Tuesday, September 29, 2009

RIP Irving Kristol (1920-2009)

By Johanan Raatz

 

  A few weeks ago on September 18th Irving Kristol, also known as the "Godfather of Neoconservativism," passed away at the age of 89. He wasn't a movie star or a famous politician, but his ideas have permanently changed the face of American politics.

  Born in 1920, Kristol started his life in politics as a student of City College of New York, where he became a vocal Trotskyite. Though a Marxist at the time, he had the moral clarity to oppose the totalitarianism of Stalinist Russia.

  After college, he served in the 12th Armored Division as an infantryman during World War II. After the war he came to see that Marxism could not work, and instead began to embrace Western ideals.

  Later, when the Cold War was in full bloom, his ideological evolution led him to become a hawkish member of the Democratic Party. During this time his career as a political writer began in earnest. He worked for several public policy magazines, including Commentary, The Reporter, and The National Interest and Encounter, the last two of which he helped found.

  Then during the 1960's, something happened that would change his political outlook significantly: Irving Kristol was "mugged by reality." The counterculture broke out, causing him to see how many liberal programs despite their best intentions caused negative results due to their naïve treatment of human nature.

  At this time he, along with a number of other like-minded intellectuals, became increasingly disgusted with the cultural decadence, moral relativism, and disrespect for authority of the insurgent counterculture. Once this reaction had fully crystallized, a new mode of political thought, neoconservativism, had been born.

  Eventually as the counterculture of the 60's began to increasingly dominate the Democratic Party, he and others like him decided that their party had become too extreme, and they switched parties. Eventually the neoconservative movement that Kristol helped found would rise to dominance in the Republican Party and the political landscape at large, during the presidencies of Reagan and both Bushes.

  After helping to found neoconservativism, Kristol would go on to become a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. In 2002, seven years before his death he received the Medal of Freedom, from President George W. Bush, the highest honor for a civilian.

  Even though many of Kristol's ideas were the product of the 1960's, they are perhaps even more relevant today then when he first introduced them. Kristol provided a rational framework for social and cultural conservativism in refreshing contrast to the moral relativism of the left and the blind adherence to tradition on the right.

  As opposed to brushing them aside as some do, he argued that private morality and civic virtue are necessary for the overall health and greatness of a civilization and promoted patriotism and family values as such. Also he warned against the fetishization of democracy, how the public good should be the prime focus and not necessarily whatever the whim of the current majority happens to be. In a time when most people do not know the difference between a liberal and an illiberal democracy we would do well to take a look at some of his ideas.

  Irving Kristol is survived by his wife Gertrude Himmelfarb, his children Bill Kristol and Elizabeth Nelson and a tradition of uniquely intellectual conservativism that he helped found. Rest in peace Mr. Kristol. May your legacy live beyond you.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Remembering 9/11, Eight Years Later

Today is September 11, 2009, eight years since the horrific attacks on our country. That day is ingrained in my memory as I'm sure it is all of you.

The question is though what have we learned since then. This is our first year with a new administration, an administration for that matter, which has a view of fighting terrorism that differs to a great degree from the Bush Administration. I have detailed these developments here, so won't go over them again, but it could be said that their view is pre-9/11 one, in which terrorism is looked to as more of a criminal matter than an act of war. In my opinion this view is wrong in the light of the threat al-Qaeda poses to the world.

I will not prognosticate what will happen in the coming years with the new regulations going into effect, but I hope whatever happens and whoever is in the White House, whether President Obama now, or others in the future, that we continue to enjoy a homeland that is free from threats.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Mahmoud Abbas: Dossier on Who Israel Will be Negotiating With


Mahmoud Abbas, the supposed "moderate" leader of Fatah in the Palestinian Territories, is in fact anything but. His history is one that is dotted with subversion, collusion, and acts of terrorism.

Abbas was one of the original members of Fatah and has been kicked out of a number of countries in the Middle East for subversive activities in accordance with those activities, among them Egypt, Jordan, and Qatar.

