CHEAPSKATE AMERICANS?

Daniel Drezner has a comprehensive round-up on the question of the whether the US is 'stingy' when it comes to foreign aid.

CHEAPSKATE AMERICANS

That, at least, is the view of some...

...America's perception of itself as the most generous country in the world is contradicted by the reality, economists and specialists on international aid say. Jeffrey Sachs, an economist at Columbia University and a specialist on aid to developing countries who has worked with the United Nations, said, ''There is a very big difference between American attitudes, which are generous; beliefs, which is that we do a lot; and the reality. . . . The reality is we actually do very little by comparative measures.

''I think the disaster in Asia is a stark example of this for a lot of Americans. It challenges their perceptions of their own country," Sachs said. ''There is going to be even more shock when the US government asks for an additional $80 billion in Iraq and the American public juxtaposes that with what was given in one of the worst natural disasters the world has ever seen.

Follow the link and read the rest. The assumption that we are a bunch of cheapskates when it comes to foreign aid is based upon the percentage of GNP, rather than actual dollars. While the US leads the pack in total actual dollars (over $15 Billion), it is lagging behind in percentage of GNP (0.17 percent).

GEORGE BUSH CAN'T WIN

Even when he is helping people...

Bush 'Undermining UN with Aid Coalition' By Jamie Lyons, PA Political Correspondent

United States President George Bush was tonight accused of trying to undermine the United Nations by setting up a rival coalition to coordinate relief following the Asian tsunami disaster. The president has announced that the US, Japan, India and Australia would coordinate the world’s response. But former International Development Secretary Clare Short said that role should be left to the UN. “I think this initiative from America to set up four countries claiming to coordinate sounds like yet another attempt to undermine the UN when it is the best system we have got and the one that needs building up,” she said. “Only really the UN can do that job,” she told BBC Radio Four’s PM programme. “It is the only body that has the moral authority. But it can only do it well if it is backed up by the authority of the great powers.” Ms Short said the coalition countries did not have good records on responding to international disasters. She said the US was “very bad at coordinating with anyone” and India had its own problems to deal with. “I don’t know what that is about but it sounds very much, I am afraid, like the US trying to have a separate operation and not work with the rest of the world through the UN system,” she added.

Perhaps Ms. Short hasn't heard of the UN's oil-for-food scandal.

UN OFFICIAL CRITICAL OF 'STINGY' US/EUROPEAN TSUNAMI RELIEF

U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland suggested that the United States and other Western nations were being "stingy" with relief funds, saying there would be more available if taxes were raised.

"It is beyond me why are we so stingy, really," the Norwegian-born U.N. official told reporters. "Christmastime should remind many Western countries at least, [of] how rich we have become." "There are several donors who are less generous than before in a growing world economy," he said, adding that politicians in the United States and Europe "believe that they are really burdening the taxpayers too much, and the taxpayers want to give less. It's not true. They want to give more."

I find critical remarks regarding US aid to countries in need by UN officials to be the height of hypocrisy, coming as it does from an employee of an organization that is hip-deep in the oil-for-food scandal. I don't care much for the idea of more money being taken from me through taxation to go into the pockets of thieving UN bureaucrats.

TSUNAMI - COULD IT HAPPEN HERE?

Yes, it could...

A tsunami wave higher than any in recorded history threatens to ravage the US coastline in the aftermath of a volcanic eruption in the Canary Islands, UK and US scientists will report today. Locations on both African and European Atlantic coastlines - including Britain - are also thought to be at risk.

The new research, a collaboration between Dr. Simon Day of the Benfield Greig Hazard Research Centre at UCL and Dr. Steven Ward of the University of California, reveals the extent and size of the mega-tsunami, the consequence of a giant landslide that may be triggered by a future eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano.

Previous research by Simon Day and colleagues predicted that a future eruption would be likely to cause a landslide on the western flank of Cumbre Vieja. A block of rock approximately twice the volume of the Isle of Man would break off, traveling into the sea at a speed of up to 350 kilometres per hour. The disintegration of the rock, this earlier study predicted, would produce a debris avalanche deposit extending 60 kilometres from the island. The energy released by the collapse would be equal to the electricity consumption of the entire United States in half a year.

