No event scarred American psyche like the Sunday morning news of 7 December 1941. There was no television, no instant analysis, no video tape or constantly replayed images. The news came by radio, word of mouth and newspapers. It spread through a rural underpopulated country that was coming out of a depression. The attack by the Japanese on an American naval base, located on an exotic island was an event beyond the imagination of almost all Americans. It was the original shock and awe, a shocking and awful day.The attack was against ships and planes parked on a peaceful Sunday morning. It was an attack against the security, complacency and isolation of the United States of America. It united a country whose very name announced to the world it was already united. The country did not have to stay the course. It was dragged into a war not in a time and place of its choosing.
Lines formed at every recruiting station in the country. Young men, the original "boys to men", lied about their age, quit school to enlist by the hundreds of thousands. They sought a deferment from their normal life to join a cause and 400,000 of them never came home to the country they called United. They lost many an early battle and won a war backed by a country that knew and practiced service and sacrifice.
911 was another moment. It rated some bumper stickers, some dirtied and faded American flags and some big big slogans. The country was still called United, but America is a different place. It is an entitled America. It is an America with an attention deficit disorder. It is an America with more information and a populace with less knowledge. I doubt twenty percent of Americans could point to Iran and Afghanistan on a map or globe.
This is war without sacrifice by almost all. Almost. Troops may get applauded in air ports but hardly a member of Congress has a relative in the combat.
Why?
No event scars my psyche like the development of girly men "Leaders" like GWB et al.
ReplyDeleteToo bad aid and comfort is no longer called treachery.
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Froggy Contemplates Suicide!
Aussie Women Stage Bikini Protests against Burkahs.
ReplyDelete---
Uncovered Meat Kitty
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I'm Uncovered Meat. Are You?
I do love us. In honor of American ingenuity and the free market, some Smarty Pants has already figured out a way to mock Australia's "Women Are Uncovered Meat" Muslim cleric and make money at the same time.
Their invention:
Link
Yes, you, too, can have this little Uncovered Meat Kitty on apparel of all sorts, including a thong, boxers, t-shirts, and even a BBQ chef's apron.
Here's their pitch, reminding us first about the Islamist's comments explaining why rape victims are the ones at fault, comparing them to "uncovered meat." The burqa, you see, covers up all that meat, keeping the "cats" (rapists) away:
"If you take uncovered meat and put it on the street, on the pavement, in a garden, in a park, or in the backyard, without a cover and the cats eat it, then whose fault will it be, the cat’s, or the uncovered meat’s? The uncovered meat is the disaster. If the meat was covered the cats wouldn’t roam around it. If the meat is inside the fridge, they won’t get it."
-Sheik Hilaly, Post-Ramadan Sermon, Sydney Australia 2006
Show the Sheik how things really are and Sheik your Booty in this quality Infidel Clothing.
Manufactured in the Great Satan, all proceeds go towards forbidden consumption of alcohol.
I'm there!
Related Link:
Islamist Leader Compares Women to Meat
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete2164..A most fitting description of the USA 1941 vs 2006. Not only do you have your finger on the pulse of the national and international scene, your writng talents are developing into that rareified class of evocative and accurate writers who make names for themselves by telling it like it is.
ReplyDeleteThank you expressing what many of us feel.
Lincoln's address at Gettysburg was ,of course, many years before Pearl Harbor. The entire address is timeless but a portion remains germane for alll time.
ReplyDelete"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth"
The big difference is in WWII, we were fighting for our own reasons and our own goals.It was not about ideology. Our goal was simple, we were going to kill and destroy the bastards who were our enemy.
ReplyDeleteThe WOT which has become confused with the war in Iraq which is supposed to be bringing freedom to people who do not want it. I do not care which Islamic tribe wins. I care that they are ineffective in their attempt to hurt us. They leave us alone, they can do what they want. They choose another road. We kill them and trash their stuff.
Firstly, I would like to chime in with habu1 for thanking you for the post.
ReplyDelete2164th wrote: It was not about ideology. Our goal was simple, we were going to kill and destroy the bastards who were our enemy.
You're right that Iraq isn't an ideological battlefield. I posted this a few weeks ago at BC:
The mullahs in Iran and their like-minded ilk attempting to perpetuate the "Western Menace" reminds me of how Europe post-1918 responded to Bolshevism's "Red Menace" and the horrific possibility of it being exported across the continent.
