Posted on 12/31/2001 1:51:39 AM PST by H.R. Gross
December 31, 2001
My last New Year's column contained a statement that stands out, in retrospect, as a prediction and a warning that, unfortunately, went unheeded. America, I wrote,
"Stands astride the world, a global Gulliver lording it over the Lilliputians. But at the apogee of its power, the US is subject to the irony of world hegemony – increased vulnerability."
Little did I know how vulnerable. Like most Americans, I never imagined that, less than a year later, we would all be staring in disbelief at the smoking ruins of the Pentagon – and a good part of downtown Manhattan. But I knew something was amiss: "In the coming year," I predicted, "the profiteers of empire will be especially busy selling the whole panoply of 'good works' the US is performing overseas," especially in "the Middle East, where we are ostensibly fighting another bogey of the modern world, 'terrorism.' Whether the American people are buying it is another question."
Well, if they weren't buying it before, now they certainly are – and with a vengeance. As the US goes rampaging through Central Asia in search of Osama bin Laden and his Terrorist International, the War Party has been given a blank check – and they're diddling over how much to make it out for. But you didn't have to be a certified seer, a Nostradamus or a Jean Dixon, to see what was coming over the horizon. Reiterating the Clintonian record – a new military intervention every few months – I wrote:
"These days, the brazen belligerence of the US goes way beyond arrogance and all the way to hubris, the old Greek conception of a pride so overweening that it literally begs to be toppled, like Icarus felled for daring to approach the sun."
Yet Icarus hasn't learned his lesson. Still reaching for that bright orb, he doesn't realize he's been blinded. Lashing out, he stumbles about in the darkness, bellowing like a wounded giant, and wreaking devastation across the globe. Already the ripple effect caused by the US military campaign has caused disruption throughout the region, with India moving quickly to destabilize Pakistan. The nutball Hindu nationalists who hold sway in New Delhi have recently acquired a cache of new weapons from Israel – and don't think they won't use them.
India and Israel have a lot in common: not only a mutual hatred of Islam, but also an expressed willingness to use nuclear weapons. It was not for nothing, after all, that Israel recently admitted what it has always officially denied (even though everyone knew the story of Mordecai Vanunu): yes, they have nukes. But why admit this now, at the height of the crisis, unless it is meant as a warning that they won't hesitate to use them?
On the other side of the Middle East, New Delhi's Brahmins are wielding the nuclear stick more openly, explicitly threatening Pakistan with the unthinkable. At issue is the Vale of Kashmir, a section of Central Asia so mountainous and inaccessible that it makes the terrain of Afghanistan look like a golf course. India has always claimed it, in spite of its overwhelmingly Muslim population. If India allowed a real national referendum, Kashmir would doubtless go with Pakistan, but New Delhi's "Great Power" conceit would never permit that, and so the region has been in a constant state of war since the partition of India and Pakistan more than 50 years ago.
From this lair of Islamic "terrorism," various Islamic tribes and groups have launched attacks on India proper, and the Brahmins, asserting their regional hegemony, have decided to follow the good example of the United States in pursuing "terrorism" to its source. Since the Indians aver – without offering any proof – that the terrorist attacks have been organized and directed by Islamabad, and that these groups are little more than proxies for Pakistan, in effect a de facto state of war already exists between the two nuclear-armed nations. And the conflict is rapidly spreading….
The news that China has moved its troops up to the border with India should have hit the headlines like a thunderclap. The dominoes are falling fast, and even rippling outward to the edge of the world, where North Korea – starving, desperate, and demented – teeters on the brink. The "mystery ship" that invaded Japanese waters and was sunk by the Japanese Defense Force sent shockwaves through Japan, and globalized this perilous moment.
Are we standing on the brink of World War III? It all depends on just how crazy are the Hindu nationalists who rule an increasingly bizarre and militant India. Perhaps not all of them are particular devotees of Kali, goddess of destruction – all I know is that Kali holds a central place in the Hindu pantheon, and she no doubt has lots of fans. Here, for example, is an Associated Press story detailing the mindset of the people of Jaisalmer, India, who live near the border with Pakistan, who are "aching for war":
"'Bring on another war, we are ready,' shouts Jagdish Prasad Vasa, a craggy shopkeeper who has lived through the three wars between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947. His war cries draw similar chants from the old turbaned men drinking sweet tea at the foot of the sandcastle-like fort.