This is not a new story. The reason you may not have heard about it is because the story came out on August 31, 2001...just 12 days before the 9/11 attacks. In any event, read the whole thing. Do a Google search on Cumbre Vieja and read the study, and other relevant articles. In the wake of the disaster in Asia, it seems like it might be a good idea to do a good deal more in the way of monitoring of Cumbre Vieja and creating a Tsunami early-warning system.

WBZ SCHEDULE THIS WEEK

I will be on WBZ-Boston again this week, starting tonight at Midnight. I will be on from Midnight to 5 AM on 12/27 (filling in for Steve Leveille), and then 10 PM to Midnight that night. I will then be on 10 PM to Midnight every night for the remainder of the week. WBZ can be found at 1030 on the AM dial. The listener line number is 617-254-1030. Topic suggestions can be e-mailed to me at dslrpierce@peoplepc.com.

ONE SOLDIER'S OPINION OF DONALD RUMSFELD

Follow the link to a must-read e-mail from an Army Captain (Doctor) to his brother (and posted on the brother's blog) about an encounter between a wounded soldier and Donald Rumsfeld.

FYI, the coin talked about in the e-mail (Rumsfeld gives a coin to the soldier) refers to a special coin that the SECDEF has (and other General officers have) to give as a sign of special recognition to a soldier. I have two myself from the CG of the 59th Ordnance Brigade during my service with that unit in the late '80s.

WHY CHRISTIANITY IS IMPORTANT TO WESTERN CIVILIZATION

I have not often agreed with Paul Craig Roberts, who writes a regular column for the Washington Times. But this morning, Christmas morning, he has written a column which, in a few words, crystallizes something I have believed for a long time.

Christmas decorations and gifts are among our connections to a Christian culture that has held Western civilization together for 2,000 years. In our culture the individual counts. This permits an individual person to put his or her foot down, to take a stand on principle, to become a reformer and to take on injustice. This empowerment of the individual is unique to Western civilization. It has made the individual a citizen equal in rights to all other citizens, protected from tyrannical government by the rule of law and free speech. These achievements are the products of centuries of struggle, but they all flow from the teaching God so values the individual's soul He sent His Son to die so we might live. By so elevating the individual, Christianity gave him a voice.

Formerly only those with power had a voice. But in Western civilization, people with integrity have a voice. So do people with a sense of justice, of honor, of duty, of fair play. Reformers can reform, investors can invest, and entrepreneurs can create commercial enterprises, new products and new occupations. The result is a land of opportunity. The United States attracted immigrants who shared our values and reflected them in their own lives. Our culture was absorbed by diverse peoples who became one.

Read the whole thing. Roberts believes, I think correctly, that because Christianity is centered on the individual's worth, all of our freedom and prosperity flows from it. He worries, I think appropriately, that if we discard it, or it becomes diluted in a culture that takes tolerance to such a degree as to reach defenselessness, that Western Civilization, and our freedom and prosperity, will fall before the power of the ideologically-driven state.

THE PICTURE SAYS IT ALL

Thomas Friedman in the New York Times points our attention to a picture we saw this week that says it all about the war in Iraq...

It showed several Iraqi gunmen, in broad daylight and without masks, murdering two Iraqi election workers. The murder scene was a busy street in the heart of Baghdad. The two election workers had been dragged from their car into the middle of the street. They looked young, the sort of young people you'd see doing election canvassing in America or Ukraine or El Salvador.

One was kneeling with his arms behind his back, waiting to be shot in the head. Another was lying on his side. The gunman had either just pumped a bullet into him or was about to. I first saw the picture on the Internet, and I did something I've never done before - I blew it up so it covered my whole screen. I wanted to look at it more closely. You don't often get to see the face of pure evil.

There is much to dislike about this war in Iraq, but there is no denying the stakes. And that picture really framed them: this is a war between some people in the heart of the Arab-Muslim world who - for the first time ever in their region - are trying to organize an election to choose their own leaders and write their own constitution versus all the forces arrayed against them.

Do not be fooled into thinking that the Iraqi gunmen in this picture are really defending their country and have no alternative. The Sunni-Baathist minority that ruled Iraq for so many years has been invited, indeed begged, to join in this election and to share in the design and wealth of post-Saddam Iraq.

As the Johns Hopkins foreign policy expert Michael Mandelbaum so rightly pointed out to me, "These so-called insurgents in Iraq are the real fascists, the real colonialists, the real imperialists of our age." They are a tiny minority who want to rule Iraq by force and rip off its oil wealth for themselves. It's time we called them by their real names.

