Posted on 06/29/2004 9:35:50 AM PDT by aculeus
June 29, 2004 -- IRAQ is again a sovereign state, this time without a dictator. Despite ongoing violence, the country's moving toward democracy. And even if that democracy proves imperfect, it will still be better than anything else between Israel and India.
We have done a great thing. Now it's up to the Iraqis to make the most of the gift of freedom we gave them.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
And next time is soon.
The Post writer is a Monday-morning quarterback. Easy to say, when all the work is done, huh? And by the way, he says to ignore the Europeans and their opinions. Yeah, sure! Pres. Bush has been attacked relentlessly by the liberals for not listening to the UN and France and Germany. He proved them all wrong.
Well, the NY Post, having supported the action all along, is different from other Monday-morning quarterbacks in that it sincerely wants the team to do better. Give them a little credit for being devoted fans.
Next time, kill, don't capture, terrorists and leaders and don't let the media have so much freedom.
Good advice. The Post has backed Bush, and Peters is a sensible man. Most of what he says, in fact, is what Freepers have been saying all along. Impose martial law, kill the terrorists rather than capturing them, get the unpleasant work done as quickly as possible, and ignore the complaints of the left.
On that last point, Bush should have learned by now that placating the left does zero good. All his efforts to butter up Teddy Kennedy were useless. All his efforts to walk softly in Iraq simply gave the press more time to attack him. The fanatic leftists have proven again and again that you can't compromise with them. Give them something and they will take it but continue to beat you over the head more relentlessly than ever.
P.S. I've said it before and this is a good place to say it again. The leftists are like yellow dogs and Arabs. Try to placate them and they will take it for weakness and bite you in the ankles. Better to be firm with them. That they can understand.
And you're a Monday morning reader. Peters has been saying the same sort of things for the past 12 or 13 months. He said the same thing on Monday, that he'd called for on Saturday. If you'd bothered keeping up with him, you'd know that. And how did letting himself be hamstrung by the New York Times help Pres. Bush? And how did Bush prove everybody wrong? Do you know something the rest of us don't?
Ignore the Left. The hard Left in America has gone European. They live in a fantasy world in which dictators are virtuous as long as they're anti-American. They care nothing for human rights or women's rights — unless Washington can be blamed for abuses, real or imagined. As far as the Left is concerned, America is always wrong. When making strategic decisions, ignore them entirely.
Speak softly, and carry a big stick. Show, don't tell. This applies to everyone in our chain-of-command, from the president down to ambitious generals who turn cities over to terrorists. TR was right a hundred years ago, and he's still right. Don't threaten your enemies. Shut up and kill them. Speak through deeds.
Trust the troops. Everything that's gone right in Iraq can be credited to the quality of our soldiers. The political hacks got it wrong again and again, in Baghdad and in Washington. Next time, let the military control the occupation.
And there will be a next time.
To recap from Ralph Peters' recommendations:
1)Al-Jazeera's lies kill American soldiers.
2)Ignore the Left.
3)Don't threaten your enemies. Shut up and kill them.
4)Trust the troops. Let the military control the occupation.
Al-Jizz plus ABCNNBCBS, NPR, the COMpost, both Slimes, USA Today, most of the newsmags...
I tried to post the entire article but got the "extract only" message.
A new one for the NY Post.
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