Forward by John R. (Jack) Farrington Major General, USAF (Retired)…
Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007
Another assessment of where the US stands in relation to the Middle East problems, this one is from the guy who had his finger on the nuclear trigger for three years as head of our defense and response complex buried under Cheyenne Mountain at Colorado Springs. He was the only person who could initiate a nuclear attack after advising the sitting president of a missile launch by our enemies and our need to respond.
No political or civilian type in the US had more knowledge about day to day military actions around the world. Everyone should find quiet time to read this. As far as I am concerned, it is exactly the direction we should go and the consequences of not doing so are well thought out.
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Middle East Imperative
BY: JIM CASH, Brig. Gen., USAF, Ret.
I wrote recently about the war in Iraq and the larger war against
radical Islam, eliciting a number of responses. Let me try and put
this conflict in proper perspective.
Understand, the current battle we are engaged in is much bigger than
just Iraq. What happens in the next year will affect this country and
how our kids and grandkids live throughout their lifetime, and beyond.
Radical Islam has been attacking the West since the seventh century.
They have been defeated in the past and decimated to the point of
taking hundreds of years to recover. But they can never be totally
defeated.
Their birth rates are so far beyond civilized world rates
that in time they recover and attempt to dominate again.
There are eight terror-sponsoring countries that make up the grand
threat to the West. Two, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, just need firm
pressure from the West to make major reforms. They need to decide
who they are really going to support and commit to that support. That
answer is simple. They both will support who they think will hang in
there until the end, and win. We are not sending very good signals in
that direction right now, thanks to the Democrats.
The other six, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, North Korea and Libya
will require regime change or a major policy shift. Now, let’s look
more closely. Afghanistan and Iraq have both had regime changes, but
are being fueled by outsiders from Syria and Iran. We have scared
Gaddafi’s pants off, and he has given up his quest for nuclear weapons,
so I don’t think Libya is now a threat.
North Korea (the non-Islamic threat) can be handled diplomatically by
buying them off. They are starving. That leaves Syria and Iran. Syria
is like a frightened puppy. Without the support of Iran they will join
the stronger side. So where does that leave us? Sooner, or later, we
are going to be forced to confront Iran, and it better be before they
gain nuclear capability.
In 1989 I served as a Command Director inside the Cheyenne Mountain
complex located in Colorado Springs, Colorado for almost three years.
My job there was to observe (through classified means) every missile
shot anywhere in the world and assess if it was a threat to the US or
Canada. If any shot was threatening to either nation I had only
minutes to advise the President, as he had only minutes to respond.
I watched Iran and Iraq shoot missiles at each other every day, and all
day long, for months. They killed hundreds of thousand of their people.
Know why? They were fighting for control of the Middle East and that
enormous oil supply.
At that time, they were preoccupied with their internal problems and
couldn’t care less about toppling the West. Oil prices were fairly stable
and we could not see an immediate threat. Well, the worst part of what
we have done as a nation in Iraq is to do away with the military
capability of one of those nations. Now, Iran has a clear field to
dominate the Middle East, since Iraq is no longer a threat to them.
They have turned their attention to the only other threat to their
dominance, they are convinced they will win, because the US is so
divided, and the Democrats (who now control Congress and may control
the Presidency in 2008) have openly said we are pulling out.
Do you have any idea what will happen if the entire Middle East turns
their support to Iran, which they will obviously do if we pull out?
It is not the price of oil we will have to worry about. Oil WILL NOT
BE AVAILABLE to this country at any price. I personally would vote for
any presidential candidate who did what JFK did with the space
program–declare a goal to bring this country to total energy
independence in a decade.
Yes, it is about oil. The economy in this country will totally die if
that Middle East supply is cut off right now. It will not be a
recession. It will be a depression that will make 1929 look like the
“good-old-days”. The bottom line here is simple. If Iran is forced to
fall in line, the fighting in Iraq will end over night, and the
nightmare will be over. One way or another, Iran must be forced to join
modern times and the global community. It may mean a real war–if so,
now is the time, before we face a nuclear Iran with the capacity t o
destroy Israel and begin a new ice age.
I urge you to read the book “END GAME” by two of our best Middle
East experts, true American patriots and retired military generals,
Paul Vallely and Tom McInerney. They are our finest, and totally
honest in their assessment of why victory in the Middle East is so
important, and how it can be won. Proceeds for the book go directly to
memorial fund for our fallen soldiers who served the country during
the war on terror. You can find that book by going to the Internet
through Standup America at www.ospreyradio.us or www.rightalk.com .
On the other hand, we have several very angry retired generals today,
who evidently have not achieved their lofty goals, and insist on
ranting and raving about the war. They are wrong, and doing the
country great harm by giving a certain political party reason to use
them as experts to back their antiwar claims.