However this war started, however badly it has been managed, however much you wish we were not there, do not kid yourself that this is not what it is about: people who want to hold a free and fair election to determine their own future, opposed by a virulent nihilistic minority that wants to prevent that. That is all that the insurgents stand for.

Read the whole thing, and remember that picture the next time you hear someone refer to the insurgents as "freedom fighters" or "Iraq's Minutemen" (as Michael Moore did).

A CHAPLAIN'S DAY IN THE CHAOS OF WAR

Follow the link to an account by an Army Chaplain who dealt with the wounded and the dying after the attack on the mess tent in Mosul. Read the whole thing.

THE GOOD NEWS FROM IRAQ

Follow the link to Arthur Chrenkoff's roundup of the good news coming from Iraq. Just as the mainstream media only tells you about the one plane that crashed rather than the 1,000 planes that landed safely, so too they tell you only about the violence and mayhem in Iraq, rather than any of the good work being done. Chrenkoff's expansive list includes items like...

With just over a month to go, preparations for election day are accelerating: "At the offices of Iraq's election commission, workers scurry to field phone calls, greet sheiks and politicians, and prepare for the country's nationwide election Jan. 30. The pace borders on frenetic," says one report:

Registration of voters is under way. The registry is based on records of Iraqis who receive monthly food rations under a program that began in the early 1990s, when the nation was under U.N. sanctions. Today, rich and poor Iraqis alike still receive rations. "Nobody could tell lies to Saddam. So it was a correct record. Whoever lied was killed," said [Farid] Ayar, [the electoral commission spokesman]. Registration forms are delivered to citizens through food-ration agents linked to 542 distribution centers across the nation of 22 million to 27 million people.

While the totalitarian obsession with recordkeeping has made it easy to register votes within Iraq, the International Migration Organization will be trying to ensure through its Out-of-Country--Voting for Iraq program that Iraqis living in 14 foreign countries can also register over a one-week period a fortnight prior to the voting. As part of the overseas vote effort, Jordanian authorities have announced they will set up a center to count ballots from the estimated 100,000 Iraqis residing in the country.

It will take a while, but scroll down through Chrenkoff's entire list. It is truly amazing what is being attempted in Iraq. If it succeeds, it will truly be an historic event.

WBZ-BOSTON THIS WEEK

I will be on WBZ-Boston again this week. On Monday (12/20) and Tuesday (12/21) I will be on from 7-10 PM. On Wednesday (12/22) and Thursday (12/23) I will be on from 10 PM to Midnight. As always, topic ideas can be sent to dslrpierce@peoplepc.com. During the show you can call in at 617-254-1030. You can find the station at 1030 on the AM dial.

THE IRAN PROBLEM II

Amir Taheri has a very interesting analysis of the Iran problem in today's NY Post...

...Iran is determined to play a central role in shaping the future of Iraq, and will do all it can to affect the results of the election. The reasons are not hard to divine. Until 9/11, Iran was the only power interested in changing the regional status quo. It saw itself surrounded by enemies, notably Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan. It also nurtured hopes of de-stabilizing the traditional Arab regimes that it regarded as moribund. The Clinton administration had gone out of its way to forge a relationship with the Taliban, sending a succession of emissaries, including then-U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson, to Kabul to sweet-talk Mullah Muhammad Omar into joining Washington in efforts to isolate Tehran. In 1998 and 1999, the Clintonites also tried to find a modus vivendi with Saddam. But the 9/11 attacks persuaded Americans that the status quo they had cherished in the Middle East was a threat to their national security. As far as destroying the Taliban regime and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein were concerned, Iran was on the U.S. side: The Americans were doing what the Iranians had prayed for. But when it comes to creating a new order in the region, Iran wishes to have its say.

Read the whole thing. It is a somewhat different take on possible Iranian motives and methods than what I have seen in the past from other experts.

BIN LADEN TAKES AIM AT SAUDI ARABIA

Osama Bin Laden has released another tape, and this time he is taking aim squarely at the House of Saud.

DUBAI (Reuters) - An audio recording purportedly by Osama bin Laden, praising gunmen who carried out a Dec. 6 attack in Saudi Arabia, was posted on the Internet on Thursday, suggesting the al Qaeda leader is still alive. In the recording, the speaker blessed a group of Saudi al Qaeda militants who stormed the U.S. consulate in Jeddah in the first attack on a Western mission in Saudi Arabia. He lambasted the rulers of the world's largest oil exporter as "corrupt, oppressive" U.S. agents and warned them they would be toppled in a popular uprising if they did not to allow their people to choose a true Muslim leadership.

