All That, And Then Some...

I have several points to discuss today, all of which are interconnected, and so this might seem a little disorganized.

Bear with me.

First, I'd like to talk about "teams." On the other side of the world from us, there's a place where two teams are fighting for their goals. Let's call it what it is: a war. It's a war that's been going on for a good while now, and both teams are a bit tired. But they're fighting over land - cities and country both - that ultimately belong to a third team, which is basically just hunkering down and trying to wait it out. The third team has been having a rough time; no food, no water, no electricity, sometimes no housing, and dodging bullets and bombs when - all too frequently - the fighting of the other two teams spills into the residential neighborhoods.

Now, I know that you know exactly where I'm talking about. And I know that an awful lot of you have stances on that war that you're not willing to alter, regardless of facts and logic; that's your right. What I'm going to ask you to do, though, is to set that aside for five minutes; set aside all the things you "believe," and try to see things from the point of view of a member of that third team.

You're hungry, thirsty, exhausted, terrified; you've been told all your life that one of the teams fighting for your land is pure, unadulterated evil, and that your soul itself depends on clinging to, and supporting, the other team. But the longer the two teams are side-by-side, the more cognitive dissonance you get. One team - the team you've been told all your life is pure evil - is trying to help you. They bring water, food, blankets - and GIVE THEM AWAY. They build hospitals for the sick and injured, and train doctors to treat them; they build schools for the children, they got the electricity turned on for the first time in years, after bringing engineers over thousands of miles just for that purpose; they're helping rebuild homes destroyed by violence; many, many of them have taken bullets in your defense.

They're not perfect; there was a scandal a while back where some of their people humiliated and frightened prisoners; but those people were not only disgraced, but in fact themselves imprisoned. The team you've been taught is pure evil not only follows - strictly - the law of war, they extend its protections to their opponents, who according to that very law, are outside its protections by virtue of their own actions. And yet, you're told, they're evil.

You're told this by men who routinely murder innocent bystanders "to make a statement." By men who habitually, repeatedly, openly, and intentionally torture, kidnap, and murder; men who behead children on television with knives, proud of their capacity for atrocity. You're told this by men who bomb the hospitals, schools, and mosques you depend on, just because they have been built or defended by the other team; men who wear no uniform, hide in shadows, strike from behind, indiscriminately.

You're told about the atrocities committed by the other team - atrocities you've never seen - by men who have committed atrocities before your very eyes, men who kill civilians and bystanders ON PURPOSE. You're told of the slothful, wasteful ways of one team - men tirelessly laboring in your defense, who have not seen their homes in years, for YOU - by men who murder your neighbors, to terrify you into giving them tribute.

And when you ask that team, these men and women who are supposedly so evil that any barbarity is acceptable in defense against them, "Why are you here?" they answer "To get your government up and running, so you can defend yourselves; as soon as you're ready for that, we'll go home."

Is it any wonder - any REAL wonder - that the facts don't support the notion that we're losing the war in Iraq? The facts paint a very different picture from the things the media tries to sell us here in the States. In FACT, over 45% of the territories in Iraq have fully transitioned into the control of the Iraqi government, which now has 171 BATTALIONS of army troops, and 36 BATTALIONS of National Police, at its hands; an additional 30% of the provinces are expected to transition completely within the next 4 months.

In FACT, the enormous bulk of the expenses we've incurred in the course of the war have been spent building infrastructure for the Iraqis; water purification plants, power stations, phone lines, roads, hospitals, schools; at this point, the Iraqi government is outspending us nearly two to one on strictly military expenses.

To give you an idea what 171 battalions means, a battalion is a force consisting of between 500 and 1500 men, and is generally considered the smallest force unit capable of full independent operations - in other words, able to function self-sufficiently without orders and resupply from higher. So, that number - 171 battalions - means the Iraqis have fielded approximately 171, 000 soldiers, and 36, 000 police. Those men are making a difference, not just by their skills, but by their presence; the fact that they exist tells the Iraqi people that we're serious about getting them on their feet and then going home. We are no longer an occupying force to fear and distrust - because we've proved we mean what we say.

