Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

OBAMA'S "LAW OF THE SEA TREATY" - A TREATY THE U.S. MUST REJECT

The Family Research Council reports:  (the bolding is my emphasis)

Rule number one of federal lawmaking: When a Senator says his colleagues would be "more comfortable" voting on a bill after an election, it spells trouble. And in the case of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), that trouble is spelled LOST, or Law of the Sea Treaty. It's been 30 years since President Reagan first sank the idea of a maritime bureaucracy, but that hasn't stopped big government advocates from dredging up the policy every few years and selling it to Congress as buried treasure. Yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. Kerry, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta took turns pitching the 1982 treaty in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as a way to "bring order" to the world's oceans. The way they see it, LOST would help define the boundaries in international waters and create a "more peaceful" sea environment.

It sounds innocent enough, but behind those benign talking points is a dangerous agenda that would undermine U.S. security--and siphon away millions of dollars in the process. Lost in LOST's hearing were the facts. For one, proponents neglected to mention that the treaty would force America to release its hold on miles and miles of natural resources. Instead of profiting from the discoveries of oil or gas, U.S. companies would have to transfer those royalties to an international bureaucracy in charge of "redistributing" that wealth (sound familiar?) to needy nations. According to the U.S. Continental Shelf Task Force, those resources "may be worth billions, if not trillions, of dollars."

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), one of two dozen Republicans that oppose LOST, was emphatic about the threat. "[This] would be the first time in history that an international organization would possess a taxing authority, and it would amount to billions of American dollars being transferred out of the U.S. Treasury," he wrote. What's more, this "International Seabed Authority," or ISA, would have the power to haul the U.S. before global tribunals for perceived violations, order countries to share cutting-edge technologies, and bar the Navy from using global waterways for defense or military purposes. And if member nations decide to change the treaty? "There is no guarantee that the treaty will remain in the form that it is at the time of ratification. Under its terms, its content can later be changed by an amendment process that does not require the approval of the U.S. government."

Of course, most people recognized the bill was bad when Sen. Kerry announced during yesterday's hearing that he "would like to see this treaty stay out of the hurly-burly of presidential politics." Translation? I plan on pushing this bill after November 6 so that Senators can't be held accountable for passing such a controversial bill. Obviously, Sen Kerry and friends are hoping to follow the pattern of last year's START treaty, which is to wait until the lame-duck session to force unpopular and potentially unconstitutional policies on the American people.

Unfortunately for voters, this is a favorite tactic of the administration: using treaties to get radical policies through the country's backdoor. But, as FRC expert (and former ambassador to the U.N.) Ken Blackwell knows, this is exactly the kind of slippery slope that masks the destruction of American authority on everything from religious freedom to parental rights. What else could explain the Left's advocacy for the U.N.'s Convention on the Rights of the Child or the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women? They understand that once we dip our toe in the oceans, there will be no way to stem the tide.

- See also Frank Gaffney's commentary:

If, on the other hand, the members of the U.S. Senate trouble themselves to study, or at least read, the text of the Law of the Sea Treaty, they would immediately see it for what it really is: a diplomatic dinosaur, a throwback to a bygone era when U.N. negotiations were dominated by communists of the Soviet Union and their fellow travelers in the Third World.

JOEL ROSENBERG - RUSSIAN ELECTION BEARS WATCHING

Rosenberg writes:

The media is fixated on the GOP primaries and the American presidential campaign and giving scant attention to Russia’s upcoming election on Sunday, March 4th. But the Russian vote may prove to be a bigger deal than our own. Here’s why:

1. Though protests movements against Vladimir Putin throughout Russia in recent months suggest a growing number of Russians finally see the former KGB chief for what he is — a thug and a bully – polls still suggest he is expected to win handily. If those polls are right and Putin does, in fact, reemerge as president then let’s be clear: we will be watching a new Czar rising, a tyrant who will rule with an iron hand over his own people, and look to project Russian power elsewhere in the world. Putin has, for example, drawn sharp criticism from Mikhail Gorbachev who says Putin’s political party is a bad copy of the Soviet Communist Party:  anti-freedom and corrupt.
2. Putin says he will immediately begin to rebuild Russia’s tattered military, investing $772 billion to that end – we should take him at his word and consider seriously why he is so determined to have a stronger military in a world in which Russia faces no real or serious threats to its own national security.
3. Putin is increasingly anti-American and has said Americans are “living like parasites off the global economy and their monopoly of the dollar.”
4. Putin, at heart, is a fierce Russian nationalist, which means he is an imperialist, which means he is devastated by the weakness of “Mother Russia” and mourns how it has been shrinking over the past few decades. In 2005, Putin said, “The collapse of the Soviet Union was the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the century. For the Russian people, it became a real drama. Tens of millions of our citizens and countrymen found themselves outside Russian territory. The epidemic of disintegration also spread to Russia itself.” For most of us, the greatest geopolitical catastrophes of the 20th century include World Wars I and II, the Holocaust, the killing fields of Cambodia, the genocide in Sudan and Rwanda, and the death of tens of millions under Stalin’s reign of terror, to name a few. Most sane people think the end of the “Evil Empire” was a good thing; Putin isn’t one of them.
5. More than anything, Putin wants to regain and reassert the glory and the power of Mother Russia. That means he wants to expand her territory and enlarge her borders. The problem Putin faces is that Russia can’t signficantly expand westward because NATO is moving eastward (though Putin has spoken openly of creating a merger with the neighboring country of Belarus, which is also currently run by a tyrannical dictator.) Russia can’t expand eastward because China is now a rich and strong and nuclear-armed power. Russia can’t seriously expand northward because there’s not much to gain from the North Pole. Thus, we should expect him to project power southward. Since 2000, he has, in fact, been building strategic alliances with Islamic countries throughout North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. He has sold billions of dollars worth of arms to Iran, Syria, Algeria, Libya, Sudan and other Islamic powers. He’s been particularly vocal in defending the tyrants in Tehran and Damascus. Expect Moscow’s focus on the Islamic world to increase dramatically. (Note: Putin has spoken openly of creating a Eurasian economic union in Central Asia, similar politically and economically to the European Union but likely dominated by the Kremlin.)
6. Would Putin actually use military force to defend Iran and Syria, and challenge their enemies? We shall see, but I believe the issue is not one of will, but of timing. I think Putin is itching to find a place to showcase Russian military power, but he first has to make certain his forces are truly ready again for battle. UPDATE: Russia upgrades radar station in Syria to aid Iran
7. It should also be noted that the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel wrote in chapters 38 and 39 of his biblical text that in the “last days” there will be a political and military alliance between Russia (Magog), Iran (Persia) and a coalition of other “epicenter” countries that will move against an increasingly secure and prosperous State of Israel for an apocalpytic battle driven by greed and a lust for power. Ultimately, the prophecy tells us that Russia and her allies will be decimated in this war and face divine judgment, while Israel will be saved. It remains too early to say that we have arrived at such a fulfillment of the “War of Gog and Magog” prophecies, but the geopolitical, economic and spiritual trendlines suggest we are steadily moving in that direction.

For all these reasons, Sunday’s presidential elections in Russia may prove a bigger deal over the short-run — and over the long-run — than our own. The trendlines are intriguing, to say the least. Russia will pose an increasing threat to American and Western values and interests, and in time will pose an even greater threat to Israel and to the security and stability of the Middle East. The media may not be paying attention, but we should.

Me: I haven't yet studied Ezekiel 38 & 39 in sufficient detail to come to my own conclusion.  I am aware of scholars who reject the links made by Rosenberg and others between Magog and Russia.  But what Rosenberg says about Putin's mindset seems to me incontrovertible and consequently, I think we do need to keep casting our eyes on Russia now and in the future.

WILL CHINA, MEXICO, OR NIGERIA BECOME "HOT SPOTS" CONFRONTING THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION?

 Ralph Peters issues an alert.

HUGH HEWITT INTERVIEWS VICTOR DAVIS HANSON

Hugh Hewitt [pictured at the left], for those who do not know him, is an extraordinary man, a lawyer, author, columnist and talk-show host.  Victor Davis Hanson, one of the wisest of men, a historian and classicist, sat down with Hewitt for an extraordinary two hour interview, the transcript of which can be found here.   Their discussion covers the state of the world, the elections, the culture, and a whole lot more.  Take the time to read it.  You will be well rewarded.  If you prefer, you can listen to the podcast of hour one, and the podcast of hour two. If I can find the time, I may later come back and provide some excerpts.  Again, the transcript of the interview can be found here.

HAS ANYONE EVER HEARD OF "FAITH-BASED DIPLOMACY"? - Douglas Johnston and the Int'l Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD)

Well, perhaps you have, but I hadn't. I was intrigued to read about Douglas Johnston and his work in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, among other places.  A Christianity Today article says,

Johnston, a globetrotting 69-year-old, founded the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD) eight years ago because he saw religious faith as a catalyst for peacemaking, instead of a basis for conflict. Johnston, an evangelical who attends the prominent Falls Church in Virginia, has learned that Muslims will listen more closely to a Christian than to the typical secular Westerner. Johnston doesn't evangelize, but his center's Christian motivation and framework are clear. "If you can operate on a faith-based basis, you find that, particularly with Muslims, they really open up," says Johnston. "This is what they like to think they're about. They get very uncomfortable dealing with just secular constructs."