It's been interesting to see Bin Laden's changing strategy. I think he now knows that he overreached with the 9/11 attacks against the United States. But, sensing an opportunity, he realizes that the U.S. intervention in Iraq has created a battleground to distract America while he rebuilds his base of followers and takes aim at what he believes is the weak link in the Arab world, the Saudi Royal Family. It seems to me that he has given up on Afghanistan and is content now to hide (either in Iran or Pakistan's northwestern territories) and act as a spiritual leader of the struggle. He no doubt harbors visions of a triumphant return to his native country, Saudi Arabia, liberated from what he sees as the corrupt Saudi royals and returned to traditional Islamic rule.

Ironically, it may be in our interests to see him win out against the Saudi royals. If Bin Laden were to reappear as the head (spiritual or otherwise) of an actual state, he would at least present himself as a target. It would also galvanize the Muslim world to choose which side they are on as Bin Laden took custody of the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina. Either the majority of Muslims would reject Bin Ladenism and assemble in a coalition to liberate the geographic center of their faith, or they would embrace him and his ideas, in which case the West (I hope) would be galvanized to join us in our war against Islamofascism in a more aggressive fashion than they have thus far.

IRAQ THROUGH IRAQI EYES

Jeff Jacoby writes about a fascinating new perspective on the war in Iraq...an Iraqi perspective.

A YEAR AFTER Saddam Hussein was captured, how goes the liberation of Iraq? If a phrase like "the liberation of Iraq" strikes you as ironic, chances are most of what you know about the situation there comes from the mainstream press. After all, a tidal wave of journalism has been portraying Iraq as a chaotic mess more or less from the moment US troops entered the country. The drumbeat of bad news is inescapable: looting, insurgency, terrorists, kidnappings. And, always, the grimly mounting toll of Iraqi and US casualties. This is liberation? But how would Iraq appear if we saw it through not the reporting of Western journalists, but the candid testimony of Iraqis themselves? American reporters accustomed to freedom and the rule of law experience Iraq today as a place of danger and violence. Iraqis who lived under Saddam were accustomed to tyranny, cruelty, and secret police. What do they make of their country today?

Last spring, three enterprising Americans -- filmmakers Eric Manes and Martin Kunert, both former producers for MTV, and Gulf War veteran Archie Drury, a former Marine -- decided to find out. They distributed 150 digital video recorders to ordinary Iraqis and asked them to film anyone or anything they thought worthwhile -- and then pass the camera on to someone else.

From April to September, the cameras traveled from hand to hand through every region of the country. What eventually came back to the three Americans was 450 hours of raw video recorded by more than 2,000 Iraqis from all walks of life -- and not one frame of it influenced by an outside director or crew. Edited down to a taut 80 minutes, the result -- "Voices of Iraq" -- is a gripping documentary that for the first time shows Iraq as even the most skillful American journalist will never be able to show it: through the eyes and ears of Iraq's people.

What a fantastic project! Follow the link to Jacoby's article, then to the site about the documentary.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE FOLLIES

Check this out...

DENVER -- A recall election is now set for an Estes Park, Colo., trustee who refuses to stand up and recite the Pledge of Allegiance during the Town Board meetings. David Habecker sits while others stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. "I have not been standing for the Pledge of Allegiance due to a conflict I have with the wording of the pledge, specifically the words 'under God,'" Councilman David Habecker said. Habecker said it's a violation of church and state to include the words in the pledge and for that reason, he won't stand.

It is truly amazing to me how many people get so worked up about the Pledge of Allegiance and the so-called separation of church and state.

First, if you haven't done so already, please research the origins of the pledge. You will find it was written by a man (a Christian Socialist) in the 1890s who was engaged in an effort to spread universal public education (the compulsory, government-run public school system we are familiar with today) across the country. As a political tactic he wrote the pledge for a Columbus Day celebration he envisioned being recited by schoolchildren all over America. He wanted the support of patriotic organizations like the Grand Army of the Republic to help sell the concept of universal public education. He got it. Eventually other patriotic organizations came on board and convinced the politicians to make the pledge official. In the early 1950s, facing "godless communism", the Knights of Columbus convinced Congress to add the words "under God" to the pledge. My bottom line? The pledge is not a sacred patriotic rite. It wasn't created by the Founders of the Republic and is not essential to the survival of the Republic.

