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Reality check Ñ It's September 12, not September 10


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By John Metzler
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM

Friday, October 22, 2004

United Nations Ñ Reality offends many people. Many are distinctly uncomfortable with it. Despite its many political gyrations, the upcoming U.S. Presidential election is primarily about American security. This is not a scare tactic but a statement of fact.

We no longer live in the world of September 10th where Òit canÕt happen hereÓ but in the world of September 12th where ÒIt Has Happened Here,Ó and not far from where I write these lines. To think that terror and global threats have blurred or can be rationalized is to assume that on December 8th 1941 America would still be able to live with the ambivalent isolationist illusions of December 6th namely that troubles are Òsomewhere else and far away.Ó

Facing the post-September 11th era, President George W. Bush offers a laser clear pro-active vision on confronting and defeating not only the Al Qaida terrorists but the more formal rogue state players too.

Conversely his challenger Senator John Kerry, Prince of Pessimism, piously drones on about why we went wrong in Iraq and why we need more allies. While playing his John Wayne role of being the tough guy, he panders with his deceitful demagoguery about preposterous Administration plans to start a military draft.

First, we do need allies in Iraq. Happily we have them. LetÕs look at the record. In the Gulf war against Saddam in 1990-91 without question more countries helped us and with larger contingents. Still the American military presence then was much larger too, and in thus in proportion comprised about 90 percent of the coalition forces.

Now thirty countries among them Britain, Poland, Australia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea and Ukraine are helping in the Iraq operation. These are serious coalition players despite the oft-insulting insinuations of the Prince of Pessimism.

Second, presuming that the current Iraq operation even met John KerryÕs Òglobal testÓ namely with UN benediction and French and German military support, realistically how many troops would they have sent? Ten thousand at the most, about the same as Britain. Germany whose current Socialist government is stubbornly opposed to sending troops to Iraq now or even with a Kerry administration by the way, did not dispatch military forces to Iraq in 1991 even though Washington and Bonn were politically closer and in agreement over the war. Why would they send to troops now?

Third, arguing that if war had UN blessing by the Security Council, things would be different, encourages another popular misconception. If you look at the current 16 UN peacekeeping missions Ñ authorized by the Security Council and passing that Óglobal testÓ see how many of these very same missions are under-staffed and supported. Plainly while the Council may authorize an operation with all the good intentions in the world, arm twisting countries to send troops to a myriad of missions in Africa and the Middle East becomes another story.

The upcoming Iraqi January elections has passed the Security CouncilÕs Global Test. How many countries have contributed to election security so far? Fiji with 130 troops! And many forget that the UN was respected so much in Iraq that the terrorists bombed the UNÕs Baghdad headquarters twice in 2003 with gruesome results. ThatÕs respect?

The issue goes beyond the current political map and opinions to the very essence of what we may politely call ÒThe West.Ó Though our European friends suffer the malaise much more than Americans, thereÕs a naive unwillingness to concede the depth of the problem and to genuinely confront the challenge of defeating radical Islamic fundamentalism.

Not long age the Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende speaking in The Hague cogently addressed this issue; ÒThe generation which lived through the Second World War is disappearing. Post-war generations see EuropeÕs great achievement Ñ liberty, peace and prosperity as a given.Ó He continued, ÒThe horrors of the Second World War, the chilling winds of the Cold War and the crushing weight of the Iron Curtain are little more than fading memories. Ideals that once commanded great loyalty and now taken for granted.Ó

ItÕs much the same in America. Good people a can disagree over the tactics and strategy in pursuing the war on terror but both political parties should work together on the solutions. Certainly itÕs far more tempting to return to the mindset of September 10th where terrorism is in Israel or Turkey, but never New York or Washington D.C. It takes a strong more focused individual to concede that the calendar page has irreversibly turned to September 12th and summon the leadership to face the security challenge of the era.

John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.




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