According to the article,

ICRD is working with madrassah leaders in the North West Frontier Province to reform these training centers of Islamic militancy. By appealing to the schools' centuries-long tradition of education and scholarship, Johnston hopes to add mathematics, science, and literature to their curricula. And he hopes to inspire critical thinking.

Keep reading...

BJORN LOMBORG - HOW TO DO THE MOST GOOD IN THE WORLD

The actual title of his Wall Street Journal article is "How to Think About the World's Problems."  He argues that the fortune spent on reducing carbon emisions "could achieve an astounding amount of good in areas that we hear a lot less about."

He writes, for example,

. . . just $60 million spent on providing Vitamin A capsules and therapeutic Zinc supplements for under-2-year-olds would reach 80% of the infants in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, with annual economic benefits (from lower mortality and improved health) of more than $1 billion. That means doing $17 worth of good for each dollar spent. Spending $1 billion on tuberculosis would avert an astonishing one million deaths, with annual benefits adding up to $30 billion. This gives $30 back on the dollar.

Heart disease represents more than a quarter of the death toll in poor countries. Developed nations treat acute heart attacks with inexpensive drugs. Spending $200 million getting these cheap drugs to poor countries would avert 300,000 deaths in a year. . . .

Arther Berman - "Democrats and the Killing Fields"

Berman's recent article reminds us again of America's shameful flight from Southeast Asia and the killing fields that resulted.  It seems the Democrats are willing to do it again (this time Iraq) if given the chance.

Berman wrote earlier this year on "The Lies of Tet" demonstrating again how media misreporting has devastating consequences.  - For more on the Vietnam era and its relevance to current foreign policy, see my earlier posts here. 

Der Spiegel interviews Henry Kissinger

Useful, probing interview.   

Walter Russell Mead - "Why We're In the Gulf"

Mead has written an important article that sets the record straight.  Too many people assume that it's all due to America's insatiable desire for oil.  It's not.  Mead subtitles his article, "The world would be a much more dangerous place without America as a policeman."  Mead is the author of God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World.

How Global Warming Activisim Hurts the Poor

Mark D.  Tooley does his usual excellent job of analyzing the negative effects of what at first seems a noble endeavor, but in the end proves otherwise.  The Religious Left more often than not can be relied upon to make false judgments of this sort.  Click here

Kay S Hymowitz - The New Girl Order: SYF (Single Young Females)

This article reveals a worldwide trend with significant repercussions for generations.  Consider these mind-blowing statistics:

. . .  in 1960, 70 percent of American 25-year-old women were married with children; in 2000, only 25 percent of them were. In 1970, just 7.4 percent of all American 30- to 34-year-olds were unmarried; today, the number is 22 percent. That change took about a generation to unfold, but in Asia and Eastern Europe the transformation has been much more abrupt. In today’s Hungary, for instance, 30 percent of women in their early thirties are single, compared with 6 percent of their mothers’ generation at the same age. In South Korea, 40 percent of 30-year-olds are single, compared with 14 percent only 20 years ago.

That's only the beginning.  Read on for a whole lot more. This is one of those articles that alters the way you view the world. 

Nobel Peace Prize Might-Have-Beens

The Weekly Standard lists truly heroic men and women whom we may fervently hope survive to be considered for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize. Let us further hope that the Nobel Prize committee in Oslo awakens from its politically correct slumbers to pay attention.

In Olso Friday, the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was not awarded to the Burmese monks whose defiance against, and brutalization at the hands of, the country's military junta in recent weeks captured the attention of the Free World.

The prize was also not awarded to Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara and other Zimbabwe opposition leaders who were arrested and in some cases beaten by police earlier this year while protesting peacefully against dictator Robert Mugabe.

Or to Father Nguyen Van Ly, a Catholic priest in Vietnam arrested this year and sentenced to eight years in prison for helping the pro-democracy group Block 8406.

Or to Wajeha al-Huwaider and Fawzia al-Uyyouni, co-founders of the League of Demanders of Women's Right to Drive Cars in Saudi Arabia, who are

Vaclev Havel Calls on the Int'l Community to Support Freedom in Myanmar

Update 10/1/07 - The "Daily Mail" reports Thousands Dead in Massacre of the Monks Dumped in the Jungle.  It looks like the hoped-for revolution has been put down.  - The Heritage Foundation offers analysis of the roles China, India and ASEAN play (or should play)

**
Michelle Malkin is keeping close tabs on the Burmese crisis.  Vaclev Havel has issued a call for the international community to add genuine support to the pro-democracy movement.   National Review Online's editorial offers excellent background and analysis.  An excerpt:

Backing the protesters is morally sound because the Burmese regime is among the cruelest on the planet. It is responsible for a campaign of ethnic cleansing that has killed scores of thousands and displaced multitudes more. It is an unapologetic practitioner of forced labor. It conscripts children into its armed forces. It keeps Aung San Suu Kyi — the leader of an immensely popular pro-democracy opposition — under house arrest or worse (reports surfaced this week that she had been thrown in prison). It has shattered the Burmese economy: Resource-rich and once relatively prosperous, Burma now has a per capita income of just $200. What wealth does exist is concentrated in the hands of its rulers. Top general Than Shwe, who sees himself as a god-king, recently moved the capital from Rangoon to Naypyidaw, a place whose extreme remoteness protects his opulent palace from the righteous anger of the dispossessed.
 
