March 19, 2004

Remember "Finlandization?"

Alan Sullivan started to respond to a comment, then decided to turn his reply into a post. I started to make a comment on that post, then did the same! Here's the original comment:

Old Cold Warriors [Cheney] never die -- they just give us all the shivers.

I used to support Bush's so-called "war on terror." I'll support it again when he stops attacking the civil liberties and human rights of his fellow Americans long enough to fight, or at least respond to, terrorism abroad.

BTW, have you heard the news from Poland? They're following Spain. We can wave goodbye as they go, I suppose. Our coalition of the willing is unraveling with remarkable speed; even Britain may not last much longer.

We're going to have to offer some assurances for the safety of our allies if we don't want to handle anti-terrorism efforts unilaterally. Alas, Bush knows how to treat his enemies, but he's never figured out what to do with his friends -- besides turning them into enemies, that is.

"We're going to have to offer some assurances for the safety of our allies"

What planet is this guy living on? We are explicitely asking countries to join us in a WAR. We are offering DANGER, because we believe it is the safest course in the long run.

This is just a restatement of something we hear over and over. "We need allies, we can't go it alone! And the way to keep allies is to not ask them to help us. Or even embarrass them by doing anything ourselves."

"Alas, Bush knows how to treat his enemies, but he's never figured out what to do with his friends"

President Bush is offering REAL friendship. We are willing to fight for, and with, our allies. If there were any way to attack the terrorists who bombed Madrid, we would send American soldiers into harm's way in an instant. And we pay our allies the compliment of assuming they would do the same for us. But every government that has helped to try to bring democracy and freedom to Iraq is under unrelenting attack from the left. So what gives them the shivers? I suggest 'freedom and democracy."

The "civil liberties and human rights" bit is just an excuse for appeasement. Infringement of civil liberties in this war has been miniscule--much less than previous wars. And I'd guess "human rights" is referring to Gay Marriage, the status of which as a "human right" is just now being invented! This dimwit is declaring that he is neutral, between a country where gay parades are a commonplace, and enemies who would like to kill him just for talking about such abominations. Mr Neutral High-Above-the-Fray, you are a FOOL.

"...long enough to fight, or at least respond to, terrorism abroad" This is just silly stuff. The fight goes on 24/7. It's a variant on the usual canard that any terrorist attack means that the war is a failure, or that mistakes have been made. Or that we are doing nothing. NO leader in the war has promised that the terrorists will evaporate soon, or that attacks will end soon. On the contrary, we've been told to expect a long difficult struggle.

And it's not "Bush's War on Terror." We are all at war whether we admit it or not. The Madrid bombs killed lots of people who thought the war had nothing to do with them. They were fools to think so. There is no "separate peace" available. This guy is like a petulant teenager sneering at grownups while they wrestle with serious problems.

And it's a cheap shot to sneer at "Cold Warriors." The Cold War was won because the NATO allies stood together in firm defiance for decades. Against a tyranny that killed and imprisoned its own people by the tens-of-millions. (With that firmness also under unrelenting attack from the Left.) Remember "Finlandization?" It didn't happen. And if it happens now, it will be partly because whining fools allow themselves to by used by those, both within and without, who hate our civilization.

Posted by John Weidner at March 19, 2004 9:32 AM
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