Sun is out this morning and to show my gratitude I am not even going to complain about the impending onset of humidity with the heat. I'm just happy it's not raining.
The big news last night was the release of a recently declassified document showing that troops in Iraq have found over 500 chemical weapons buried in country. They began finding them in 2003, right after the war began. More will be found as time goes on and the puzzle is solved. The weapons are probably pre-Gulf War munitions but they could still be sold on the black market and used outside Iraq. The weapons are loaded with mustard gas, which is probably not too effective now and with serum gas which is probably still effective.
The rabid left, the "Bush lied" crowd is none too please with this development. They are busy downplaying the discovery and claiming these weren't the weapons of mass destruction the administration was talking about during the run up to the war. Perhaps not, but a weapon is a weapon, isn't it? It is further evidence Saddam never came clean about the chemical weapons he refused to destroy in compliance with the agreement he signed at the conclusion of the first Gulf War. More weapons will be found and the bulk of what supplies Saddam had were moved out of country as the run up to this war happened. Saddam buried complete jets under the sand so weapon stockpiles would be a piece of cake to bury.
It is curious that the administration doesn't willingly produce this discovery to toot its own horn. One thought is that Russia was a willing partner with Saddam to move the stockpiles out of Iraq before the war. The thought goes that the administration doesn't want to make waves with Russia right now. Of course, the administration never thought that the loyal opposition in this country would make the "Bush lied" argument ad nauseum either. I say they should immediately produce the evidence of weapons as soon as they are found. Not that the braying crowd will be satisfied...
It is encouraging that the majority of the Senate democrats are not going along with the likes of John Kerry and Carl Levin and Jack Reed with their cut and run motions on the Senate floor. The votes are today. For a political year with re-elections in the balance, the democrats can't be anti-war (Bush's war, you see) enough. The base of the party demands it. They just don't want the rest of the country to think they are really supporting anything less than a completed mission. The Levin/Reed amendment states it is a "sense" that the senate thinks the troops should be out of Iraq beginning December 31, 2006. "Sense" is a non-binding agreement, not an amendment made into set law. The Kerry amendment, however, would be a law, if signed, and calls for complete withdrawal on July 1, 2007. After the original Kerry amendment was voted down, 93-6, a few days ago, I don't think moving the date by 6 months will do the trick for getting the votes, either. Just as after his Vietnamese service, Kerry is running to the lecturn to discredit the military. Soldiers dying in vain doesn't seem to bother him in the least.
Further baying at the moon as they blame America, Madeleine Albright - not so bright- is bashing the Bush administration for not caving into N. Korea's demands for unilateral talks. Albright's appeasement to N. Korea expedited our current situation but don't trouble yourself with that glaring fact. First the bashers insisted on foreign policy by committee - only acting if there is a large willing coalition. We did that with N. Korea by insisting the neighboring countries conduct the talks - with emphasis on Chinese leadership. Now that the 6 part talks haven't produced much in the way of results, it's time to criticize the administration for not handling the talks alone. Just can't win with the the squishy chorus. It's another example of if you don't stand for principle you'll fall for anything. The short chubby guy in the jumpsuit and crazy hair thinks we'll fall for his nonsense again. All major European leaders have voiced support for our handling of Iran and N. Korea.
Albright thinks otherwise, but N. Korea is not of this administration's making. I listened to a young woman, born in Korea and now living here and working for a think tank in D.C., explain that the blaming of the administration for the problems with the N. Korea weapons pursuits is just wrong. It is N. Korea that is to be held accountable, not the U.S. She was voicing her frustration with the blame America crowd and these people thinking everything lays at the feet of George W. Bush. Appeasement is not an option. N. Korea has yet to abide by an agreement and there is no indication they would begin now.
"9/11 was just a moment for Europe, it was a change of thinking for America." - President George W. Bush, 6/21/06, Vienna, Austria
1 comment:
I heard a story I thought you would appreciate.
John Kerry is quite the sportsman, ski jetting, boating, fishing and such. In 2004 he took time off the campaign trail to go fishing all by himself, far from the cameras and secret service guys. But the boat started rocking, he started waving his hands and fell in. With all that training, he had forgotten to learn how to swim.
Three little boys were playing on shore. They saw this man flailing about in the water and correctly surmised that he was drowning. So they jumped in, swam out to him and brought him to shore. There they did CPR and got the water out of his lungs and he woke up.
He was so appreciative. He asked them if they knew who he was. When they said no, he beat his chest and said,"You just saved the next president of the United States! I'm John Kerry! And I would like to reward you, anything you want!"
The first little boy wanted a bicycle and Kerry said, "Done!" The second boy wanted a car. Kerry said, "You're not 16 but when you turn 16, it's yours!"
The third little boy said, "I'll just take a nice tombstone please." "A tombstone?" replied Kerry. "Yes," said the boy, "A tombstone. Because when my daddy finds out what I just did, he is going to KILL ME!"
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