And Europe responded by fragmenting into various camps: fascism, splendid isolationism and disillusionment. Ironically, the ultimate threat manifested itself not from Russia, but from Germany. Europe had to contend with another bloody conflagration because they were too preoccupied with some distant ideological "threat" (while somehow ignoring the anti-imperialist stance of the Bolsheivks) instead of the real danger: Hitler - who knew realpolitik well enough to blindside even Stalin.
This nihilistic, fatalistic ideology of Muslim fundamentalism isn't universal in the Middle East. We have allies like Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt - however transient or fickle-minded. Right now, the mullahs of Iran and all those proponents of a Shia Crescent/Caliphate are succeeding in emulating what the "Red Menace" did: dividing the West so that it is easier to "conquer" (metaphorically, not literally).
We need to reconcile our internal divisions and face this pseudo-ideological monster with all the resolve and will we can - and will - muster. We shall be the ones who will exploit their internal divisions and expose the inherent weaknesses of their radical faith - their own peoples shall realise for themselves how these fundamentalists are willing to squander the lives of their own brethren instead of protecting them.
Firstly, I would like to chime in with habu1 for thanking you for the post.
ReplyDelete2164th wrote: It was not about ideology. Our goal was simple, we were going to kill and destroy the bastards who were our enemy.
You're right that Iraq isn't an ideological battlefield. I posted this a few weeks ago at BC:
The mullahs in Iran and their like-minded ilk attempting to perpetuate the "Western Menace" reminds me of how Europe post-1918 responded to Bolshevism's "Red Menace" and the horrific possibility of it being exported across the continent.
And Europe responded by fragmenting into various camps: fascism, splendid isolationism and disillusionment. Ironically, the ultimate threat manifested itself not from Russia, but from Germany. Europe had to contend with another bloody conflagration because they were too preoccupied with some distant ideological "threat" (while somehow ignoring the anti-imperialist stance of the Bolsheivks) instead of the real danger: Hitler - who knew realpolitik well enough to blindside even Stalin.
This nihilistic, fatalistic ideology of Muslim fundamentalism isn't universal in the Middle East. We have allies like Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt - however transient or fickle-minded. Right now, the mullahs of Iran and all those proponents of a Shia Crescent/Caliphate are succeeding in emulating what the "Red Menace" did: dividing the West so that it is easier to "conquer" (metaphorically, not literally).
We need to reconcile our internal divisions and face this pseudo-ideological monster with all the resolve and will we can - and will - muster. We shall be the ones who will exploit their internal divisions and expose the inherent weaknesses of their radical faith - their own peoples shall realise for themselves how these fundamentalists are willing to squander the lives of their own brethren instead of protecting them.
I apologise for the double-post.
ReplyDeleteHarrison, both the posts were worth the read. Welcome to the Elephant, where more than a few are familiar with getting served a double.
ReplyDeletethank you habu.
ReplyDeleteA "New Plan" for Iraq will be unveiled, by Mr Bush, prior to the "Season's Greetings" break.
ReplyDeleteEither in an address to the Nation, or before a Joint Session of Congress, which amounts to the same thing,
This news is from Mr Golder at the White House for FOX News.
Pearl Harbor, almost as distant a memory, now, as the Alamo & Bunker Hill.
After 9-11-01 I know many young men were at the Recruiting Offfices. They volunteered and went off, where ordered.
When they arrived at the Front, that is were the comparison to Pearl Harbor and WWII collapses. Where in WWII the objective was Victory, ASAP, in the TWAT victory is not the objective of the War, cultural transformation of a Region is the Goal of a local occupation.
The Military while limited in the tools required for such a Mission did not even implement, successfully, those proven tools they had experience with.
Whit,
ReplyDeletere: world trade tower videos aren't seen on television anymore.
The gruesome ones never were, because our government and the MSM didn't want to overly stimulate us. Had people seen the WTC in its entirety, as Americans saw Pearl Harbor day after day in theatres, much more might have been demanded of the administration.
Mr. Roosevelt rallied the nation, Mr. Bush the military.