"'The Jaisalmeris are warriors by nature, always on alert and never afraid to fight,' says Vasa, spitting out juice from his 'gutkha,' a concoction of tobacco, betel nut and spices. 'It's time to put Pakistan down, for good.'"
We've heard all this highfalutin' theorizing about how Islam, at least in its Wahabist incarnation, is the equivalent of "Islamo-fascism," but how much more explicit can you get than deifying the concept of Destruction? If I were the Pakistanis, I wouldn't rule out the distinct possibility of an Indian first strike – would you?
C'mon, we knew it was coming. I immediately after reading that WHOLE article knew that the central point would be the old race baiting anti semite crowd would join in, and sure enough. Give it a minute or two and they will all show up with the same mantra.
As if you really care whether Christians are attacked. Still shooting feckless little darts from your hyperbole bow, I see.
Neither did any sensible rational people here. However, I knew it was coming, and sure enough. Boy I could really make a fortune if I bet my money on them showing up each time and using the same old mantra.
Par is a good score here.
I claim the record for most visits to a 'Raimondo' thread without ever -- not once -- reading his column.
http://onlinedictionary.datasegment.com/word/Aculeus/
"Aculeus \A*cu"le*us\ (&?;), n.; pl. Aculei (&?;). [L., dim. of acus needle.] 1. (Bot.) A prickle growing on the bark, as in some brambles and roses. --Lindley."
In other words, you're a prick, albeit a very small one....
Wow. Did Justine visit the New Spotlite with its "Synagogue of Satan" department? Or is he just hoping that he'l get the incantation right this year?
Why is it that Free Republic has become such a sewer containing the increasingly manic insanity pouring from antiwar.com?
I don't believe I, or anyone else, has claimed India is a "Jewish state". I've only pointed out that your the one who has tried to link Israel and India. And, no, I don't think that an attempt to blame Israel as contributing to a possible WWIII means you "hate Jews".
I also find it interesting that your link about "nutball Hindu nationalists" oppressing Christians takes you to a Sikh national separtist site advertising a book "Soft Target" that alledges that Indian intelligence brought down an Air India jetliner in 1985 just so they could blame it on Sikh nationalists. But, no, I don't think your reliance upon nutball Sikh separtist sites means you "hate Hindus" either.
What bothers me about the nuclear situation in Pakistan and India is the refusal of some to take actions against those who find it convienient to launch cross-border attacks against innocent civilians. Pakistan must learn, as did Afghanistan, that one refuses to act against terrorists at their own peril. I am bothered by those who blame countries who are victims of cross-border terrorism for defending their own civilians rather than blame the country that allows itself to be used as a base for terrorism. I am bothered by those who use suspect sites such as the "Council for Kalistan" to make unfounded accusations against those who would defend their own citizens. Just how many terrorist attacks have been launched by Sikh separtists in India?
What in your opinion should America do about Sept 11? Nothing? Lob a few cruise missiles at a cave in Afghanistan and call it a day? That would be Bill Clinton's choice and the authors apparently. hmmmm
Already the ripple effect caused by the US military campaign has caused disruption throughout the region, with India moving quickly to destabilize Pakistan. The nutball Hindu nationalists who hold sway in New Delhi have recently acquired a cache of new weapons from Israel and don't think they won't use them.
India and Pakistan have been at each others throats for quite a while with no help from us. I think its disingenuous to blame that conflict on the US. Islamic terrorists from Pakistan attack the Indian parliament and the author blames India for destabilizing Pakistan??? That is just too funny! If the freely elected government of India has acquired weapons from the freely elected government of Israel for defense against the Islamic military dictatorship of Pakistan who encouraged the recent terror attack on the Indian parliament I think its great and I hope they smash the murdering muslim fanatics who would destroy their freedom.
We've heard all this highfalutin' theorizing about how Islam, at least in its Wahabist incarnation, is the equivalent of "Islamo-fascism," but how much more explicit can you get than deifying the concept of Destruction? If I were the Pakistanis, I wouldn't rule out the distinct possibility of an Indian first strike would you?
I wouldn't either, what of it? We would do the same thing if Canada or Mexico launched terror attacks against the US Congress, the people of India have the right of self defense just like we do.
You left out the USA - which you also seem to have a problem with. What is about freely elected democratic governments that bother you so much exactly?
Satanic new year? Isn't that a bit hysterical and hyperbolic?
And how is it that you believe the Muslims in Pakistan have a right to a state, but not Jews in Israel?
He never let us in on who he wished prevailed in the European theater, but I'll bet you can guess.
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