Small wonder the Burmese have taken to the streets. Their protests began last month when a few hundred gathered to decry the junta’s decision to raise fuel prices by 500 percent. The protests have now spread across the country, and their ranks have swelled to the tens of thousands. Significantly, they are led by Buddhist monks, who represent

Victor Davis Hanson Asks and Answers: "Why Study War?"

Hanson concludes his major and most recent City Journal article with a long bibliography of books dealing in one way or another with war.  Since I appreciate lists of recommended books on almost any subject (even though the day never seem to come when I will have time to read them), I here reprint Hanson's list:

Studying War: Where to Start

While Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War, a chronicle of the three-decade war between Athens and Sparta, establishes the genre of military history, the best place to begin studying war is with the soldiers’ stories themselves. E. B. Sledge’s memoir of Okinawa, With the Old Breed, is nightmarish, but it reminds us that

Does Anyone Write (and Perceive the World) with Greater Clarity and Insight than John Bolton?

Here, he explains how,

Against all odds, Iran emerged with a win-win from the crisis: winning by its provocation in seizing the hostages in the first place and winning again by its unilateral decision to release them.

Bolton's vision and eloquence should promote him to the front rank of commentators and pundits.  It's a shame he no longer represents the United States in the United Nations  (thanks to Democratic party folly).

Just How Horrible Will Nancy Pelosi's Visit to the Middle East Turn Out To Be? Potentially Catastrophic

Amir Tahiri's informed analysis will leave you feeling ill.  At least it did me.  I now see Pelosi's visit as not only dumb and stupid and egocentric, but as potentially catastrophic.   This is a MUST READ article.   (Tahiri is an Iranian-born journalist based in Europe.)

WHY THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION HAS EMBRACED INDIA

Read about it in this informative and comprehensive article.

DENNIS PRAGER'S VERBAL SNAPSHOT OF WORLD CONDITIONS TODAY

The unfailingly thoughtful and interesting Dennis Prager offers a verbal snapshot of world conditions as the year 2006 comes to an end.

On the eve of the year 2007, it is evident to anyone with the fortitude to see reality that the world is not getting better, nor even staying the same, but getting worse.

. . .  Almost wherever one looks, there are more reasons for pessimism than optimism.   Africa is probably in worse condition than at any time in recorded history.  (More)

I recommend matching your own assessment with Prager's. 

JIMMY CARTER'S UNERRING INSTINCT FOR ERROR

Update 12/18/06 - Here is an insightful article pointing out the millions of dollars Jimmy Carter has received from Arab sources for his library.  One can't be blamed for wondering how objective that makes him.

**

Mona Charen says Jimmy Carter has "a seemingly unerring instinct for error."  Carter has written a new book: Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.  Charen says "[it] is touted (by Carter himself) as an evenhanded analysis of the Israeli/Arab conflict -- but one need go no further than the title to suspect otherwise."

Here’s a precis of the book: Israel is the problem. In fact, it’s all summed up in the final paragraph: “Peace will come to Israel and the Middle East only when the Israeli government is willing to comply with international law, with the Roadmap for Peace, with official American policy, with the wishes of a majority of its own citizens — and honor its own previous commitments — by accepting its legal borders.” By the way, that kind of awkward phrasing is found throughout this slapdash work.

.... The book is so foolish that you can pretty much close your eyes and point to any page to find something simplistic, naïve, or tendentious.   (Read Charen's entire review)

India - U.S. Cooperation: New Delhi Disappoints

Henry Sokolski reports the following  disappointing news:

Less than a week after the U.S. Senate hastily cleared the way for generous U.S. nuclear cooperation with India, New Delhi made three announcements that pretty much destroyed the White House’s arguments for proceeding.