Second, regarding the separation of church and state, please read Thomas Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, from which the phrase was lifted. Jefferson was responding to a congratulatory letter from the association after winning a second term as President. Along with their congratulations, the Connecticut Baptists were hoping to get public support from Jefferson for the movement to dis-establish the established religion of Connecticut at the time (Congregationalism). Baptists saw themselves as an oppressed minority which, in many ways, they were. Jefferson simply agreed with them that states should not have state-sanctioned "established" religious denominations, although he also indicated he had no power as the Chief Magistrate of the land to force those states to change their ways, other than through reasoned persuasion. My bottom line? The Supreme Court has taken Jefferson's words and used them to, wittingly or not, sow confusion as to the proper relationship between organized religion and the states in the USA. In my view, Jefferson would never have agreed that organized religion should be driven from the public square, only that Congress and the state legislatures should not be allowed to establish an official religion either for their state, or the country as a whole.

THE IRAN PROBLEM

Reuel Marc Gerecht writes about the Iran problem this week and lays out pretty clearly the problems and opportunities our government faces when dealing with that sometimes troublesome country. Ironically, the most important actions that will have an impact on Iran are happening in Iraq.

The strongest trump playing in favor of America and against Iran is Iraqi nationalism. Nationalism is easily the most successful European export to the Middle East, rearranging, subordinating, and sometimes eliminating older ties of faith, family and tribe. Iraq's Shiites are the progenitors of modern Iraqi nationalism. They, much more than their Sunni Arab compatriots, who were the driving force behind pan-Arabism in Mesopotamia, have shaped an Iraqi Arab identity which is distinct from the Sunni Arabs to the west and Shiite Iranians to the east.

Read the whole article as Gerecht includes some very rich detail about the history of the Iraqi Shiites and what makes them so important as we move forward toward (we hope) and Iraqi democracy. Reading these types of essays also is a good reminder about the central truth (I think) about Iraq, which is that Iraq is really three different countries...a Kurdish north, a Sunni center, and a Shiite south. Almost all the violence, and U.S. casualties, is happening in the Sunni center. I haven't heard or read about any significant incidents in the Shiite south since the Al-Sadr uprising was defeated earlier this year. Those incidents that are happening in the north seem to be limited to towns with significant Sunni Arab populations, like Mosul. Unfortunately, this fact continues to lead me to believe that we may be eventually be faced with only one viable solution to the continued violence in Iraq...the partition of the country.

WBZ THIS WEEK

I will be on WBZ-Boston this week 10 PM to Midnight each night (except Tuesday when, due to a telethon, I will be on from 11 PM to Midnight) following Paul Sullivan, who is now on from 7-10 PM. WBZ can be found at 1030 AM on the dial. Topic suggestions are welcome at dslrpierce@peoplepc.com.

TEENS DELAYING SEXUAL ACTIVITY

Check this out from the Washington Times...

Teen sexual activity has dropped significantly since 1995 — primarily, teens say, because it is against their religious or moral values, says a new federal study regarded by many as the "gold standard" for family statistics.

Please read the whole article, which contains the numbers as well as encouraging numbers on contraceptive use by those who are having sex. I wonder if America's public intellectuals will recognize the true importance of this story? That, of course, is that once again we have evidence of the power of religion and spirituality in directing human behavior. So much of America's intellectual elite are atheistic or agnostic and, therefore, know little about religion and understand less about the power it has over the lives of the majority of the people in the world. How many other social ills can be ameliorated using the power of religious or moral values? I'm sure the President will use this story to help bolster his faith-based initiatives.

NANNYGATE REVISITED?

You may remember that during the Clinton Administration a number of nominations for high posts were derailed when it was discovered that they employed illegal aliens as nannies, or those nannies were being paid under the table, or both. Last night, the Bush Administration was seemingly struck by the same problem...

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a surprise move, former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik abruptly withdrew his nomination as President Bush's choice to be homeland security secretary Friday night, saying questions have arisen about the immigration status of a housekeeper and nanny he employed.

The decision caught the White House off guard and sent Bush in search of a new candidate to run the sprawling bureaucracy of more than 180,000 employees melded together from 22 disparate federal agencies in 2003.

