Letter from a Friend

This came in email earlier from a friend who happens to be a former politician and front line combat journalist from South Africa. I think it really sums up the election:

That your state is about to elect the first [endorsed by] Nation of Islam President? I do not share the rose tinted vision of the bien pensants in the media. I think this guy is Jimmy Carter Mark 2. America will probably survive him, but there are many places and people in the world who will not.

Case in point is Sudan where I was for a month and a half a year ago. This perfectly illustrated the different effects of Republican and Democrat foreign policies. There were glimmers of US support during the presidency of George Bush 1 when some pressure was applied to the arab government in Khartoum. But that disappeared during Clinton’s terms and the northern government and their janjaweed militas continued to wage their 23 year war on the south. It was a war prosecuted without discrimination. One of the villages where I was Kenyan told me that when he arrived a year before as one of the first international aid workers every time the village dogs heard a plane overhead they ran for the bush because they were programmed to escape from the Antonovs which frequently came to bomb. British anti-slavery activists have documented how the northerners raided for slaves throught the conflict. The Arabic term for slave (abeed) is the same as the Arabic word for black person.

When W came in it all began to change. He began squeezing the Khartoum government to the point (it is rumoured) that he sent in military teams to aid the SPLA. Whether that part is true or not, it worked. There was a deal and the country is at peace for the first time since the early 80’s.

The point is that any US administration that does not recognise that there are evil bastards in the world and treat them accordingly means that the bad guys try and get away with stuff they would not otherwise attempt. It happened under Carter when the US refused to involve itself in conflicts like Angola, Iran and Afghanistan. The result was widespread killing and misery for the people of those countries. Some of it lasted for years- most of it is out of sight of the media who are not terribly moved unless it fits the script of western wickedness. If the one becomes the president a lot of poor people in distant parts of the world are going to get hammered.OK – rant over. offended by my third world viewpoint

The point to make is whether, to elect the first "black" -- in fact half Arab -- president of the US we're willing to sacrifice millions of Africans.

Remember or Repeat

Tomorrow marks something besides election day. It marks the 29th anniversary of the fall of the American embassy in Iran and the beginning of 444 days of captivity for 52 of the original 60+ hostages. It's important that we remember that time, and the events and leadership -- or perhaps I should say lack of leadership -- that led up to it.

I was in college on Nov. 4, 1979. When I entered the commons for the grad school I was attending, I was met by a number of current and retired members of the military. They were gathered around tables, heads bent together, talking softly but urgently. There was a palpable anger and frustration to the room, one I understood. The consensus among these brave men and women was that we wouldn't be in this position if we had a president who was a force to be reckoned with. Instead of a man of action, we had a man of words and ineffectual words at that. Our enemies didn't respect him, nor did they fear him. And, as proof of that point, these Iranian "students" had stormed our embassy and taken hostages, unconcerned by what might happen.

Because, my friends, they knew we wouldn't do anything they need fear.

The saying goes that if we don't learn from history, we are bound to repeat it. What happens tomorrow when we go to the polls very well may put us on a path where we will repeat the problems that led to the fall of the embassy in Tehran. That scares me because our enemies are more brazen, more willing to commit suicide in their attempts to kill as many Americans as possible. We saw that on 9/11. We've seen it on the streets of Israel where suicide bombers walk into crowded shopping areas before blowing themselves -- and everyone around them -- to smithereens. We can't allow that to continue.

Which it will under an Obama Administration. He hasn't shown wisdom nor commitment to the principles that are the very foundation of this country in his personal associations (remaining associated with Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers, etc.). He speaks of sitting down and talking with enemies of our country without preconditions for talks. If you listen to him, his rhetoric is more representative of the former USSR under Lenin than the USA. He talks of "redistribution of wealth", the creation of a "civilian police force" to protect national interests instead of the military, mandatory public service, and he has bragged how, under his administration, he would bankrupt any new coal power plant.

What that means is that the only stick he will carry will be the one used to force Americans into the mold he wants. It won't be applied against the enemies of this country. Where they are concerned, he will speak softly and carry an even softer stick. Can we survived that as a nation? Possibly. But dare we risk it?

No, we dare not. So, if you haven't voted, do come Tuesday. As you go into the voting booth, consider what happened 29 years ago when we had another president who spoke softly and carried no stick, a president who thought words alone were enough to survive in a world where there are individuals and countries who would like nothing more than to destroy us and our way of life. The next time, it won't be the storming of an embassy or the hijacking of a few planes to fly into buildings. It will be a dirty bomb in the middle of a major population center or worse.

Vote. Vote your conscience and vote for what is best for this country.