Greetings.
1
Richard Clarke serves a healthy tradtion of the former official sending a poison pen letter to those left behind. He states by his own terms the folly and foibles of the Bush Administration. Partisans will use his words to serve their interests. As the Federalist Papers pointed out in a number of passages and every Poli Sci student understands, demoracy works best when even the angry, misinformed, or the outright psychotic are permitted a few moments on history stage. Clarke attacks what he felt was the ineptness and at times weird inability of GW Bush to grasp large and important issues.
Be reminded that JFK and Ronald Reagan entered office after their predessors had been discredited by clumsy military action. Eisenhowers miss steps with Cuba and Carters bungled rescue mission in Iran.

The best example of all this second guessing is the Normandy invasion 6/6/44 The US sent trained soldiers into the maw of secured machine gun nests and the loss was terrible. Watch Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" The Allies understood well in advance that the landings might be a complete disaster. Nevertheless the troops were sent and we all know the results.

Clarke attacks the Bush Administration for being amateur's and dilettantes. That is not fair. Condaleza Rice deserves better. She had to learn her job just as GW Bush had to learn his. 911 was coming regardless of who was in power. The audacity of the attack meant that only the truly crazy would believe the intelligence reports. Rational minds dismissed the idea of crashing jets into WTC as too weird. Even the Muslims had some brains. And they did!

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was a obvious possibility. But everyone assumed Japan was rational. We know different. Japan never had a chane of defeating an aroused America. Germany never had a chance against Russia and the US. But Tojo and Hitler, lost in fantasy took the plunge.

I do not like GW Bush or his administration. But even still, to imply they fumbled 911 or even knew of it is bad politics and serves no one.

2
The Israeli's have assassinated the spiritual leader of Hammas. This was the right thing to do. The Israeli's are not obligated to respect the legal or political rights of calculating murderers. History will show that erradicating the leadership of Hamas or any other immediate terror brigand is reasonable. Had the US or Britian assassinated Hitler and his top brass in 1935 the world would be different. This is hindsight of course. We no longer live in a world where we can allow tyrany to thrive and run it's course. Robert Mugabe, the crazed leader of Zimbabwe is a small pain for the world but a big hurt for his people. The British should have sent him to glory years ago. But the British are tactful and they will repair the damage when he is gone. Israel thinks different. My belief is that the Israeli's do not have the luxury of waiting for the Muslim's to change. My guess is that once Israel destroys much of Hamas leadership the gang will falter, and reconstitute as something else. There are great risks we all know that. But if the assassinations stop the suicide bombings a few months then so be it. Armchair critics have the luxury the Israeli's do not.

David: Crellin@Audiea.com

Greetings! We are back! I do hope you are there! WE were away dealing with small issues but they are all done.
There will be daily posts from here on out. Do check us each day after ten AM PST and you'll see the daily post.

1
The bombing in Madid represents a new and dangerous shift in our war with terrorism. It reflects the age old technique of scatter to survive. Al Queada operatives are using Afghanistan and Iraq as traing grounds. The tough hearted are placed on the streets of Baghdad and other cities and just as gang banger in LA or NYC they are taught the art of cruel violence and ruthless transaction. Can you kill a man face to face? US Soldiers are armed and will kill you first if they see that look in your eyes.
Dreamers, those who hesitate, and the not very tough are eliminated quickly by US forces. What is left ae men and women ready to die as suicide bombers where needed.
2
The war with Israel is winding down because Hamas and Islamic Jihad finally realized Ariel Sharon was all too willing to slaughter everything in sight. Helicopter gunships are hard to shoot down and you can't stop a incoming rocket! But the war goes European and possibly American if GW Bush is re-elected.
In a perverse way Israel has succeeded in it's effort to minimulize terror within it's own borders, but the wall it's building can lock the Israeli's in s well as Muslims out.
3
Unable to defeat Ariel Sharon or his eventual successor, the Islamic Terror will go to Europe or America and hope to create enough rage, the West willimpose a settlement on Israel to stop the bloodshed at home.
The US and it's European Allies must be ruthless and take the war to the Muslim states. Seek out the cells and crush them, make an object lesson of military targets in Iran. Harsh and remorseless action will in time cause the other guy to back off.
Remember! All of this is insanity none of it is rational. Desperate people seeing the world passing them by do desperate things. The dark side of this is Islamic failure to modernize and adopt a credible approach to modernism. Islam never had their Martin Luther. We all suffer because of that!
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Here at home John Kerry will decide his fate before May. Can we live with this guy? Can we tolerate him over time? I have no idea. I was living in Massachusetts in the 1980s He had no impact on me. I saw him as a stolid uninteresting politician.
GW Bush has started his campaign too early. He wants the quick kill. Why? If Kerry falters before June the Democrats will go for a Draft Clinton or maybe a Draft Gore and Bush will be in trouble as the Democrats start a scortched Earth campaign. Why provoke all that?
More later
David Crellin@Audiea.com