If this is the actual reason for Kerik's withdrawal (and having read about his background I suspect there are a number of other potentially more troublesome problems that could crop up much more serious than employing an illegal alien as a nanny) it points out again one of the main reasons we have a problem with illegal immigration in this country. There are far too many employers who, for reasons of expediency, are willing to flout the law in order to get their business done. Even people who otherwise are law-abiding and responsible, even leading, members of the community. As I discussed on WBZ the other night, this is actually also another argument for a practical guest worker program, which is what the President favors.

DAVID BRUDNOY, 1940-2004

Last night I had the honor of being a small part of the WBZ radio family as they reacted to the news of the death of their long-time friend David Brudnoy. I was in the control room when the call came in that he had passed away just a few minutes earlier, and I had the honor of being on the air to start what would have been his show at 7 PM. For an hour I spoke to friends and listeners, including Jon Keller and Anthony Silva. I also got a chance to pay my small tribute to David, as I am among the many who can say that I was once a David Brudnoy producer (for three weeks in 1990 on WHDH when David was a free agent after being shown the door by WBZ management at the time...they came to their senses after being deluged by listener complaints and brought David back).

Appropriately, management (my good and dear friend Peter Casey, Director of News and Programming at WBZ) decided to go with a WBZ veteran, Jordan Rich, to take the show until Midnight. I believe completely that was the right choice, and I was happy to have been a small part of their coverage. I stayed for a while and listened as WBZ folks did their jobs with absolute professionalism, even through their grief. I'm sure David would have been proud of them all.

RUMMY UNDER FIRE?

Much is being made of the questions directed at SECDEF Rumsfeld by troops in Kuwait. The MSM is concentrating on the question from one soldier concerning lack of armor for vehicles and by another soldier concerning the stop-loss policy. One soldier who was in the audience says the media, as usual, is missing the point.

Almost immediately after returning to camp yesterday after the visit by the SECDEF, I did a google news search and read the AP Wire article and noted that, although the piece was fairly accurate, there was definitely a sense of exaggeration in the tone that presented the townhall meeting as a gripe session. As one of the soldiers in the audience, I felt that presenting the morning in such a fashion was misleading, and with such negative connotations, I wondered how long it may be before the MSM ran with the story and turned a pleasant morning with the Secretary of Defense into a scenario that resembled a defendant being cross-examined by the prosecution in a court room. I knew the story was generating heavy circulation when I saw it headlined on Drudge today.

Before I dig in, I want to address one item in particular from the story linked above that I think was not made clear enough. When it stated:

Spc. Thomas Wilson had asked the defense secretary, "Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up-armor our vehicles?" Shouts of approval and applause arose from the estimated 2,300 soldiers who had assembled to see Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld hesitated and asked Wilson to repeat his question.

I believe Secretary Rumsfeld hesitated because it was difficult to hear the first part of the question Spc. Wilson asked. Perhaps because of nerves, he spoke at first very quickly, and the acoustics of the hangar were hardly concert-hall quality. The Secretary asked others to repeat parts of their questions as well apparently because of difficulty hearing the question in its entirety. I do think Spc. Wilson is justified in asking such a question. It is a serious issue, and if logistics or "physics" is the obstacle from accomplishing the tasks of up-armoring vehicles to add to soldier safety, then we need to do our best to overcome that obstacle. The Secretary concluded with an anecdote in which he spoke of the recent terror warning surrounding the election. He said he looked out the windows of the Pentagon one day and saw 6-8 up-armored HMMWV's perched at the perimeter of the building. He then said, "Guess what, they aren't there any more."

I also want to express that as a person who has worked in politics for years, I was very surprised when we were told there would be the opportunity to ask questions without first having them screened. I would have assumed there would have been some process where those who had questions submitted them prior to asking the Secretary, and had them approved. Instead, everyone in the room was given the option to stand, motion for one of the soldiers holding a microphone, and ask anything they desired. There was no particular order of what kind of questions were asked and the soldiers who asked questions ranged in rank from Specialists to Lieutenant Colonels. When I say I was surprised that this part of the event was not micromanaged, I want to ensure you that I was pleasantly surprised. In my opinion, it shows the attitude that this Secretary has towards the soldiers he is sworn to represent. It shows those in uniform that he does not see us or our concerns as "below his level," but instead sends a signal that we are his concern, and ensuring we can accomplish the mission is his highest priority.