During the Cold War he was the main contact for the Soviets in their dealings with the PLO. This is no surprise considering Abbas went to Patrice Lumumba University where he got his Ph.D.

In 1972 he was an instrumental part in the killing of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, being that he provided the funding for the operation.

In the Persian Gulf War he, as a ranking member of the PLO, colluded with the Iraqi Army in the plundering of Kuwait.

This is not the picture of someone who is a moderate. This is a picture of a terrorist. In addition to his past actions he has failed to moderate Fatah. Instead of being these "moderate" partners of Israel, they are promoting terrorists to lead their security forces and continue to refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist.

ALERTT :: OBAMA PLANNING ISRAEL AMBUSH AT OPENING OF UN ASSEMBLY!

  • This is a recent post that was on One Jerusalem. I feel everyone should be aware of this.

    ALERTT :: OBAMA PLANNING ISRAEL AMBUSH AT OPENING OF UN ASSEMBLY!
    Several sources have informed One Jerusalem that the Obama Administration is planning to significantly step up the pressure on Israel by announcing a comprehensive plan for Israel and the Palestinians at the opening of the United Nations General in September. Picture this: The anti-Israel nations of the world surrounding President Obama as he demands that Israel give up sovereignty over Jerusalem, abandon settlements, and recognize a terrorist state on the West Bank. If this happens, Israel will be isolated from the rest of world in a very dramatic manner. The first sign that something was up came when Egyptian President Mubarak said that the Obama Administration was ready to propose a plan in September and the White House rushed to dampen expectations by declaring that they are nowhere near to readying a plan. Our sources confirmed that the Obama administration is contemplating this ambush of Israel at the United Nations. At the moment, friends and supporters of Israel can help derail this insidious plan by:

Helping to publicize the intentions of the Obama administration. Use your access to the Internet to spread the news to family and friends.

When you come across a a news story or discussion about Israel write a comment, and copy the link to this Alert page.

Encourage friends and family to Sign the One Jerusalem Petition.

By focusing public attention to this ambush, we can help avert it.

Much Ado About Nothing

By Johanan Raatz

Several weeks ago, a CIA program was declassified revealing that the intelligence agency was planning to hire the private military contractor company Blackwater USA (now Xe International) to assassinate top Al-Qaeda operatives. Because the program was only in the early planning stages it had not yet been revealed to congress.
Once it was CIA director Leon Panetta released it to congress it was received with much whining and obsessive bluster. Rather than being viewed negatively though the so-called "scandal" of this program was actually a good idea for several reasons:

1.) The CIA has had long standing close ties to Blackwater so it would only be reasonable for the intelligence agency to work with them. Blackwater's intelligence division, Total Intelligence Solutions is even run by former members of the CIA including former Coordinator for Counterterrorism Cofer Black and Deputy Director of Operations Robert Richer. Thus it is only logical that the two organizations would work together.

2.) Blackwater has had an excellent track record in accomplishing their objectives. They have a perfect 100% success rate in protecting their "nouns" or VIP's they are assigned to guard, and have been a useful partner in the Global War on Terror. In many cases they are hired so that they can fight without there hands tied by meddlesome regulations. In this way they have certain advantages over governmental agencies.

3.) While the CIA is solely American, Blackwater has operatives from all over the world, including Iraqi's. This provides valuable experience that can simply not be taught to government agents, allowing for greater flexibility in CIA operations. Additionally it has another advantage. Using foreign Blackwater operatives the CIA can remove American fingerprints from their operations as has already been pointed out by at least one CIA official.

With all of this in mind the question changes from why should the CIA work with Blackwater on counterterrorism operations to why shouldn't they? With the aforementioned reasons in mind it would be only logical that they would and in fact foolish for them not to. Tantrum throwing congressmen and blubbering bureaucrats would do well to think on this and let the intelligence agency do it's job without meddlesome interference.