I agree with libertyfirst 100%. to still believe that we can ask n korea to give up their weapons is ridiculous. the u.n. has been trying that for years with iraq, n korea, and now iran to no avail. It's sad that democrats would rather us look like wimps than actually stand up for ourselves and do what had to be done. As for the war on terror, Iraq did have wmd's and they sent them to syria when the weapons inspectors were searching. they made inspectors wait outside each location and put the wmd's on trucks to syria. They have satellite proof of this although the democrats seem to have gotten to it, because I haven't seen it since. The fact is every democrat knows they're in syria, but would never admit it because they would be admit there were weapons in the first place. In case you didn't know, when clinton - a democrat - was in the white house he called for the same thing but never did it, so why is a republican criticized when he actually goes through with it. It makes no sense.
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The What Of Nations?
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An unmarried 23-year-old Saudi woman became pregnant when abducted and gang-raped. She was convicted of adultery and sentenced to a year in prison—and to a perhaps fatal 100 lashes after her child is born. Another woman was visited by two men—one had been breast-fed by her; the other was bringing her bread. Convicted of the crime of being in the presence of men who are not family members, she was sentenced to 40 lashes, which is perhaps a death sentence for a 75-year-old. The "community of nations" that liberals like Rice believe in certainly has what liberals celebrate: diversity.
If there is a "community of nations," then "Yes, we can" do this and that. But if not?
During Barack Obama's trip abroad, during which he praised himself by disparaging his predecessor and deploring America's shortcomings, he took pandering to a comic peak, combining criticism of America with flattery of Europe, when he deplored America's "failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world." Actually, as the crisis of aggression and ethnic cleansing in the Balkans demonstrated a decade ago, Europe plays almost no leadership role, even in Europe, which remains a geographical rather than a political denotation.
Europe's collective existence through NATO might be ending. Afghanistan, the supposed "graveyard of empires," might be the burial ground of NATO, which is 60 years old and showing signs of advanced senescence. Officially, NATO says the Afghanistan campaign is vital; actually, it promises a mere 5,000 more troops, none of them for combat. Most of the NATO nations that grudgingly send dribs and drabs of troops to Afghanistan send them enveloped in caveats that virtually vitiate their usefulness, including the stipulation that they shall not be put in harm's way. Tom Korologos, who was U.S. ambassador to Belgium from 2004 to 2007, recalls that when Belgium finally agreed to send a few hundred troops from its unionized "army"—average age: 40—other caveats concerned bottled water, a certain ratio of psychiatrists to troops and a requirement that dust be kept to a minimum.
In Europe, during his first star turn on the world stage, the president learned, or should have, that charm and two euros will almost get him a copy of the International Herald Tribune. Out there in the blue, flying high, selling himself, he found out how far he can go on a smile and a shoeshine.
America's enemies are not smiling back. Those are smirks, not smiles.
© 2009
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