks, must be defeated on the field of battle. There is nothing to talk with them about-they are wanton murderers who kill under the guise of religion and enforce their will by publicly executing those who demur often by beheading as was the case when a twelve year old boy was made to sever the head of an alleged American spy with a dull blade. The Taliban murdered a woman because her profession was dancing. If it took re-instituting the draft to put sixteen million men under arms as we had during World War II, it would be worth it to rid the world of this atavistic scourge. There are no moderate Taliban to engage any more than there were moderates among the Iranian ruling cadre during Iran-Contra.  Our Secretary of State rushed this week to appease the recently aggressive Russia, blaming the breakdown in relations between the countries not on Russia's bad actions that included invading a former Soviet republic, cutting off natural gas to neighbors in the heart of winter, and a campaign of murder against critics including reporters in Russia and even a former Russian agent in London, but on the Bush forty-three administration for a supposedly bellicose anti-Russian posture that never existed. Relations worsened with Moscow solely because Russia is turning herself back into an aggressive tyranny just as she was in the bad old Cold War days under the imprimatur of Soviet Communism. It is a shame there are no Jack Kennedys or "Scoop" Jacksons left in our ruling party who seek to confront and defeat evil in the world, rather than seek a cowardly compromise with it.

Obama's Grave Miscalculations

Obama gave his first television interview and it happened to be to an Arab TV network. Did he try and put the fear of God into those who would attack America, her allies, or her interests? Did Obama tell the Islamists to think twice about the atavistic Dark Age violence they have returned to today's world? No, he offered more mea culpas for the actions of the nation he now leads. Obama is committed to talking to Syria and Iran. They will not recognize this as commendable outreach, but correctly see this as weakness and appeasement. Only Israel is dancing to Obama's tune. Israel stopped short of victory to end operations in Gaza before the Obama inauguration. Israel is already facing ceasefire violations with fatal consequences as an Israeli soldier was killed by a roadside bomb. Will Israel resume hostilities and finish off the genocidal Hamas terrorists who hold Gaza and prospective Palestinian statehood hostage now? No, Israel is not afraid of Hamas or any other Palestinian entity, or for that matter, the single or collective might of all the Arab states. Israel is in mortal fear of what the Iranian fanatics are developing and Israelis are also deeply concerned that her greatest ally America under the new President may betray Israel and the democratic values she and the US share selling out the Jewish state to the ravening wolves, Arab and Persian murderers.