An interesting read on the Middle East and OIL

[MS Fowler]

I found this interesting--from a Naval Academy friend...
Middle East Imperative
BY: JIM CASH, Brig. Gen., USAF, Ret.
I recently wrote 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 grand kids 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, 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. 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 to destroy Israel and 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 Stand-up 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 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. 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 Clintons 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 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 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.
...cont'd

[MS Fowler]

the continuation....
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. 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 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.
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
"I'll tell you what war is all about, you've got to kill people, and when you've killed enough they stop fighting." - Gen. Curtis LeMay

[Botnst]

Yes.

[Honus]

Originally Posted by MS Fowler

...Understand,— the current battle we are engaged in is much bigger than just Iraq....

Is there anybody who doesn't understand that?

Maybe General Cash's approach has merit. It doesn't make any sense to me, but then I don't claim any expertise in these matters. If he is on target, then it's too bad that he chooses to brand Democrats as anti-American. He would be more likely to persuade people to his point of view if he would at least pretend to have an open mind.

[LUVMBDiesels]

Originally Posted by dculkin

Is there anybody who doesn't understand that?

Maybe General Cash's approach has merit. It doesn't make any sense to me, but then I don't claim any expertise in these matters. If he is on target, then it's too bad that he chooses to brand Democrats as anti-American. He would be more likely to persuade people to his point of view if he would at least pretend to have an open mind.

huh?? What would be the point of "keeping an open mind" if you are convinced that the other guy is leading the country to ruin? To me that smacks of relativism and is the exact way that these Democratic leaders are sending the country to its ruin. I am NOT sayuing that Democrats in general are anti-USA, I AM saying that it seems like the leadership of that party is bent on achieving power through whataever means are necessary. To which I mean that they have been very sucessful in breaking Americans down into small "victim units" whether they be racial, economic, cultural, etc and using the divide and conquer method to gain power. This had led to America as a whole loosing its way. Right now we are running on momentum with no direction or thrust. When the momentum runs out we will be lost.

Anybody who does not believe that we are in the fight of our lives should convert to Islam now and start wearing a bhurka now. This is a clash of civilizations and I just hope that the Iranians and Syrians made the same mistake that Hilter made when he disregarded the West as weak and decadent. I only hope that we can pull together to rid the planet of radicals od any stripe before it is too late. That being said, I have no beef against Muslims or anybody else. I have dated Persian women and find their culture fascinating. I only have a beef with the clerics who would ram their beliefs down our throats. If it means that we need to liberate Iran and Syria from their regimes then so be it.

[raymr]

The typical man in the street in Iran is just as concerned about his livlihood and family as we are here. The last thing they want is a direct confrontation with the US, because it would turn their pretty country into a war-ravaged ruin. Unfortunately their attitude towards Israel runs contrary to ours, and it is a very deep-rooted attitude. That issue alone will block any meaningful dialog.

[LUVMBDiesels]

Originally Posted by raymr

The typical man in the street in Iran is just as concerned about his livlihood and family as we are here. The last thing they want is a direct confrontation with the US, because it would turn their pretty country into a war-ravaged ruin. Unfortunately their attitude towards Israel runs contrary to ours, and it is a very deep-rooted attitude. That issue alone will block any meaningful dialog.

I agree with you on this. From the Persians I have met, granted they were all in the USA so are biased, they really like America and would like for our two contries to have the same relationship we used to have. They want to be major regional players and operate as a country their size and power should on the world stage. They do not want to be a pariah state. However, their government has other ideas. As for their anti-semitism, back inthe Shah days, Iran and Israel got along fairly well. Again it is the mullahs who are dictating thought in the Islamic Republic. That being said, the average guy in the street in Shiraz is sympatheic to the Palestinians, but I think that is being used as a 'safety valve' by the government just as anti-Israeli sentiment is whipped up in Saudi Arabia to keep people's mides off their own plight. Once the need for the 'safety valve' is gone, I think relations would improve between the countries. After all, Israel and Iran were once major trading partners and could be again (as long as Tehran does not nuke Tel Aviv)

[peragro]

Originally Posted by LUVMBDiesels

huh?? What would be the point of "keeping an open mind" if you are convinced that the other guy is leading the country to ruin? To me that smacks of relativism and is the exact way that these Democratic leaders are sending the country to its ruin. I am NOT sayuing that Democrats in general are anti-USA, I AM saying that it seems like the leadership of that party is bent on achieving power through whataever means are necessary. To which I mean that they have been very sucessful in breaking Americans down into small "victim units" whether they be racial, economic, cultural, etc and using the divide and conquer method to gain power. This had led to America as a whole loosing its way. Right now we are running on momentum with no direction or thrust. When the momentum runs out we will be lost.

