Zgram - 03/05/2002 "Back Online"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

Copyright (c) Ingrid A. Rimland

ZGrams - Where Truth is Destiny

March 5, 2002

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

It has been agony, but it seems I am finally back on the Net.  Please 
cross your fingers and toes for me!  I missed you all like blazes - 
and I thank the many who called to find out if I had not yet been 
nabbed by the bogeyman.  Nothing of the sort - but I would not rule 
out sabotage of sorts.  Weird cyber things have happened.

Now I am catching up on my mail, so I am making it easy for myself 
today, sending you one of my favorite columnists, Charley Reese, 
=1Fformer Orlando Sentinel columnist who now writes for King Features 
Syndicate.

As you read the column below, keep in mind one of Ernst Z=FCndel's 
favorite sayings in the wake of 9/11:

"It took Russia one week to win the war in Afghanistan - and ten 
years to lose an empire."

[START]

=1F=1FU.S. hubris could come back to haunt us
By CHARLEY REESE
Published Friday, February 22, 2002

A dangerous amount of hubris seems to be settling over Washington 
like fallout from a bomb. Hubris, of course, is the combination of 
arrogance and unwarranted assumptions.

Recently, Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., said our "victory" in 
Afghanistan proves that we are the "most militarily powerful country 
in the history of the world." That's hubris, not to mention ignorance 
of matters both military and historical.

We didn't fight in Afghanistan. We bribed warlords to do the 
fighting. We just bombed light infantry troops who had no air 
defense. The outcome was no surprise and no proof of our military 
power. Sorry, Lieberman, but you're going to have to wait until we 
attack somebody besides tiny and/or impoverished nations before you 
can properly evaluate our military prowess.

I don't think we could beat Russia or China, certainly not the two of 
them fighting together. I don't think we could beat North Korea 
without spilling more American blood than the American people would 
tolerate. Furthermore, China showed in the first Korean War that it 
would not let the United States install a puppet government on its 
border. What makes the wizards in Washington think the Chinese have 
changed their minds on that point?

As much as we might not wish to admit it, we haven't won a war in 
anything close to a fair fight since 1945. We were fought to a 
stalemate in Korea; we were driven out of Vietnam. Since then we have 
"whupped up on" such major military powers as Panama, Grenada, 
Yugoslavia - from the air only - Iraq and now the Taliban. That 
proves only that a lot will beat nothing to speak of.

It is patriotic to love one's country and one's people and, in our 
case, the Constitution. It is not patriotic, however, to jump on the 
bandwagon every time a politician develops delusions of grandeur from 
bullying some small country. President George W. Bush seems to be 
indicating that we don't need the support of Europe or anyone else to 
do what we please. That is exactly the kind of arrogance that caused 
the defeat and ultimate destruction of the British Empire.

Our relationship with Russia is far more important to our national 
security than a dictator in Baghdad, yet Bush is indicating he will 
jeopardize that to pursue a vendetta against Saddam Hussein. That 
would be a strategic blunder of immense consequences.

=46urthermore, it's not too smart to put countries on notice that you 
plan to get around to making war against them. For one thing, it 
surrenders initiative. North Korea might decide not to wait until 
we're ready. Iran and Iraq might decide to put aside their enmity 
while they face a common enemy. Either one could destroy the oil 
facilities in the Persian Gulf states or lob some missiles at Israel 
and start a general war. Bush might then discover what it's like to 
fight a general war without a single ally.

And finally, I wouldn't call our foray into Afghanistan either a 
success or a victory until the last American soldier is out of the 
country. It's always been easier to go into Afghanistan than to get 
out. Right now, the government we put in power controls only Kabul. 
In other words, Afghanistan is far from being stabilized. Even the 
warlords we paid to fight the Taliban don't like us. Nor has Osama 
bin Laden been found. Lots of loose ends yet remain to be tied up.

[END]

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

"A word to the wise is enough, and many words won't fill a bushel."

(Emerson)