First, within hours of the Senate vote, India’s prime minister Manmohan Singh met in New Delhi with Iran’s new

HEARTBREAKING HAITI

Nicholas Eberstadt offers a lengthy report on the terrible situation that is Haiti.   His article is heart-wrenching and eye-opening.   Eberstadt's concluding paragraphs read as follows:

What do we--the fortunate souls holding U.S. passports, with warm beds and hot meals awaiting us--come home learning from a brief fact-finding sojourn to Haiti? In a sentence: Security comes first. First in the hierarchy of human

ANOTHER REASON WHY THE STATE DEPARTMENT MAKES PATRIOTS SHUDDER

Michelle Malkin  refers to Alberto Fernandez as "al Jazeera's favorite pet tool."   Does it matter?  You bet.  He's the director of public diplomacy in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the US State Department.   Malkin calls him a "State Department apologist for jihad."  Tell me, why can't we get wiser and more savy state department personnel to represent the United States?  Public relations and media effectiveness are crucial.   Click here  for the story.

IS THE U.S. THE WORLD'S ONLY RESPONSIBLE POWER?

Rich Lowry of National Review magazine began an article today with these stunning words:

"The United States is not just the world's sole superpower, it is the world's only responsible power."

In this world of muticulturalism,  of the West's wallowing in its self-doubt and self-hatred, such a sentence comes as a splash of cold water on a half-awake face.  The question is, is Lowry right?

Lowry talks about France's most recent diplomatic double-cross, but then moves on to say:

Civilization simply lacks backbone without the United States in the lead. Everyone agrees that a nuclear North Korea is a danger, but Russia and China play the role of enablers. Everyone thinks the same about Iran, but Europe is willing only to dither. Everyone thinks Iraq descending into chaos would be a disaster, but only the U.S. is pouring major resources into preventing it (granted, it’s our baby). Everyone supports the Afghan war, and NATO is actually pitching in there, but the Taliban is emboldened on the assumption that our European allies won’t have the same commitment to doing the job that we do.

This is not to say that the U.S. is flawless. Our mistakes, however, tend to be the products of an excess of zeal and idealism. We don’t do coldblooded calculation well. Some of this is the product of being a superpower — dishonest diplomatic ploys are beneath us. Some of it is the nature of our democracy, which values openness and honesty.   // [Aside: I think a good bit of it lies also in the Christian conscience that still survives more here than elsewhere]

Paranoid critics charge that we are in Iraq to control its oil. The French could have pulled off such a self-serving maneuver clothed in idealism, but we are in Iraq for exactly the achingly innocent reasons we say. We are spending and bleeding there trying to plant a liberal democracy in the hardscrabble soil of Mesopotamia.

When President Bush is gone, conservative foreign policy will change. But it won’t be a change the foreign-policy establishment likes. It won’t be toward a let’s-talk-even-more-to-the-French multilateralism as represented by Nebraska’s tiresome Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel. It will be something more selfish and hardheaded, something more French in its motivation — Bush without the soft touches. Then, the world will miss the earnest do-gooding United States of old.  [Aside:  I'm not sure what Lowry foresees, but it doesn't sound good!  But maybe our patience and idealism have limits.]

FOREIGN POLICY FOOLISHNESS MAKES YOU CRY

Appeasers of Islamofascism will one day have a lot to answer for, but it will be no satisfaction for any of us to say then, "I told you so."  No,  the world will be engulfed in the most incredible struggle imaginable and the blunders of the West, the media, and the U.S. State Department will be plain for all to see.    Foolishness and ignorance and stupidity cause great conflagrations, and all the signs point to  a tragic future.   I am in total agreement with David Horowitz's take on the Middle East situation.    It's a must-read article

Then there is also Michael Ledeen who says "it's the thirties again." 

Jonah Goldberg at The Corner observes

It seems to me the inescapable lesson of the current conflict is a depressing one for Israel and the United States. It ain't about land. In the 1990s, we were repeatedly told that Israel's problems could be solved via a geopolitical swap-meet. Everyone get together in back-slapping fellowship and trade land and, abracadabra, we'd have peace. It turns out, in Israel's case, this is nonsense. Hezbollah doesn't want land-for-peace, it wants genocide for peace.

IRAN, THE MIDDLE EAST, AND THE ISRAELI/HEZBOLLAH MINI WAR

Here is a great article explaining the current Israeli/Hezbollah mini war and what it means to Iran and the Middle East.   The article gives excellent background and provides welcome explanatory power.  (HT: The Corner)   I suspect many of us had no idea of Hezbollah's municipal and cultural strength -- as well as military strength -- in southern Lebanon.   But what about Iran's role in Hezbollah?   Iranian commentator Amir Taheri says "Hezbollah, the group at the heart of the Lebanese conflict, is the spearhead of Iran's ambitions to be a superpower."  The article asks,

Why has Tehran decided to play its Lebanese card now? Part of the answer lies in Washington’s decision last May to reverse its policy towards Iran by offering large concessions on its nuclear programme. Tehran interpreted that as a sign of weakness. Ahmadinejad believes that his strategy to drive the “infidel” out of the Islamic heartland cannot succeed unless Arabs accept Iran’s leadership.

