Better late than never!
(This started life as an e-mail. With personal details edited, here it is. I get my best focus from remarking to friends. Then, it expands to the public forum of screaming from the soap box.)
The other day, on the weekend, I felt like I was living under a subway. That's because two F-18 Hornets and a B-1 Lancer buzzed the house at low altitude. We're talking 500 feet, the minimum they are allowed over US airspace. Fast movers on afterburners that low can not only rattle windows, they can blow them out. The distant rumbling of more military flights practicing their nap-of-the-earth, radar avoidance strike flying was continual. Our north Georgia terrain is very similar to Korea, Eastern Europe, and parts of Iran, so the military loves it for exercises. They usually practice terrain-avoidance over the vast national forests in the area, but occasionally they'll get off-track and buzz a populated area. (I suspect they go lower than 500 feet, and supersonic, over the national forests, but they can do neither over inhabited areas.) The four engines of a Lancer on afterburner will send man and beast scurrying for cover; if I was an Iranian or a Korean, I'd be very afraid about now.
That fear should also extend to Syria and anybody else who might threaten Israel militarily. It's usually so quiet around here I can hear doves cooing on the adjacent hilltop. All this increased military activity is an indication of how seriously we're taking the current threats that have cropped up. I don't mind the low-flying aircraft; for me, it's the sound of freedom. Besides, they're not dropping bombs on us. (They fly out west to the desert for bombing practice on isolated ranges; it also exercises their skills at extended-range strikes and mid-air refueling simultaneously. There's no place in the world we can't bomb, even if the EU surrender monkeys deny us their airspace. It just takes a little longer to go the scenic route.)
As for the Middle East, I have two comments:
1. It’s about time. Israel has been taking punishment for 30 years, and has allowed itself to be restrained by "diplomacy". I think they're going for broke on Hezbollah at long last. I'm doing chemo right now in an effort to avoid major surgery. If the cancer gets too malignant, I'm left with no option except the knife. All of Israel's past patience and adherence to diplomacy was their chemo. Now, it's the knife, to remove the cancer of terrorism that's been metastasizing on their borders for three decades. Painful, but necessary. I love the analogy that's being drawn in response to the surrender monkeys and anti-Semites who say this eradication effort is "overly powerful": If some autonomous group sheltering in Mexico or Canada started raining missiles on San Diego or New York, our tanks would be rolling within an hour of the first launches. Remember von Clausewitz: War is diplomacy by other means.
2. After all the years of bickering and half-assed efforts in the ME, I had reached a point where I would mutter "A pox on both their houses" upon hearing of the latest skirmish. Now that it's turning into open war, I'm rooting for Israel. You may catch clips of FOX's Mike Tobin reporting from a rocket strike in Nasariya. Several Katyushas landed a block from where he was standing by to give a scheduled stand-up update. It was dramatic enough for the network to break into "FOX & Friends" live with the aftermath. I happened to be awake at about 0700, and caught the whole thing live. The news is overriding this post; there is likely worse going on as I write these words. The immediacy of war makes for the best of television journalism. Tobin’s coverage was both chilling and heartbreaking, especially the hysterical old woman who kept refusing an ambulance ride. I realized I had become disgusted and disheartened with all the ineffectual push-and-shove of the past, but if Israel is seriously going to eradicate a terror organization that has coincidentally killed hundreds of Americans, I say "Go Jews! Hoo-ah!”
The way I understand it, China and Russia are protecting Iran and Syria, who in turn are protecting Hezbollah and Hamas. We are Israel's sole protector. The EU surrender monkeys, with the exception of Britain, are cheering for the bad guys, but lack the means to become proactive beyond dirty looks and impotent UN resolutions. This could get quite ugly, even if it doesn't reach the escalation point of the '73 war, or the Cuban missile thing. Even though the pundits keep saying we lack the means to open a second front in World War IV, Iran should remember that we have a sizeable troop presence right next door to them. Our troops are the finest in history, and while Iran and Iraq could only fight to a stalemate in 10 years of warfare, we can roll to Teheran with about the same ease with which we rolled to Baghdad. The military equipment we gave the Shah back in the day is seriously useless now without the spare parts we've withheld for almost 30 years, and whatever they've acquired from their "protectors" in the interim is inferior to our stuff.
(By the way, if this escalates into world war, it’s War IV, not III. War III—love them Roman numerals!—was the so-called “Cold War”, where we fought communism by increments. We won that one, too. Thank you, Mr. Reagan.)
Which brings us back to all these warplanes buzzing the Possum Den. We don't need boots on the ground to inflict some serious ass-kicking on anybody who annoys us, or picks on our little friend, Israel. I don't think Israel's problems will ever end; it was pointed out this morning that every new construction in the country is designed with a bomb shelter. Taking out Hezbollah and Hamas is a good start, though, and an enormous favor to us as well. I hope the surrender monkeys don't dissuade Israel this time. (Even though I’m a Southern Baptist-type, I’ve never understood this antipathy for Jews. What is the friggin’ deal? No Jew I have ever known has done me wrong. My Southern Baptist Bible says they’re God’s chosen people, and the rest of us get some divine grace. I can live with that, and trust my soul to a true God who knows what’s in my heart, not to whatever people worship when they celebrate a dismembered leg in the streets, as the heathens did the other day when an Israeli soldier was killed.)
