Thanks Ron,
As I always get such good info from this list, I should forward stuff to
you guys for comments before I sent them off.
Here's one I'm submitting to Lew Rockwell tomorrow with Anthony Gregory.
Mike
How the Generals Taught Us to Stop Worrying and Love the War
By Michael Denny and Anthony Gregory
Experiment
On May 27, 2004, Michael Denny and Anthony Gregory attended an event
hosted by the Pacific Research Institute, a San Francisco "free-market
think-tank," on the topic of the War on Terrorism and the war in Iraq.
The event was cosponsored by the Lincoln Club and featured Generals
Thomas McInerney and Paul Vallely on the topic of their book, Endgame: A
Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror.
Our mission: to learn how we are going to win the War on Terror, where
Saddam's WMD are located, and how all this relates to the free market.
Findings
What the warhawks watch:
As the program began, the MC led the audience in grace, thanking Fox
News for being an island of objectivity and fairness in a sea of biased,
defeatist mainstream media. The popular cable news channel came up in
conversation several times. During the talk, the audience was reminded
of the importance of Fox News as a beacon of hope and righteousness and
a sign that Western Civilization as we know it will survive.
Outside Fox News, the media are overwhelmingly tainted with a liberal
bias that prevents them from reporting all the good things happening in
Iraq.
Why the warhawks are right:
You might not believe it if you listen to the liberal media, but the war
is going much better than anyone, even the government, is reporting, and
the hawks predicted this success all along.
For instance, to win the War on Terror, all we need to do is neutralize
states that sponsor it. Of eight such states in the "web of terrorism" -
including, but not limited to, the "axis of evil": Afghanistan, Iraq,
Libya, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and North Korea - the United
States has successfully whittled it down to only five. Libya has become
a good country, and no terrorist would dare tread in Afghanistan and
Iraq after two successful U.S. wars. Anyone who would mess with us is
"dancing on razor blades," one of the good generals opined.
One might ask: "What about other governments, besides those eight?"
Well, keep in mind that to be in the "web of terrorism," a nation must
satisfy two criteria. It must (1) possess WMD (or be "seeking" them),
and it must (2) fund terrorism.
So now that we've cleared that up, we can move on to the other strong
argument for supporting the war:
"You either get it, or you don't."
That's right, several times during the night, we heard this wise
proverb. Of course! It makes perfect sense. You either get it, or you
don't! General McInerney commented "I get it. I was trained by the
Jesuits. Are there any other people who 'get it' in the audience?"
We wondered if the Prince of Peace "gets it." The Pope obviously
doesn't.
People who focus too much on the mass death, torture, resentment,
prevarication or lack of WMD miss the big picture. They just don't get
it.
For fear of not getting it, the most logical thing to do is get behind
the president and his multi-billion dollar campaign of bombing,
invasion, and occupation. That way, you get it...as opposed to not
getting it.
It's as simple as that.
Where some warhawks are wrong:
While most warhawks agree with each other on the goodness of war, there
is by no means consensus on every minor issue.
The generals think Iran is the center of terror, although Bush thinks
Iraq is terror's "main front." The generals think we should have pulled
out by now, and instead of sending more troops in, the U.S. government
should deputize 300,000 Iraqis to secure the region. While many hawks
believe the U.S. military should track down bin Laden in the mountains,
the generals are quite sure he's in the cities. "Why else would his TV
broadcasts be staged in mountainous settings?" These guys are so clever.
How we can improve the war effort:
The first thing we need to do is get the media under control. CBS's
decision to show photos of prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib acted against
national interests. It is not in the public's interest to see the bad
things government does.
General Paul Vallely kept saying that the U.S. government should start
acting more like a business. He said the people running this war should
"behave like CEOs." It is unclear whether this means the government
should peacefully provide services to willing customers for mutually
agreeable prices, but we somehow doubt it. Still, it remains a flawless
analogy.
Certainly, the administration needs to go through some changes in
personnel. Colin Powell is far too diplomatic, and undermines the war
effort.
