Category Archives: War Commentary

War Commentary

The Stakes

Donald Sensing, on Al Qaeda strategy (such as it is) in Iraq.

[Update about 11 AM EST]

Democrat Orson Scott Card doesn’t trust his party with power in war time:

If control of the House passes into Democratic hands, there are enough withdraw-on-a-timetable Democrats in positions of prominence that it will not only seem to be a victory for our enemies, it will be one.

Unfortunately, the opposite is not the case — if the Republican Party remains in control of both houses of Congress there is no guarantee that the outcome of the present war will be favorable for us or anyone else.

But at least there will be a chance.

I say this as a Democrat, for whom the Republican domination of government threatens many values that I hold to be important to America’s role as a light among nations.

But there are no values that matter to me that will not be gravely endangered if we lose this war. And since the Democratic Party seems hellbent on losing it — and in the most damaging possible way — I have no choice but to advocate that my party be kept from getting its hands on the reins of national power, until it proves itself once again to be capable of recognizing our core national interests instead of its own temporary partisan advantages.

That seems unlikely to happen if they’re rewarded with a return to power now, something that they haven’t earned by their behavior or attitudes. Sadly, neither party deserves to win.

War Commentary

Rape Is Fine With Them

Here’s a depressing story. The rape-condoning Aussie Imam retains support not only in his country (he’s lived in Australia for almost a quarter of a century, but doesn’t speak any English), but in Britain as well:

Al-Hilaly, in his sermon, also caused offence by saying women were mostly to blame for adultery. ‘When it comes to adultery, it’s 90 per cent the woman’s responsibility,’ he said. ‘Why? Because a woman possesses the weapon of seduction.’

Waleed Aly, a spokesman for the Islamic Council of Victoria, condemned al-Hilali and called for his resignation, saying his views sought to normalize immoral sexual behaviour.

‘We would have liked to have seen some form of fairly strong censure just given the magnitude and the gravity of the comments,’ Aly said.

But other prominent Australian Muslims refused to criticise the mufti. Imam Abdul Jalil Sajid, the chairman of the Muslim Council of Great Britain, who is visiting Australia, sprang to the mufti’s defence. ‘I know he is one of the greatest Muslim scholars on earth and Australia is blessed with him,’ Sajid said.

This is a culture that is simply incompatible with a liberal democracy.

War Commentary

Indecisive

Rich Lowry nails Bush’s biggest problem, and flaw:

For a president who talks so much about being a wartime leader and whose administration so emphasizes the prerogatives of the executive, Bush has been an oddly passive commander in chief. He often seems to be run by his government rather than the other way around. He rarely fires anyone. His deference to his generals is near total. He hasn