2008-05-19
During the years I have, on occasion, felt compelled to run someone else's writings in my column space. This is one of those occasions. While I may not agree with every single detail of what Brig. Gen. Jimmy Cash has written, I find his overall argument poignant and profoundly important. It is men like Cash who make me proud to be an American. We would be wise to heed his warning.
– Craig
The following is a piece written by Cash, presented in its original, uncensored entirety.
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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 into 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 sixth 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 will be forced to confront Iran, and it had better be before they gain nuclear capability.
From early 1987 to 1989, I served as a command director inside the Cheyenne Mountain complex located in Colorado Springs, Colo. 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 U.S. or Canada. If any shot was threatening to either nation, I had only minutes to advise the president, and 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 thousands 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 could care less about toppling the West. Oil prices were fairly stable, and we could not see an immediate threat. 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, the United States. They are convinced they will win because the United States 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 we 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 made 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 overnight 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 to 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 a memorial fund for our fallen soldiers who served the country during the war on terror.
On the other hand, we have several very angry, retired generals today who evidently have not achieved their lofty goals and who insist on ranting and raving about the war. They are wrong and are doing the country great harm by giving a certain political party reason to use them as experts to back their anti-war 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 produced those contrails for almost 30 years, and I can assure you we were not seeding the atmosphere. The human race is a war-like population, and if a country is not willing to protect itself, it deserves the consequences. Enough 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 ensure 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 third world, dictator infested, and ever-changing South American governments is our U.S. 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 many view Bush-hating as payback. The Republicans hated the Clintons, and now the Democrats hate Bush. So, both parties are putting their hate toward willingness to do anything for political dominance including lying and always taking the opposite stand just for the sake of being opposed. Just how is that good for our country?
In my lifetime, after serving in uniform for Presidents 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 Regan 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 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 than any other human being (as acknowledge by high-ranking Vietnam government officials after the war). 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, 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 U.S.
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 is under 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 the Democratic Party has fielded the foulest, power-hungry, anti-country, self-absorbed group of individuals 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 limitations he has been shackled with. 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 technology has progressed to the point that wars can be fought with no casualties and won in very short periods of time. I remember feeling at the time that this would be a tragedy for the U.S. military. To win wars, a country 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 ensure 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.
(Brig. Gen. Jimmy Cash may be contacted at: jcash1@bresnan.net)
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