The UN is impotent, unless they’re thinking about raping women in a war zone. The surrender monkeys are screeching and rattling the bars of their EU cage. The world is hovering on the edge of thermonuclear conflict, and the big news today is that George Bush said “shit” in the context of a private remark to Prime Minister Tony Blair, i.e. “We need to stop this s---.”
George Patton and Richard Nixon were pious men who talked earthy talk. Patton inspired his troops in War II, and portions of the Nixon White House tapes will make your face red and your ears blue. Henry Kissinger, who will outlive us all, knows the truth about Nixon, but Henry keeps the secrets, despite his books. If they could speak, my dogs would testify that I use inappropriate language, especially when Howard Dean comes out with a howler like “Bill Clinton” and “morality” in the same sentence. Salty language makes my president more human. If GWB wants to call a spade a spade, especially in a private aside to our only friends in Europe, so be it.
Keep ranting, Dr. Howie. When you get the she-devil into the White House, and the civilized world conforms to the ideal of your mentor, Jimmy Carter, I’ll see you in Aunty Entity’s Thunderdome of Islamic dhimmitude.
The other day, on the weekend, I felt like I was living under a subway. That's because two F-18 Hornets and a B-1 Lancer buzzed the house at low altitude. We're talking 500 feet, the minimum they are allowed over US airspace. Fast movers on afterburners that low can not only rattle windows, they can blow them out. The distant rumbling of more military flights practicing their nap-of-the-earth, radar avoidance strike flying was continual. Our north Georgia terrain is very similar to Korea, Eastern Europe, and parts of Iran, so the military loves it for exercises. They usually practice terrain-avoidance over the vast national forests in the area, but occasionally they'll get off-track and buzz a populated area. (I suspect they go lower than 500 feet, and supersonic, over the national forests, but they can do neither over inhabited areas.) The four engines of a Lancer on afterburner will send man and beast scurrying for cover; if I was an Iranian or a Korean, I'd be very afraid about now.
That fear should also extend to Syria and anybody else who might threaten Israel militarily. It's usually so quiet around here I can hear doves cooing on the adjacent hilltop. All this increased military activity is an indication of how seriously we're taking the current threats that have cropped up. I don't mind the low-flying aircraft; for me, it's the sound of freedom. Besides, they're not dropping bombs on us. (They fly out west to the desert for bombing practice on isolated ranges; it also exercises their skills at extended-range strikes and mid-air refueling simultaneously. There's no place in the world we can't bomb, even if the EU surrender monkeys deny us their airspace. It just takes a little longer to go the scenic route.)
As for the Middle East, I have two comments:
1. It’s about time. Israel has been taking punishment for 30 years, and has allowed itself to be restrained by "diplomacy". I think they're going for broke on Hezbollah at long last. I'm doing chemo right now in an effort to avoid major surgery. If the cancer gets too malignant, I'm left with no option except the knife. All of Israel's past patience and adherence to diplomacy was their chemo. Now, it's the knife, to remove the cancer of terrorism that's been metastasizing on their borders for three decades. Painful, but necessary. I love the analogy that's being drawn in response to the surrender monkeys and anti-Semites who say this eradication effort is "overly powerful": If some autonomous group sheltering in Mexico or Canada started raining missiles on San Diego or New York, our tanks would be rolling within an hour of the first launches. Remember von Clausewitz: War is diplomacy by other means.
2. After all the years of bickering and half-assed efforts in the ME, I had reached a point where I would mutter "A pox on both their houses" upon hearing of the latest skirmish. Now that it's turning into open war, I'm rooting for Israel. You may catch clips of FOX's Mike Tobin reporting from a rocket strike in Nasariya. Several Katyushas landed a block from where he was standing by to give a scheduled stand-up update. It was dramatic enough for the network to break into "FOX & Friends" live with the aftermath. I happened to be awake at about 0700, and caught the whole thing live. The news is overriding this post; there is likely worse going on as I write these words. The immediacy of war makes for the best of television journalism. Tobin’s coverage was both chilling and heartbreaking, especially the hysterical old woman who kept refusing an ambulance ride. I realized I had become disgusted and disheartened with all the ineffectual push-and-shove of the past, but if Israel is seriously going to eradicate a terror organization that has coincidentally killed hundreds of Americans, I say "Go Jews! Hoo-ah!”
