Pundita is back, bless her obsessed big-little heart. And she makes an important point regarding our effort in Iraq and what the Press can do. They just can't get away with it anymore with so many alternative media options available to those who care.
If The Sunday Times quoted General George Casey out of context, they got away with undercutting the US rationale for keeping troops in Iraq -- and they used a statement by the senior US commander in Iraq to do it. And they did it less than a month before Iraq votes in their permanent government.
Gen. Abizaid raised the stakes for Iraq by presenting a chilling assessment of al Qaeda's worldwide goals. He said leader Osama bin Laden's sights are set on Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and then the entire region, as well as Asia.
Although the Bush administration describes the conflict as the "war on terror," Gen. Abizaid made clear the enemy is al Qaeda.
"Their objectives are very clear," Gen. Abizaid said. "They believe in a jihad, a jihad, first and foremost, to overthrow the legitimate regimes in the region. But in order to do that, they have to first drive us from the region. This is what they believe. They believe, ultimately, that the greatest prize of all is Saudi Arabia and the holy shrines there."
He said the war against Zarqawi's al Qaeda in Iraq, and al Qaeda worldwide, presents "a rare opportunity to get in front of these extremists and focus on them now before al Qaeda and its underlying ideology becomes mainstream."(6)
I find this quote very interesting. If this network is that vast and large, then where is the money trail? You are talking mega-millions, if not billions to finance an operation this large and well organized. Bin Laden's assets have been virtually eliminated, and I doubt he had that much in the first place. Why is our government not following the money trail to see who is behind these criminals?
I am afraid the answer is: they already know. Russia, and China have to be the backers of this large an endeavor. Being afraid of them is not going to make them go away. Downsizing our military is not going to make them go away. Leaving our borders wide open is not going to make them go away.
What will?
Quit financing the bastards with trade, and pay off the debt to the Chinese. Without trade from capitalist countries, communist countries will implode and die their own death. We financed the Russians until they broke us, and now we are doing the same with the Chinese, who, most likely are shifting some to the Russians.
Patton was right 60 years ago when he said we are going to fight the bastards sooner or later.
My question about that is, why do we keep weakening ourselves when we know it is coming? I have the answer, but nobody wants to hear it.
They should...., their very lives, and/or at least their current standard of living depend on their eyes being opened.
Posted by: TheAlamo | Monday, November 28, 2005 at 04:53 AM
Dan - Laugh if you want; Pundita is not back. It's just that it bugged me that they waited until I announced I am on vacation. But I will be durned if I spend any more of my vacation tracking this story to ground. So many rascals, so little time. Sigh.
Posted by: Pundita | Monday, November 28, 2005 at 08:45 AM
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/051126/480/txev10211261853
Posted by: COLUMBO | Monday, November 28, 2005 at 01:10 PM