President Bush and all of us who grew up in the shadows of World War II remember Winston Churchill -- his grit, his daring, his resolve. I remember listening to his speeches on a vinyl album in the pre-iPod era. Two years ago I spoke about Iraq at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., where Churchill had drawn a line between freedom and fear in his "iron curtain" speech. In preparation, I reread some of the many words from various addresses that made him famous. Something in one passage caught my eye. When Churchill urged, "Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty, never give in," he added: "except to convictions of honour and good sense."
This is a time for such convictions.
It's hard to figure out exactly what Kerry's point is in this piece, as it's all over the place. The primary point appears to be whacking Bush over "steadfastness" that has become "stubbornness," and that Kerry's own trip to Syria last week was a good idea because "conversation is not capitulation." Bush, he says, should talk to terrorism-supporting nations much as Nixon spoke to the Chinese, and Reagan spoke to the Russians. The logic doesn't hold very well, as Reagan spoke from a position of strength, which was always Churchill's position. He leaves out the bit about Nixon talking to the North Vietnamese perhaps because ultimately, that ended very badly.
For a palate cleanser on this subject, go here.
Prairie Pundit: "Kerry remains one of the most incoherent men in public life."
Old War Dog Bill at Bill's Bites unleashes an artillery barrage. It's OK, Bill. The digging is good. Let him keep digging.
Gateway notices that Kerry's Syria travel buddy, Christopher Dodd, has upped the cut-and-run rhetoric.
Meanwhile, the Ethiopians, not feeling conversational at present, are dropping Christmas presents on the al-Qaeda loving Islamic Courts Union in Somalia. Dan Riehl's roundup.
Junkyardblog reckons the Ethiopians, seeing as they have custody of the Ark of the Covenant, need to mount that thing on an AC-130 gunship and rain a little righteousness down on the ICU. OK! Be sure to follow JYB's link to strange Ethiopian archaeological site.
In the Captain's Quarters, Ed studies the lay of the land and sea approaches in Somalia.
6 comments:
Excerpted and linked at Just can't stop digging, can you asshole?
Isn't it odd that sKerry wasn't asking for this type of reaction from President Clinton during his November 1997 speech before the Senate, titled "We Must Be Firm With Saddam Hussein?"
Excerpts:
“In my judgment, the Security Council should authorize a strong U.N. military response that will materially damage, if not totally destroy, as much as possible of the suspected infrastructure for developing and manufacturing weapons of mass destruction, as well as key military command and control nodes. Saddam Hussein should pay a grave price, in a currency that he understands and values, for his unacceptable
behavior.
*****
This should not be a strike consisting only of a handful of cruise missiles hitting isolated targets primarily of presumed symbolic value. But how long this military action might continue and how it may escalate should Saddam remain intransigent and how extensive would be its reach are for the Security Council and our allies to know and for Saddam Hussein ultimately to find out.”
****
“Should the resolve of our allies wane to pursue this matter until an acceptable inspection process has been reinstituted--which I hope will not occur and which I am pleased to say at this moment does not seem to have even begun--the United States must not lose its resolve to take action.”
in nothing, great or small, large or petty, never give in," he added: "except to convictions of honour and good sense."
Perhaps Mr. Kerry should heed these words and get out of politics. It would be a mercy to us all.
"Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty, never give in,"
You can take this as an indicator of my resolve.
This is MUCH more than just the Ethiopians. They're just the overt muscle for the moment.
We've been prepping them, the Eritrians, and Kenyans for for quite a while now. You have to sift through years of CJTF-HOA press releases and read between the lines to put the whole tapestry together though.
I figured out that Ethiopia was going to be a key player a month and a half ago ;->
Mr. Kerry forgets that President Nixon talked to the North Vietnamese with overwhelming force Hanoi and Haiphong never encountered from 35,000 feet during Operation Linebacker II, The Christmas Bombing, that brought North Vietnam back to the Paris Peace Table.
The plan these is multipolar from the US/EU/Arab States/Israel to calm tensions in areas where Iran holds influence while progressively isolating Iran possibly provoking Operation Linebacker III, the Strategic Bombardment of Iran, designed to make The Supreme Leader and minions more pliant when discussing the Enrichment Program and Regional issues.
2007 should be an interesting and decisive year in the Middle East. Iran will be brought to heel one way or another. There is no other curative to the instability in the Region.
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