The problem is that since the Iranian regime is Shi’ite it would not be easy to sell it to most Arabs, who are Sunni. To overcome that hurdle, it is necessary to persuade the Arabs that only Iran is sincere in its desire and capacity to wipe Israel off the map. Once that claim is sold to the Arabs, so Ahmadinejad hopes, they would rally behind his vision of the Middle East instead of the “American vision”.  .  .

The mini war that is taking place between Israel and Hezbollah is, in fact, a proxy war in which Iran’s vision for the Middle East clashes with the administration in Washington. What is at stake is not the exchange of kidnapped Israeli soldiers with Arab prisoners in Israel. Such exchanges have happened routinely over five decades. The real issue is who will set the agenda for the Middle East: Iran or America?

CHINA'S COMMERCIAL FORAYS INTO AFRICA

The UK's TimesOnLine describes "China's rapacious scramble for Africa."  I think this a very underreported story.

GINGRICH: "IT IS WORLD WAR III"

Newt Gingrich said on Sunday (from WorldNetDaily):

"We're in the early stages of what I would describe as the Third World War and, frankly, our bureaucracy's not responding fast enough and we don't have the right attitude. And this is the 58th year of the war to destroy Israel and, frankly, the Israelis have every right to insist that every single missile leave south Lebanon, and the United States ought to be helping the Lebanese government have the strength to eliminate Hezbollah as a military force. . . .

The potential candidate for president in 2008 said today's deaths of eight Israelis from Hezbollah missile attacks is the equivalent of losing 500 Americans, based on population. "Imagine we woke up this morning, and 500 Americans were dead in Miami from missiles fired from Cuba. Do you think any American would say, 'No, we should have proportionate response. We shouldn't overreact.'? No we would say, 'Get rid of the missiles.'

NORTH KOREA - MICHELLE MALKIN'S VIDEO

Once again, the internet provides a communications media package that dispenses truth which may or may not be seen on television.  Here is Michelle Malkin's video showing Ted Turner expressing his (shall we say "uninformed") opinions about North Korea, Madeleine Albright toasting Kim Jung-Il, all of which is followed by footage and brief commentary on the tragedy that is North Korea.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF LATIN AMERICA OFFERED BY FRANK GAFFNEY

Here is Frank Gaffney  on the need to pay attention to what is happening in Latin America.   He offers a useful brief survey, a good introduction to a region that needs more concentrated attention.

STUDENT-DRIVEN SUDAN DIVESTMENT CAMPAIGN GROWS

The Sudan divestment campaign now taking place on major universities is heartening news.

At least seven universities have gotten rid of some of their assets, including the 10-campus University of California system, Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Brown. Divestment campaigns are under way at several other universities, including the University of Maryland, Indiana University and the University of Virginia.

Read about it here.   China is a major culprit in propping up the Sudan regime and its terrible conduct. 

NORTH KOREA FREEDOM WEEK, APRIL 22- 30, 2006

Open Doors, USA is rallying Christians across the United States to pray for those suffering for their faith in North Korea.   Some helpful information about events taking place as well as background on North Korea, prayer suggestions and bulletin inserts can be found here.   Open Doors says

The objective of this week is to create greater awareness of the most oppressive country in the world, North Korea.  In addition to diplomacy and advocacy, the NKFC is encouraging churches across the country to participate in the North Korea Freedom Week by uplifting North Korea in prayer.  Christians in this country are experiencing intense persecution and are desperate for the prayers of believers around the world. 

VIETNAM FOR HOMESCHOOL PARENTS (AND OTHERS)

Jonah Goldberg at the Corner of National Review Online received the following e-mail offering guidance to someone looking for help on studying the Vietnam War from a more conservative position.  I think it's worth reproducing.

Jonah,

About two years ago, I did my senior thesis on the conservative approach to Vietnam.  Instead of going to mainstream sources, it almost seemed that I had to relearn everything about Vietnam from the ground (war) up.  There are a few good resources that, if used properly, and if the parent has a good background knowledge of the war from a conservative perspective, could be used to teach kids effectively.

For the parent, I would suggest both Admiral Jeremiah Denton's account of life in the Hanoi Hilton [When Hell Was in Session] , Norman Podhoretz's excellent 1982 book Why We Were in Vietnam (completely conservative perspective, as you well know).   Both of these would familiarize a parent with the conservative interpretation of life in Vietnam and the reasons for going to war, which are the main contentions of liberals.   Most often, in my research, I found that the spin originated from an attempt to whitewash Kennedy's involvement in Vietnam, and to play up the misdeeds of the troops, and the moral superiority of the anti-war crowd.   If either of these is tackled with facts, then the argument collapses.   A good familiarity with Nixonian foreign policy concerning Vietnamization, and a good solid understanding of the Tet Offensive (what many would consider the turning point TOWARD America in the war) would be, at least, a place to start.