Deuce,
I am in awe. Another great thread.
many people "saw"
ReplyDeleteNever mind
ReplyDeleteSorry
Must have caffiene
bobalbarb and WC,
ReplyDeleteI feel a Nicene moment coming. As at Nicea, all the difference is found in the use or non-use of one little word. Good luck, if you two go "there". You will need it.
Newsweak, trish, it is hitting faster than I had thought, the first hint of a US sanctioned and controlled ethnic cleansing and "genocide", in the MSM.
ReplyDelete"... How much more can Washington let itself be implicated in such carnage? ..."
A little ahead of schedule or I'm a tad bit behind the MSM spin curve. But that is the first I've read of US responsibility for the "carnage" and cleansing. The floodgates will open, now. First a trickle, then a rush. Better then Abu Grahib for a US Bush/Military scandal.
"Genocide"
won't be long.
The ISG report and th Rummy memo lay out options many of which ahve been implimented since the march appointment of the ISG.
ReplyDeleteOur problem appears to be the interniceine battle between Sunni and Shiite, a battle of tribes we're not goong to solve with our brand of government..It makes negotiating impossible...so.
We withdraw to desert bases, protect the oilfields and let the Sunnis and the Shiites kill each other..I fgure a couple of million would be a good start. If things get slow we sent in some "black ops" to assassinate a leader and bingo up goes the slaughter. We could occasionally use the A-10 just for fun.
This hiatus would allow a number of things to occur.
Troop rest
Refitting and repair of equipment
sharpen HUMINT skills
enjoy the show...
Just as a personal lagniappe I'd like to see a old style Curtis Lemay B-52 iron bombing of Sadr City.
Desert Rat wrote, "Pearl Harbor, almost as distant a memory, now, as the Alamo & Bunker Hill."
ReplyDeleteBut the Holocaust is also fading away, and it becomes easier for morons like President Ineedanewjob to say it never happened.
DR,
ReplyDeleteAs you predicted the MSM has already started but that has been their MO since Vietnam.
This medium dilutes to a great degree their effects.
Just like a decaying possum it takes some time for the smell of the dying MSM to dissipate.
I think if you're a journalism major now you must take at least 50 hours of "How to hate the USA and make them look bad"..usually taught by a disruntled leftest...
The Theory of the Mission, cultural transformation, taking the Middle East to a peaceful Region of secular, in the early Turkish model, governments. Through the application of limited force in Iraq, creating a successful Government model for the rest of the Region to follow.
ReplyDeleteA Bridge to Far for the military to accomplish, without first defeating all the enemy Nation States in the Region. The US is not even at War with those Naations States, instead it transformed it's Military into an Iraqi Police Command, on steroids.
The internal contradictions in Iraq are beyond the capabilities of the US Military to manage.
So, trish, I think both the conception of the Mission and the Doctrine implemented to accomplish it were faulty.
DR..Correct. VDH points out today the same thing that I have been saying forever. You defeat the enemy first, then you rebuild. We didn't have the guts to do the former or the skill to accomplish the latter.
ReplyDeleteWe attempted to build a sandcastle at the waters edge during an incoming tide. Impossible to do.
trish,
ReplyDeleteUsing the Doctrines developed over the last 50 years, you're right.
The US could not fight and win a Regional War using the Iraqi model. It cannot fight and win using the Iraqi model in Iraq.
There are different models and Doctrine that, if Victory were the Primary Goal, the US could implement.
rufus was wrong, he said there'd be no bombings 'til the weekend.
Tell that to the families of the FIVE GIs killed yesterday, in a single roadside bombing. Those FIVE and those of the other SIX GIs killed, just yesterday.
Those families will appreciate that Iraq is so "peaceful"
Robert D. Kaplan, a national correspondent for The Atlantic, is the Class of 1960 Distinguished Visiting Professor in National Security at the United States Naval Academy.
ReplyDeleteHe writes a "Fair and Balanced" report on the ISG Report and how Mr Bush can use it to the US advantage.
Debating Iraq
"... The Administration should co-opt this report—with adjustments, of course. Once again, ignoring some of the sound bites, read completely it is not an especially hostile document from the viewpoint of the Administration. It cries out to be partially plagiarized by the President. If he does not do this, then he will be truly on his own, utterly isolated. The report says that the main benefit of gradually reducing our military footprint in Iraq will be to free up forces to secure Afghanistan. For it isn’t just Iraq that is in the balance, but Afghanistan, too. "
I am shocked to learn that former President James Earl Carter may have taken leave of both his senses and the facts in his new work of fiction, "Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid.”