The way I understand it, China and Russia are protecting Iran and Syria, who in turn are protecting Hezbollah and Hamas. We are Israel's sole protector. The EU surrender monkeys, with the exception of Britain, are cheering for the bad guys, but lack the means to become proactive beyond dirty looks and impotent UN resolutions. This could get quite ugly, even if it doesn't reach the escalation point of the '73 war, or the Cuban missile thing. Even though the pundits keep saying we lack the means to open a second front in World War IV, Iran should remember that we have a sizeable troop presence right next door to them. Our troops are the finest in history, and while Iran and Iraq could only fight to a stalemate in 10 years of warfare, we can roll to Teheran with about the same ease with which we rolled to Baghdad. The military equipment we gave the Shah back in the day is seriously useless now without the spare parts we've withheld for almost 30 years, and whatever they've acquired from their "protectors" in the interim is inferior to our stuff.
(By the way, if this escalates into world war, it’s War IV, not III. War III—love them Roman numerals!—was the so-called “Cold War”, where we fought communism by increments. We won that one, too. Thank you, Mr. Reagan.)
Which brings us back to all these warplanes buzzing the Possum Den. We don't need boots on the ground to inflict some serious ass-kicking on anybody who annoys us, or picks on our little friend, Israel. I don't think Israel's problems will ever end; it was pointed out this morning that every new construction in the country is designed with a bomb shelter. Taking out Hezbollah and Hamas is a good start, though, and an enormous favor to us as well. I hope the surrender monkeys don't dissuade Israel this time. (Even though I’m a Southern Baptist-type, I’ve never understood this antipathy for Jews. What is the friggin’ deal? No Jew I have ever known has done me wrong. My Southern Baptist Bible says they’re God’s chosen people, and the rest of us get some divine grace. I can live with that, and trust my soul to a true God who knows what’s in my heart, not to whatever people worship when they celebrate a dismembered leg in the streets, as the heathens did the other day when an Israeli soldier was killed.)
The UN is impotent, unless they’re thinking about raping women in a war zone. The surrender monkeys are screeching and rattling the bars of their EU cage. The world is hovering on the edge of thermonuclear conflict, and the big news today is that George Bush said “shit” in the context of a private remark to Prime Minister Tony Blair, i.e. “We need to stop this s---.”
George Patton and Richard Nixon were pious men who talked earthy talk. Patton inspired his troops in War II, and portions of the Nixon White House tapes will make your face red and your ears blue. Henry Kissinger, who will outlive us all, knows the truth about Nixon, but Henry keeps the secrets, despite his books. If they could speak, my dogs would testify that I use inappropriate language, especially when Howard Dean comes out with a howler like “Bill Clinton” and “morality” in the same sentence. Salty language makes my president more human. If GWB wants to call a spade a spade, especially in a private aside to our only friends in Europe, so be it.
Keep ranting, Dr. Howie. When you get the she-devil into the White House, and the civilized world conforms to the ideal of your mentor, Jimmy Carter, I’ll see you in Aunty Entity’s Thunderdome of Islamic dhimmitude.
posted by Robert at 3:47 AM
6 Comments:
I, too, love the sound of military jet noise! Being on the flight path of Selfridge AFB, I hear it almost daily. Haven't noticed an increase in the last week.
As far as Israel goes, I say, time to take off the gloves and open a big ol' can of whoopa$$!!!! Thirty years of concessions and restraint with people who want to see you wiped off the earth is long enough! And hey, come to think of it, we just happen to be in the neighborhood if they need a helping hand. :o)
Yeah, don't you just love the big deal they're making 'cause Dubya said the "S" word?!
Puh-LEEZE!!!
As for Israel, they have taken too much for far too long...something had to give. I daresay it won't be the Israelis, except to give at least as good as they get...
Add me to the list thinking those folks stood all the could stand till they can't stand's no more (apologies to Popeye™)
Gotta hand it to them, they can fight a war like nobody's business. Love the fact that most of their wars can be measured in days instead of the seemingly endless messes we seem attracted to lately.
I have long advocated allowing Israel to terraform its surroundings into a peaceful sea of glass.........
I am concerned that somehow Israel will be talked into backing down once again. I hope not, they need to do this, for their own sake most of all, but they are doing us a big favor while they are at it. Taking out terrorists.
The old Cold War [WW III] plans called for Israel to strike Moscow on a one-way basis if the world ended and the nukes came out. Your true friends are those who will stand back-to-back and fight to the death beside you. England is the only other country I can think of who would even consider it.
The world was actually closer to the brink of thermonuclear exchange in 1973, when Egypt crossed the Suez Canal and Syria broke into the Golan Heights. Nixon was on the phone to Breshnev about Gold Meir's determination to use the 20 nukes Israel had at the time, and there was some discussion about a certain Polish ship headed for Alexandria. Said ship kept leaking radiation into the Med, stting off sensors. The "farm implements" aboard would fit onto the nose of a Scud missile.
With reinforcements, Israel won that battle conventionally. I lost a vacation on the Riviera because every Army unit in Europe was placed on big-time alert. The tanks were being loaded onto the trains; I saw one crash from hasty driving. The situation may have trumped JFK's vaunted "missile crisis".
Shhh! We don't want anyone to know this!
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