We're winning in Iraq by contrast; the comparison between our troops and those of the insurgents is not flattering, and we could not HELP but win, if we simply hold on long enough.

I will come back to this.

Secondly, I'm going to talk about "insanity." Famously, insanity has been defined as repeating your actions, and expecting different results. For decades, U.S. policy in the Middle East has been insane by that definition; time and time again we have gone to the negotiating table with "leaders" who then breach the agreements made almost before the ink they used to sign them dries.

And yet, despite the fact that the Qur'an says that it is the duty of every Muslim to deal dishonestly with unbelievers, despite the fact that several organizations in the Middle East have in their very charters language stating their goals as the destruction of Israel, the destruction of the West, the destruction of America - I'm looking at you, HAMAS - positions against which there can be no negotiation except bullets, we have American politicians advocationg yet another meaningless round of negotiations with HAMAS, "discussions" with Iran, "meetings" with known hostile leaders.

When the other side openly, loudly, and often, declares their intent to destroy or subjugate you, it behooves you to believe they mean it. "Negotiating" with someone who claims that their God demands your utter destruction at their hands, is not only insane but criminally stupid.

I will come back to this, as well.

Third, I want to discuss Iran. Iran, with Libya as a close second, has been the world's largest state sponsor for terrorism for decades. In fact, it was a hostage crisis in Iran - if anyone can be bothered to remember, or read, that far back - that helped elect Ronald Reagan 28 years ago. Iran, a nation whose leader has for years called loudly and often for the destruction of the West; a nation whose political leader is a powerless figurehead; a nation whose fanatical theocratic ruler has supported terrorism in all its forms, openly, for decades - and SPECIFICALLY denounces the American leftists and their influence in Iran - this nation is trying to build nuclear weapons.

They've denied it loudly; but despite their claims that their nuclear project is strictly peaceful, strictly for power generation, they refuse to allow IAEA inspectors - the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency - to examine their facilities.

If their intentions were truly peaceful, they would have nothing to hide. But they do; and if they get a nuclear weapon, it will be in the hands of Osama bin Laden, or men like him, almost immediately.

All of these things are why we CANNOT and MUST NOT elect Senator Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States.

Set aside the fact that he is a communist - taking money from someone who earns it and giving it to someone who does not, a cornerstone of many of his proposed economic policies, is a founding principle of communism - set aside the fact that he plays race politics as a matter of course; the fact that he is decisive only when he has an opinion poll to support his position; the fact that he is inexperienced in a leadership role; the fact that he is affiliated with the racist organization "the Nation of Islam," leave all these facts aside.

Senator Obama has said openly that he will betray the trust of the Iraqi people, and the honor of this nation, by pulling our troops out immediately, regardless of the readiness of the Iraqi government. He has repeatedly spoken of his intent to negotiate - again - with groups like HAMAS, and governments like Iran.

But most frighteningly, he has said openly that if he is elected, military options against Iran's nuclear program are off the table.

We MUST not elect this man, because America cannot afford a crater, where once stood a city of millions, as an OBJECT LESSON.

I personally don't like Senator McCain; I don't agree with many of his policies, and frankly, his health makes me think that we are likely electing his chosen vice-president to the Presidency; I believe there are unquestionably many men or women better suited for the job than is Senator McCain.

But Senator Obama is not among their number.

And I do not want to be proven right, at the cost of the lives of millions.

Make no mistake; see clearly through the candidates' rhetoric. When you vote for Senator Obama this November, you are voting for a future in which the lives of millions of Americans will turn to ash in an instant, their hopes and dreams and lives forever wasted, because of YOUR VOTE.

And when that happens, the blood of those millions will be on YOUR HANDS.

Senator McCain may not be able to stop it; nuclear terrorism may in fact be an inevitable future for us. But Senator McCain is at least willing to TRY. And for that reason, if no other, he has my vote.