ReplyDelete“A longtime aide to Jimmy Carter has resigned from the Carter Center think tank, calling the former president's new book on Israel and the Arabs one-sided and filled with errors.”
"simply invented segments,"
Beware, the aide does have a Joooooish sounding name. And, Carter won’t defend himself, but nothing new there.
An Israeli-Syrian accord that would return the Golan Heights to Syria’s control could be a long-range benefit to Israel rather than a betrayal of it.
ReplyDeleteIs the "long-range" benefit referring to the distance capacity of the Katyusha rockets? If I recall correctly, Syrian troops exploited the Golan Heights as a front against the IDF in 1967.
It would also end an era of confrontation with Israel that would remove the raison d’etre for the tyranny with which every military regime in Syria, including the current one, has governed for over half a century.
And here comes another proponent of the theory that we are the cause of all the problems of the Middle East, that solving the Israeli-Palestinian issue will bring about peace, that the impetus towards destroying us will simply fade away. He seems to be saying that ever since the conception of Israel as a state, Syria has found the need to sustain a militaristic, authoritarian regime geared at conflict and expansionism.
The families are paid for that, trish?
ReplyDeleteTheir sons or daughters death.
What is it they cash in for $250,000 in Life Insurance?
Peanut dough.
That makes it all worthwhile?
A mercenary dying for cash is what you've reduced their patriotic service to.
Cheers all around for that revelation. It's all about the money. On the 65th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor, how far we've come.
Speaking of “Jimmy the Dhimmi”, Moonbattery comments on Carter’s creation.
ReplyDelete“[T]here are recollections cited from meetings where I was the third person in the room, and my notes of those meetings show little similarity to points claimed in the book. Being a former President does not give one a unique privilege to invent information…”
“Jimmy the Dhimmi, pro-terrorist propagandist”
Link
Eleven dead in the pursuit of what, trish?
ReplyDeleteThe empowerment of Mr al-Hakim and Mr al-Sadr and the factions that they represent both in and out of Iraq?
That is not worthy of the sacrifice of a single American, let alone eleven, in a day.
Mr al-Hakim, the Badr Brigade Commander must not be considered a "Radical" as he meets with Mr Bush at the White House. No Radical would be invited. Mr al-Sadr is no more radical than Mr al-Hakim, just more flamboyent and more infamous.
So, no trish, I do not see the job of ensuring the UIA's Government security against the Brookings Index estimate of 800 to 2,000 foreign fighters in Iraq needing one US soldier's life. Not when over 200,000 Iraqi Federals have guns of their own.
The Boomer for a father, the man for a son. Thanks to PoliPundit.
ReplyDelete“There’s no way I’m going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country…”
The Father, The Son……..Who Should Be King
When I learned the lad fought, smoked, drank, and wenched, I knew England still had a shot. That is old style soldiering, from a time when Western armies could still win wars.
I'm going to rest for the night. Let's hope tomorrow will be a brighter day (and I don't mean that in a nuclear kind of way).
ReplyDeleteSee you guys tomorrow! We'll be back running again.
For some reason, I cannot get the new threads until about two hours in.
ReplyDeleteempty your cache
ReplyDeleteDeuce,
ReplyDeletere: empty your cache
Duh, any suggestions?
;-)
Thanks to Michelle Malkin and Dave Logan
ReplyDeleteYou Tube video
Believe me, you will want to crank up the audio.
Allen this is you:
ReplyDeleteEnglish (United States)
en-us
Operating System Microsoft WinXP
Browser Internet Explorer 6.0
Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.0.3705; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; Media Center PC 3.1)
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Monitor
Resolution : 1024 x 768
Color Depth : 32 bits
you are using Internet Explorer 6.0
go here
Prince Harry has some company. H/T Power Line
ReplyDeleteSERGEANT BOGGS DISSENTS
Boy, does he ever have old people pegged.
Deuce,
ReplyDeleteDone. Thanks.
War sucks but a world run by Islamofacists sucks more.
ReplyDeleteWhat a way to put it.
Great link!
Well, I do not actually imagine it is likely to have effect.
ReplyDelete