Another problem is that the war hasn't been properly "articulated". We
must get commanders out of the war zones so they can do a better job
with the media. "Can you imagine a CEO running a business like this?" he
asked. Indeed.
But the big thing the generals believe we need is for President Bush to
"be the Commander-in-Chief, get mad and tell people to stop being so
politically correct." That should do it.
Knowing the Enemy
Our enemies go beyond the mainstream news, the French, Russians, Germans
and Jimmy Carter - a gutless traitor who "sold the Shah down the road."
Of course all those generals who disagree with the War on Iraq were "put
in by Clinton," so we shouldn't listen to them.
Our enemy is also Islam, and most likely the terrorist Muslims in
particular.
We should also remember, as one of the speakers humorously explained,
we're up against a foolish enemy - an enemy so foolish that his religion
promises virgins in the afterlife, when any red-blooded American can
tell you than a man who wants a virgin "hasn't been around very much."
Yes, a U.S. general said this, and hearing it sent shivers of pride and
patriotism down our spines. Nothing makes us prouder than thinking of
fighting and liberating an enemy that hasn't even gotten the third base.
Thankfully, most former U.S. military officers recognize this, unlike
the evil and treasonous Anthony Zinni
<http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/21/60minutes/main618896.shtml>
who opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, probably because he was
dumped in high school.
We need to tell the Iraqis: "'You are out of business.' That's the way
you have to talk to these people, that's all they understand."
Why the U.S. turned on Chalabi:
According to some attendees, the State Department set Chalabi up, to
protect sensitive information he had that would implicate France and
Germany as Saddam's accomplices.
You see, France and Germany want to see Americans dead. Don't ever
forget it. They just love killing, which is why they didn't want
anything to do with the war on Iraq.
You get it?
Where are Saddam's WMD:
(Drum roll please) The generals weren't surprised we didn't find weapons
of mass destruction because they knew where they were: in Syria and
Syrian-controlled areas of Lebanon. They didn't explain why the
president or the American people weren't told but we feel much better
now knowing the truth. Better late than never.
How the war relates to the free market:
At first, we were a little confused by PRI's event, where we saw an
impressive display of pamphlets arguing for deregulation and school
choice, and yet heard about how the U.S. government can succeed in the
largest and most ambitious government undertaking in recent American
history. But now we're all cleared up.
We spoke with the chairman of the local Republicans who boasted that the
new ten-year homeless plan in San Francisco was conceived by the Bush
administration. When we suggested that such government programs were
socialistic, he angrily walked away and said such a notion was
ridiculous.
Michael and Anthony learned that there's no reason to talk to hawks
about economics, because free-market or not, we're at war, and we need
to stand by our president. It's especially important for free market
organizations to understand this. At wartime, if you can't say anything
nice about the government, it's best not to say anything at all. You
either get it, or you don't.
Pacific Research Institute put on an impressive event, and they helped
to show us that all efforts to restore free markets should take a back
seat as long as we're at war.
Conclusion
Michael and Anthony have renounced their affiliations with any groups
that oppose the righteous War on Terrorism, and expect the war's
remaining detractors are either Saddamites or French - or, at a bare
minimum, anti-American scoundrels who fail to watch enough Fox News. You
know...the ones that "don't get it."
Michael Denny [send him mail <mailto:mike@…> ] is a Catholic
husband, father of four children, entrepreneur
<http://www.DrinksUSA.com/> , Libertarian activist, and former mayoral
candidate in the People's Republic of San Francisco.
Anthony Gregory [send him mail <mailto:Anthony1791@…> ] is a
writer and musician who lives in Berkeley, California. He earned his
bachelor's degree in history at UC Berkeley, where he was president of
the Cal Libertarians. He is an intern at the Independent Institute
<http://www.independent.org/> and has written for Rational Review,
Strike the Root, the Libertarian Enterprise, and Antiwar.com. See his
webpage <http://www.anthonygregory.com/> for more articles and personal
information.