You may be one of those who believe nothing could ever be terrible
enough to support our going to war. If that is the case I should stop
here, as that level of thinking approaches mental disability in this
day and age. It is right up there with alien abductions and high
altitude seeding through government aircraft contrails. I helped
produce those contrails for almost 30 years, and I can assure you we
were not seeding the atmosphere. The human race is a warlike
population, and if a country is not willing to protect itself, it
deserves the consequences. Nuff-said!!!
Now, my last comments will get to the nerve. They will be on politics.
I am not a Republican. And, George Bush has made enough mistakes as
President to insure my feelings about that for the rest of my life.
However, the Democratic Party has moved so far left, they have made
me support those farther to the right. I am a conservative who totally
supports the Constitution of this country. The only difference between
the United States and the South American, third world, dictator
infested and ever-changing South American governments, is our US
Constitution.
This Republic (note I did not say Democracy) is the longest standing the
world has ever known, but it is vulnerable. It would take so little to
change it through economic upheaval. There was a time when politicians
could disagree, but still work together. We are past that time, and that is
the initial step toward the downfall of our form of government.
I think that many view Bush-hating as payback time. The Republicans
hated the Clinton’s and now the Democrats hate Bush. So, both parties
are putting their hate toward willingness to do anything for political
dominance to include lying and always taking the opposite stand just
for the sake of being opposed. JUST HOW GOOD IS THAT FOR OUR
COUNTRY?
In my lifetime, after serving in uniform for President’s Kennedy,
Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush I have a pretty good
feel for which party supported our military, and what military life was
like under each of their terms. And, let me assure you that times were
best under the Republicans. Service under Jimmy Carter was devastating
for all branches of the military. And, Ronald Reagan was truly a salvation.
You can choose to listen to enriched newscasters, and foolish people like
John Murtha (he is no war hero), Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Michael
Moore, Jane Fonda, Harry Reid, Russ Feingold, Hillary Clinton, Ted
Kennedy, and on-and-on to include the true fools in Hollywood if you
like. If you do, your conclusions will be totally wrong.
The reason that I write, appear on radio talk shows, and do everything I
can to denounce those people is simple. THEY ARE PUTTING THEIR
THIRST FOR POLITICAL POWER AND QUEST FOR VICTORY IN
2008 ABOVE WHAT IS BEST FOR THIS COUNTRY. I cannot abide
that. Pelosi clearly defied the Logan Act by going to Syria, which should
have lead to imprisonment of three years and a heavy fine. Jane Fonda
did more to prolong the Vietnam war longer than any other human
being (as acknowledged by Ho Chi Minh in his writing before he died).
She truly should have been indicted for treason, along with her radical
husband, Tom Hayden, and forced to pay the consequences.
This country has started to soften by not enforcing its laws, which is
another indication of a Republic about to fall. All Democrats, along
with the Hollywood elite, are sending us headlong into a total defeat
in the Middle East, which will finally give Iran total dominance in the
region. A lack of oil in the near future will be the final straw that
dooms this Republic. However, if we refuse to let this happen and
really get serious about an energy self-sufficiency program, this can
be avoided. I am afraid, however, that we are going in the opposite
direction. If we elect Hillary Clinton and a Democrat controlled
congress, and they carry through with allowing Iran to take control of
the Middle East, continue to refuse development of nuclear energy,
refuse to allow drilling for new oil, and continue to do nothing but
oppose everything Bush, it will be over in terms of what we view as the
good life in the USA.
Now, do I think that all who do not support the war are un-American —
of course not. They just do not understand the importance of total
victory in that region. Another failure of George Bush is his inability to
explain to the American people why we are there, and why we MUST
win. By the way, it is not a war. The war was won four years ago. It is
martial law that isunder attack by Iranian and Syrian outside influences,
and there is a difference.
So, what do I believe? What is the bottom line? I will simply say that
the Democratic Party has fielded the foulest, power hungry,
anti-country, self absorbed group of individuals that I have observed
in my lifetime. Our educational system is partially to blame for
allowing the mass of America to be taken in by this group. George Bush
has done the best he can with the disabilities that he possesses.
A President must communicate with the people. And, I would tell you that
Desert Storm spoiled the people. Bush Senior’s 100-hour war convinced
the people that technology has progressed to the point that wars could
be fought with no casualties and won in very short periods of time.
I remember feeling at the time, that this was a tragedy for the US military.
To win wars, you must put boots on the ground. When you put boots on
the ground, soldiers are going to die.
A President must make the war decision wisely, and insure that the cause
is right before using his last political option. However, CONTROLLING
IRAN AND DEMOCRATIZING THE MIDDLE EAST IS THE ONLY
CHOICE IF WE ARE HELL-BENT ON DEPENDING ON THEM FOR
OUR FUTURE ENERGY NEEDS.
Jimmy L. Cash, Brig. Gen., USAF, Ret.
Lakeside, Montana 59922