Anybody who does not believe that we are in the fight of our lives should convert to Islam now and start wearing a bhurka now. This is a clash of civilizations and I just hope that the Iranians and Syrians made the same mistake that Hilter made when he disregarded the West as weak and decadent. I only hope that we can pull together to rid the planet of radicals od any stripe before it is too late. That being said, I have no beef against Muslims or anybody else. I have dated Persian women and find their culture fascinating. I only have a beef with the clerics who would ram their beliefs down our throats. If it means that we need to liberate Iran and Syria from their regimes then so be it.

As the good Kentucky Boy that I am I feel compelled to share our State Motto:

United We Stand, Divided We Fall.

I see the same divide and conquer attitude. The Democratic party seems the primary agent at this point, but it's inculcated deep into public schooling and media.

We need another Henry Clay.

When I lived in Iran in 1979 I found Iranians some of the nicest people around. Of course, I also found them quite bloodthirsty at times (usually in crowds). I don't recall much animosity towards Israel at the time. Great admiration for Hitler, but not blatent animosity for Israel. That, I guess was on the upswing and to be brought in with the radical Islamic sect that was to take over the country. I am 100% sure that the people I once knew there in Iran would welcome a liberation from the current Theocracy; if they are still alive.

[Hatterasguy]

An excellent article from a General who knows whats going on.

The military is usualy right on these matters, they have nothing to gain or lose like a politician, and there one goal is winning and supporting the country.

[Honus]

Originally Posted by LUVMBDiesels

huh?? What would be the point of "keeping an open mind" if you are convinced that the other guy is leading the country to ruin?...

The point would be to challenge your own assumptions and maybe get the benefit of the wisdom of others.

... Anybody who does not believe that we are in the fight of our lives should convert to Islam now and start wearing a bhurka now...

Right. We are in the fight of our lives and it is important that we have a winning strategy. General Cash's approach looks to me to be a sure loser.

[Honus]

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

...The military is usualy right on these matters...

Really? Can you cite examples?

[Honus]

Originally Posted by raymr

The typical man in the street in Iran is just as concerned about his livlihood and family as we are here. The last thing they want is a direct confrontation with the US, because it would turn their pretty country into a war-ravaged ruin...

You talk about Iranians as though they were human beings. Can't have that.

[pj67coll]

Originally Posted by dculkin

Is there anybody who doesn't understand that?

At least about fifty percent of the US population. Everybody screaming orgasmic over obama and hilliary. And quite possibly many undecideds too. Any time you hear someone say Iraq had nothing to do with 911 you already know you are talking to someone who wouldn't have a clue what the general was going on about.

- Peter.

[Matt L]

THEY ARE PUTTING THEIR THIRST FOR POLITICAL POWER AND QUEST FOR VICTORY IN 2008 ABOVE WHAT IS BEST FOR THIS COUNTRY.

While this is probably true, it is true across the board. The Democratic party thinks it is doing the right thing for the country, and the Republicans think the same of themselves.

The people in both of these parties think that making themselves powerful is the best way to help the country. Hearing one party call the other one anti-American rings hollow to my ears.

[Honus]

Originally Posted by pj67coll

At least about fifty percent of the US population. Everybody screaming orgasmic over obama and hilliary. And quite possibly many undecideds too. Any time you hear someone say Iraq had nothing to do with 911 you already know you are talking to someone who wouldn't have a clue what the general was going on about.

- Peter.

That comment makes no sense at all. In order for your comment to make any sense, then all of those Obama and Clinton supporters must think that "the current battle we are engaged in is [not] much bigger than just Iraq."

I cannot conceive of any way to twist any of the positions advocated by Obama or Clinton that remotely resemble that statement.