I would start with the Eyewitness Books Vietnam War: they have a kid-level run-down of the events, and they'd form enough of a basis for knowledge that a parent could create lesson plans based on the way that the war is broken down in the book.   From there, the old Time-Life books that they used to sell on television (while a little liberal), have really nice photos and maps.   Most bookstores will have photo anthologies of the war on their clearance racks, too.

As much as it pains me to say it, PBS had an excellent documentary series a few years ago that, while it has a decidedly liberal tilt, was incredibly well done, and comprehensive.   It was called Vietnam: a Television History, and it has hours and hours of video that spans from the time the British and French first situated themselves in Vietnam until the last days.   It has one particular episode critiquing the medias role in the anti-war movement that was particularly useful.   For these, PBS has an online resource called Battlefield: Vietnam that has some good outside resources.

Goldberg heard from other homeschooling readers who suggested Michael Medved's tapes.

Ramesh Ponnuru suggests these resources:

When I was in high school, I found books by Guenter Lewy, Richard Nixon, and Henry Kissinger (I'm thinking of White House Years and Years of Upheaval) helpful in providing an intelligent conservative perspective. A 1985 article by John P. Roche for NR--called, I believe, "The Strange Death of Liberal Anti-Communism"--was also worthwhile. The Irony of Vietnam, by Leslie Gelb and Richard Betts, was not a "conservative book" but was quite interesting. If I were working now on the paper that got me reading those books then, I would probably add Michael Lind and H. R. McMaster to the list.

A reader responded to Ponnuru

Just saw your item on Vietnam books.  I agree that anything written by John Roche, whether from his time in government or after, is worth reading. As something of a Vietnam buff myself, I think the most comprehensive, however revisionist, book I've read on the war is Michael Lind's "Vietnam: The Necessary War." (I assume that's the Lind work you were referring to.) [Correct--RP]   Despite Lind's recent zaniness about George W. Bush and his general haughtiness, his Vietnam book is second to none.

Mackubin Owens offers these ideas: 

In addition to Lewy and Podhoretz and some of the others folks have noted, people ought to read Lewis Sorley's A Better War, Doug Pike's PAVN, and Peter Braestrup's classic on coverage of Vietnam, Big Story.  My friend Gerry Turley has a riveting account of his adventures as an advisor in The Easter Offensive. It is riveting. T he best novel is Jim Webb's Fields of Fire. Mark Moyar, one of a new generation of scholars has written Phoenix and the Birds of Prey, well worth the read.  Jug Burkett's Stolen Valor has taken some heat, but no one that he has accused of being a fraud has been willing to take him to court and testify under oath.

The trouble for people who want good stuff is that all the "clearing houses" for Vietnam are left-wing. Several years ago, I attended a book fair at my son's Catholic school. He was 10 at the time and was interested in military stuff so I was looking to buy him something to read. I found a history of American wars that was written for teenagers, and since he was a pretty good reader, I thought he could handle it. It was fine until it got to Vietnam. Then it simply rehashed the left wing litany of sins and atrocities. My Lai loomed large. I put it back and concluded that the left-wing narrative is too deeply embedded to be rooted out, at least during my lifetime.

"GLADIATOR, AMERICAN STYLE" - GREAT VIDEO

For a powerful expression of what we owe our service men and women for "Operation Enduring Freedom" and "Operation Iraqi Freedom," see this remarkable short video:  "Gladiator, American Style."

IRAN'S GOAL - TRIGGERING WORLD APOCALYPSE?

In his column today, Charles Krauthammer looks at Iran with unblinking eyes and sees a new phenomenon on the world stage.   Other nations with nuclear bombs haven't used them.    What can we expect from the government in Tehran?   Krauthammer writes:

We're now at the dawn of an era in which an extreme and fanatical religious ideology, undeterred by the usual calculations of prudence and self-preservation, is wielding state power and will soon be wielding nuclear power.

We have difficulty understanding the mentality of Iran's newest rulers. Then again, we don't understand the mentality of the men who flew into the World Trade Center or the mobs in Damascus and Tehran who chant "Death to America"--and Denmark(!)--and embrace the glory and romance of martyrdom.

Krauthammer says Iran's arriving at the threshold of nuclear weaponry is "a signal historical moment."