One more thing I would like to add is this, not one soldier present asked questions about why we were here, or expressed the sort of anti-war sentiment that Michael Moore led some to believe was prevalent in the military. Rather, the concern was about ensuring we would be supplied with all necessary equipment to accomplish the mission and return home safely. Let there be no doubt, this was not a hostile crowd eager to catch the Secretary of Defense off guard by grilling him with questions he has never had to answer. This was a group of truly admirable American's and patriots, receiving confirmation from the man who controls the Department of Defense, that we have the full fledged moral, financial and logistical support, to accomplish the mission.

Just another example of why the Internet is such a great thing. We can now hear many different angles to a story, often directly from participants, without having to rely totally on the MSM to tell us the story.

COURAGE

Boston Globe columnist Brian McGrory (a college classmate of mine) writes about David Brudnoy's last hours in this morning's globe. After reading it I am once again impressed by David's courage. Follow the link and read the whole thing.

DAVID BRUDNOY SAYS FAREWELL

One of America's greatest talk show hosts will say farewell to his listening public tonight starting at 7 PM on WBZ-Boston. David Brudnoy's long battle with AIDS and cancer is about to come to an end, according to the man himself in excerpts of an interview being aired during the WBZ news this afternoon. I encourage all my listeners and fans to tune in to WBZ tonight for this program.

IRAQI BLOGGERS

Follow the link to a webblog featuring links to all sorts of Iraqi bloggers. In the wake of today's front-page story in the New York Times about a CIA officer who is pessimistic about Iraq, I think it would be best to read a sampling of Iraqi opinion.

WHEN WAR MUST BE THE ANSWER

James V. Schall is a Professor of Government at Georgetown University. He has an essay in Policy Review Online that is, in my opinion, a must-read. He puts forward the proposition, that I have long held, that war is sometimes the answer.

In late spring, in Baltimore, I walked to the end of Chestnut Street where it meets Joppa Road. On one corner was a large official-looking residence called “Mission Helpers Center.” On both sides of its entrance gate were large blue and white signs that said, “War Is Not the Answer.” These placards recalled many too-simple slogans I have seen in recent years about war, often, like this one apparently, from religious sources: “War is obsolete.” “War is never justified.” “The answer to violence is not more violence.” “War does no good.” “No one wins a war.” “Love, not war.” “Diplomacy, not war.” “Dialogue, not war.” “Stop violence.” “Justice, not war.” “No war is legitimate.” “Everyone loses in war.” “War, Never Again.”

When I saw the “War Is Not the Answer” sign, I said to myself, “what is the question to which war is not an answer?” Is there no question to which war is the only sensible answer? Must we be pacifists and draw no lines in the sand? Does nothing ever need defending? Can we choose not to defend what needs defending and still be honorable? If war is not the “answer,” what is? How do we rid ourselves of tyrants or protect ourselves from ideologies or fanatics who attack us with their own principles and weapons, not ours?

Machiavelli advised that a prince should spend most of his time preparing for war. The prince was not pious except when it was useful to his staying in power. If we are this prince’s neighbors, do we take no notice of his preparations? Do we give him the answer he most wants to hear from us, namely, “war is not the answer”? Those who practice this doctrine of no war make easy targets. The prince thinks war is an answer. It can help him in his goal of acquiring and keeping power. We may have to suffer a defeat at his hands, but we should not choose to bring one on ourselves.

Though much carnage and chaos happen in any historic war, and on every side, still we cannot conclude from this that “war is not the answer.” It may not be the only answer. But no valid alternative to war can be a mere ungrounded velleity, a frivolous hope that nothing bad will happen no matter what we do or do not do. Any presumed alternative to war, by other supposedly more effective methods, has to stop what war seeks to prevent by its own reasoned use of measured force. The general opinion of most sensible men in most of history is that war certainly is one answer, even a reasonable answer, in the light of what would likely ensue without it. Not a few unfought wars have made things considerably worse. Not a few fought wars have made things better. The honor classically associated with war heroes is expressed in the proclamations: “Our cause is just.” “Give me liberty or give me death.” “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” “Walk softly but carry a big stick.”

While the author comes at the question from a Catholic perspective, and knowledge of Just War Theory is helpful in reading the piece, I highly recommend you read the whole thing.

