Blind man’s bluff

Since our Commander-in-Grief has plunged his fist into the Balkan tar
baby, there is a segment of the public that has been saying, “We have to
support the troops now that we are there.” Despite the overwhelming
consensus that we don’t belong in Kosovo, that the “unintended
consequences” have been to expedite the objectives of Serbian leader
Slobodan Miloslovic, we are now hearing the gaggle of peacenik, draft
dodging ’60s radicals screaming, “My country, right or wrong … my
country.” Duh? Ambrose Bierce once observed, “The hardest tumble a man
can make is to fall over his own bluff.” And he never even heard of Bill
Clinton or Mad Dog Madeline Not-so-bright.

Clinton has become a co-conspirator with the very enemy he claims to
be attacking. Here’s a quick reality check. There are NO good guys in
white hats in Kosovo. Serbs AND Albanians have done, and continue to do
bad stuff. This bloody ping pong match has been ongoing since the
mid-1300s. I’ll spare you the long history lesson, but here’s a Cliff
notes synopsis of the latest chapters: In the wake of centuries of
religious wars, the Serbs (Christians) get a chunk of dirt. The ethnic
Albanians (Muslims) keep getting pushed out of neighboring countries and
emigrate to Kosovo. The flood of immigrants overshadows the Mexican to
California exodus, and eventually numerically, the Albanians have
superior numbers. They want THEIRS. Just like the Palestinians want
THEIRS, and the Chechnyans want THEIRS, and the indigenous Indians in
Chiapas want THEIRS.

However, the Serbs, although lacking numbers, have superior firepower
(Strength through Superior Firepower). The Serbs want to push the
Albanians into someone else’s backyard. BUT THEY CAN’T. They try and
try, and despite unbridled terror and force, they can’t drive out the
squatters. HOWEVER, thanks to the bumbling incompetence of American
foreign policy wonks, Miloslovic’s objective is achieved in a couple of
weeks.

To compound the sin of the Clinton administration, the “unintended
consequences” were forewarned. The CIA and the Pentagon both provided
advice and counsel that could and should have prevented what could turn
into World War III.

However, notwithstanding the lessons which SHOULD have been learned
from failing to accept advice from experts, the arrogant, myopic
bumblers again rejected the counsel of the professionals — and
now seem surprised.

John Ruskin once said, “Without seeking, truth cannot be known at
all. It can neither be declared from pulpits, nor set down in articles,
nor in any wise prepared and sold in packages ready for use. Truth must
be ground for every man by itself out of it such, with such help as he
can get, indeed, but not without stern labor of his own.” Truth has
become the first casualty of this NATO aggression. Once again, we see
petty myopia obfuscating reality and common (regrettably all too
uncommon) sense.

Seeking truth has become an almost impossible task. I saw a chilling
headline recently that stated, “The Fourth Estate has become the Fifth
Column.” Mainstream media has become a co-conspirator with the
administration to shape, mold, and spin information, which is designed
to defend, rationalize and validate policy, and action which is bad,
wrong, and probably criminal.

Now don’t get me wrong, when it comes to military operations (valid
military operations) I don’t believe the public has a right to know
everything. I was appalled, PO’d, and sickened when Navy Seals landed on
a beach into a flood of CNN lights and cameras. I would have shot out
the flipping lights and assaulted the dumb SOB who ever put MY troops at
risk for a photo op.

Conversely, in this modern age of instant communication, commanders
have the added challenge of denying combat intelligence to the bad guys.
Hell, Saddam Hussein was sitting in his bunker watching CNN for
contemporaneous combat intelligence. The grinding out of truth is
becoming increasingly difficult. OUR media underreports bad news. Daily,
(through the Internet) we are exposed to Greek newspapers overstating
casualties. All the time, the elusive truth languishes somewhere between
the yin and yang.

The tragedy of the Balkans is real. However, it has been, is, and
will sadly continue. Regarding those who “don’t want to be confused with
facts which contradict their preconceived opinions,” it should be noted
that the Serbian/Ethnic Albanian conflict is in reality merely an
extension of the Crusades. However, this time, the defensive NATO, has
for the first time in its 50-year history, acted as the aggressor, AND
has allied in a religious war against the Christians. Even Cecil Rhodes
and Clinton’s old Professor Carroll Quigley have to be rolling in their
graves over this brain flatulence masquerading as policy.

To those metamorphosed doves of the ’60s who are now the Clintonista
hawks, I have more words than space. My heart breaks for the conflicted
men and women in uniform compelled to duty/honor/country, by a civilian
leadership with no concept of the troika.

Teddy Roosevelt once noted, “Patriotism means to stand by the
country. It does NOT mean to stand by the President or any other public
official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the
country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves
the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent
that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the
country.” Did you get that? “It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to
the exact extend that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty
to stand by the country.”

In 1984, Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger developed a series of
“tests” to be satisfied before American troops would ever be sent into
combat. Regardless of whatever you may or may not think of Cap
Weinberger, look at his tenets:

• Is a vital U.S. interest at stake?
• Will we commit sufficient resources to win?
• Will we sustain the commitment?
• Are the objectives clearly defined?

• Is there reasonable expectation that the public and congress will
  support the operation?

• Have we exhausted our other options?

Unlike Vietnam, the Gulf War (for good or ill) met all the criteria
listed. THIS war meets none of them.

Charles Caleb Colon once noted “He that is good, will infallibly
become better, and he that is bad, will as certainly become worse; for
vice, virtue and time are three things that never stand still.” Gee …
does that make you think of anybody in politics?