It is not just that its President says crazy things about the Holocaust. It is that he is a fervent believer in the imminent reappearance of the 12th Imam, Shi'ism's version of the Messiah. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been reported as saying in official meetings that the end of history is only two or three years away. He reportedly told an associate that on the podium of the General Assembly last September, he felt a halo around him and for "those 27 or 28 minutes, the leaders of the world did not blink ... as if a hand was holding them there and it opened their eyes to receive" his message. He believes that the Islamic revolution's raison d'être is to prepare the way for the messianic redemption, which in his eschatology is preceded by worldwide upheaval and chaos. How better to light the fuse for eternal bliss than with a nuclear flame?

Read the rest of this chilling article.

KEEP AN EYE ON THE RUSSIAN - CHINA ALLIANCE

I think Peter Brooks is absolutely right when he warns of the The Sino-Russian strategic romance.

LARRY KUDLOW ON THE FRENCH ECONOMIC MALAISE

Larry Kudlow, a very sharp American economist, dissects the French economic mess in his short, to-the-point article.     Stanley Kurtz  of the "Corner" of National Review Online  suggests that for an overview of the situation in France, see “For the French, Joie de Vivre Fades Into Fear.  He also notes Claire Berlinski's article,  "Paris Burning,  Once Again."   Speaking further of her work, he says.

For the best overview of the trouble in Europe, I recommend Claire Berlinski’s wonderful new book, Menace in Europe: Why the Continent’s Crisis is America’s, Too. (I’ve got a blurb on the back of the book.) Berlinski’s book is a tremendous read: very smart, highly informed, and filled with riveting stories about real people.   Berlinski is tough as can be on the problem of European Islamism, yet also speaks knowledgeably about European Muslims she’s known and loved.   It’s rare to find this kind of clear-eyed criticism from an American who knows the continent deeply.  For a glimpse into Europe’s frightening future (and America’s too?) do read Claire Berlinski’s Menace in Europe.

THE MEDIA'S LIES ABOUT ISRAEL

For insights on news coverage on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, see The Media's Lies About Israel by Jamie Glazov.   Glazov interviews Stephanie Gutmann, the author of the new book The Other War: Israelis, Palestinians and the Struggle for Media Supremacy.

WOMEN WHO MAKE THE WORLD BETTER

For the UN's International Women's Day, NRO highlights  "women the world should know — some activists, some struggling for their lives and the lives of others, some living lives of quiet grace; most are living, others are memorialized here."     This is a very inspiring page since it includes truly courageous women, "women who make the world better," women who do not necessarily make the news.  If you are like me, you will respond more than once with a lump in your throat to the vignettes presented here.   Don't miss this link!

CHINA THREATENING TAIWAN AGAIN

John Derbyshire of National Review Online says he tries to keep tabs on China watchers and their moods.  "The current mood is darkening.  When Hu Jintao came to power three years ago he was a largely unknown quantity.   Now China watchers are looking back on the previous era as one of comparative liberalism."  Derbyshire cites a BBC report  on China's build-up against Taiwan.   He also refers to Australian sinologist Geremie R. Barme writing in the Jan '06 China Journal:

"With the accession of Hu Jintao ... many presumed that the relatively lax ideological rule of the Jiang Zemin years would continue. Ever-optimistic observers even thought that here, finally, China had a Soviet-style reformist of its own (recall putative Sino-Gorbachev's past, Qiao Shi for example).

"It was probably the 2003 commemoration of the 110th anniversary of Mao Zedong's birth, and the speech that Hu Jintao made at the Great Hall of the People in December that year, that put paid to such a notion..."

A commentary on that speech by Graham Hutchings can be found here.

VENEZUELA - A COUNTRY TO KEEP AN EYE ON

Venezuela is a country to keep an eye on.   According to the British Telegraph newspaper, the Venezuelan middle class flees Chavez rule of hate.

Venezuela's once-thriving middle class is packing its bags and fleeing the country, afraid for the future as the socialist president, Hugo Chávez, calls on the slum-dwelling masses to rise up and seize wealth from those better off than themselves.

England's Guardian newspaper reports that Venezuela aims for biggest military reserve in Americas.

Around 500,000 Venezuelans will start a four-month military training programme today to turn them into members of the country's territorial guard. They are the first group of a total of 2m Venezuelan civilians who have so far signed up to become armed reservists. By the summer of 2007, Venezuela is likely to have the largest military reserve in the Americas, which is expected to be almost double the size of that in the United States.

The huge recruitment drive is part of President Hugo Chávez's plan to create a people's army that would answer directly to him in the event of civil unrest or an armed conflict.

PRESIDENT BUSH'S VISIT TO INDIA A SUCCESS IN INDIAN EYES

Power Line reports  (checking Indian newspapers and Indian blogs) that Indians regard President Bush's visit to India as a great success.   As one Indian newspaper put it, "Mr George W. Bush today wooed India like no other US President had ever done before..."    Positive, positive, positive.