A TAINTED RECORD

Follow the link to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle about the testimony of baseball star Barry Bonds before a grand jury investigating a Bay Area company for dispensing illegal steroids. While Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees admitted his steroid use in testimony under oath, a move that could cost him his employment with the Yankees, Bonds played dumb (rather effectively, I think). While this may keep Bonds in his Giants uniform and save him from legal consequences or disciplinary action, it does nothing to prevent his already shaky image from being tarnished. As baseball fans (and I am one), how are we to look at Bonds' incredible accomplishments in the light of this new information? Read the whole article. It's a terrible black eye for America's great game.

OUR REMARKABLE SOLDIERS (AND MARINES, AND SAILORS AND AIRMEN)

Over the last couple of days I have seen and read some heart-rending stories about wounded military personnel recovering back here in the States. Last night it was a story about veterans facing the hard work of rehabilitation at Walter Reed that was featured on NBC Nightly News. Last week the HBO program Inside the NFL did a story on a group of wounded soldiers who were treated to a football game by the NFL. In each case the soldiers themselves were interviewed about their personal stories and allowed to reflect on the hand that life has dealt them. To hear these men and women talk was humbling, indeed.

One horribly burned Marine in the HBO piece talked about how glad he was to be alive. A female soldier whose left hand was blown off by an RPG talked about how she and her comrades agreed that she was lucky to go home and see the NFL season unfold this year. In the NBC piece a young Navy Corpsman described how he saved his own life by applying a tourniquet after his leg was blown off. A female Army soldier was shown working to rehabilitate her legs which had been shredded by shrapnel. In all of the interviews shown there was a remarkable lack of bitterness. In fact, the NBC piece remarked on that fact, making it a central part of the story.

I have also seen some print stories on the subject, including a recent piece in the Washington Post. The Post story (sorry, no link, it is a registration required site and I don't have a registration), excerpts of which I've read on other websites, focuses in on how the Army is working to keep wounded soldiers in the service. A few weeks ago The NFL Today on CBS featured a group of Army soldiers, one of whom had been seriously wounded, losing part of a leg, and he spoke about his desire to return to his unit. Apparently, the Army is responding to a demand from within the ranks, as well as the need to retain valuable personnel.

It is a remarkable change from what one might have expected, using the experiences of past wars as a guide, especially Vietnam. I think it is due to the fact that ours is a volunteer military. These people know when they sign up (as I did when I served in the late 1980s) that they are risking the possibility they will be called upon to serve in combat. They take the risk willingly. Therefore, when they are wounded in action, the enter into their rehabilitation less susceptible to bitterness. In my mind it is yet another reason we should keep the all-volunteer force. As long as we have courageous young men and women like those featured in the pieces I have referred to, and in the military as a whole, the U.S. will remain a formidable foe against any enemies.

TOPICS FOR WBZ TONIGHT

If you would like to suggest a topic or story for me to talk about on WBZ tonight, just send me an e-mail at dslrpierce@peoplepc.com. Thanks.

DO THE KURDS WANT TO DELAY THE ELECTION IN IRAQ?

No, says William Safire in today's New York Times.

Could it be that the courageous Kurds, with 20 percent of the population - and having been protected from Saddam's genocide for the past decade by American and British air power - were about to double-cross us and side with the Sunni Baathists who had persecuted them?
On the phone, I put it to the top Kurd serving in the interim Iraqi government, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih: Were the Kurds chickening out? "This whole story was an exercise in political spin," he replied. As he had just told Sir David Frost on BBC, Iraq is not the calamity we see on television. "I was supposed to be a Kurdish representative to that meeting, but it wasn't possible," Dr. Salih informed me. "A junior representative took part. No decision was made, and we did not endorse the delaying of the election." No waffling? "We have demonstrated our resolve in Falluja," Salih said. "Holding the election will be tough, but delaying it would be tougher. We will do everything in our power to honor our commitment to free elections."

Success will only be achieved in Iraq if the interim government there, and the US government backing them up, retains it's resolve. Somehow, I don't see George W. Bush waffling on this one, which means it is unlikely that our Iraqi allies will waffle either.

I WILL BE ON WBZ RADIO THIS THURSDAY NIGHT

I will be filling in for the ailing Paul Sullivan on Thursday night, 12/2, from 10 PM to Midnight on NewsRadio 1030, WBZ-Boston. Paul is recovering from surgery and I join those who wish him a full and speedy recovery. If you would like to listen to the show it can be found at 1030 on the AM dial. I may also get a chance to do some more shifts during the holidays. I will post the dates and times as I get them.