Appeasing Iran Seen As a Step Towards More Mideast Nations Pushing For Nukes

Obama's lack of a foreign policy has so far resulted in a chaotic Libya, contributed to an unending Syrian civil war, discouraged Israel, and encouraged the terror linked Muslim Brotherhood.  Instability and unpredictability mark not only the behavior of groups in the region, but also US policy.

Experts told the Washington Free Beacon that this could bring disastrous consequences.  First, Iran aspires to Great Power status.  Although it lags in productivity and capital, nuclear weapons would raise it above its neighbors.  A state that once launched masses of its own citizens in suicide rushes at modern weapons cannot be trusted to be predictable with these weapons in hand.

Should Iran obtain them, other powers will as well.  Saudi Arabia most certainly will develop its own.

Other countries will adapt. Turkey has already negotiated pacts with Iran.  The NATO member, once an imperial power in the region, borders Iran.  Fear of its growing influence will doubtless pull states into its orbit.

This is the predictable result of a weak and disoriented foreign policy on the part of the United States.

There may be no solution at this point.

While Obama Is Obsessed With Jews Building Houses in Israel, Iran Is Ready to Build a Bomb

The CIA, according to the Washington Times, has concluded that Iran is now fully capable of building a nuclear device.

It expanded uranium production last year and had to fight through numerous problems with faulty centrifuges, but is now ready to construct a weapon.

What does this mean for moderate Moslem states now confronted with Islamic revolutionaries armed with even more weapons of mass destruction? What does it mean for Iraq's fledgling democracy? What does it mean for US and other western nations' influence? Only time will tell.

Iran joining the nuclear club is one of the worst setbacks for Western Middle East policy in decades, perhaps since the fall of the Shah. It does prove that apologies and attempts at understanding resonate little with regimes such as Iran.

Israel now has serious problems. Obama is a disaster to them. He is liked by less than 10% of their country and seems prepared to bargain away their control of East Jerusalem to appease terrorists. However, only they have the will to act against Iran at this point.

Iran is not a rationalist state, but it has a will to power and nuclear capability. They also have weapons that can reach Western Europe. NATO should be prepared to act, but may have to wait until a post Obama America is ready to step up to the challenge.

Gary Howell to guest on Joe Danger's Show (to be reschudeled)

Gary Howell will be a guest on Joe Danger's, Talk of the Town on WDNE to be rescheduled. The topic will be Israel, the United States and Iran's nuclear program.

United States: World Referee

Imagine a football, basketball, hockey, soccer, or even baseball game played for high stakes without a referee. The idea of calling your own foul would be abused and ignored until finally fights would break out.

That is the world without the presence of the United States.

Sometimes we call major and minor penalties, sometimes we throw people into the box temporarily, sometimes we toss them out of the game entirely. We get cursed and are often accused of being blind, but the game cannot continue without us.

Until January of this year the players in the great game of world affairs sullenly behaved themselves. The remaining two members of the "Axis of Evil" restrained their ambitions, waiting out the adversary they feared the most, President George W. Bush. They understood as did Bush that war is never your last resort, that the Republican president always reserved the right to act forcefully to defend his country.

Then came His Apologizency, begging the world's forgiveness for the United States "interfering." Obama never understood that American interference kept the different regional pots from boiling over. North Korea and Iran hated President Bush, but they respected him. Now with Iran and North Korea both pushing the envelope, it becomes an invitation for others in the region to act. Israel at some point will have to attack Iran. Is this the best scenario? No. But unless a revolution removes the nuclear minded mullahs, it will happen. Do we really want Japan to feel insecure enough to lash out on their own at North Korea, possibly antagonizing China? How many years until Japan reaches that point of fear, mindful that the US under Obama will not even act to protect Hawaii?

American "interference" actually created the promising situation in Iran. The ever vigilant American press exposed a Bush era covert operation to funnel $400 million into Iran to destabilize the regime. It is only now bearing fruit. Hopefully it removes a nuclear upstart from the equation. Of course that was a product of Bush's "arrogance."

I (and Bill Maher, surprisingly) would like to see a little less talk and a lot more action from Obama when it comes to national security. And I mean against North Korea, not the National Rifle Association.

Mike Huckabee on Iran

Words Fail Us

Words failed us.

Not four months after Obama took office, his diplomacy of apologies starts to bear fruit. He and his secretary of state felt compelled to apologize for the United States so bluntly and brutally enforcing international law and ruffling the feathers of Europeans that traded with murderous monsters such as Saddam Hussein.

Now Iran has weapons grade materials. North Korea has exploded nuclear devices and launched more test missiles.

These developments drastically increase the chance that terrorists will get a device to explode in Tel Aviv, Madrid, or New York City. They also heighten the possibility that Iran or North Korea will try to bully their neighbors or even launch against the United States.

Obama will talk and try to get at the real problem through negotiation. I remember that Bush talked too. Then he acted. Bush's actions convinced Libya to abandon their nuclear program and join the community of peaceful nations. We didn't even threaten them. Bush leaves office and now the kiddies can come out and play with reckless abandon. Of course also on Obama's watch a known nuclear power is falling dangerously close to collapsing in the face of the Taliban.

The issue is bigger than just nukes. If Pakistan goes Taliban, India will be frightened and may take action. We can rest assured that Israel will act against Iran. North Korean belligerence scares Japan. If Japan rearms that provokes China, which could cause a chain reaction of fear and arming throughout Asia. American power and firm resolve have kept a lid on all of this for some time. Now that we have a president who does not even have the resolve to fill the jobs in the Executive Branch, the world is in a little more peril.

The Pakistan Plan

We'd better have a plan ready. Now.

Since Obama took office, the situation in Pakistan has gone from bad to worse as Taliban forces continue to build momentum and march on the capital. A crucial American ally in the region is about to go the way of Iran and South Vietnam. We had better have a expeditionary force of some sort ready.

Why? Why not let them fall into history like South Vietnam? Why risk more US lives in endless wars against fundamentalism halfway around the world.

Nuclear weapons, that is why. We cannot let terrorists acquire nuclear weapons, especially a group willing to die for their cause. Even worse, they would likely be more aggressive towards Pakistan's historic enemy India, who also has nuclear arms.

Is India likely to tolerate such as disastrous situation on its own borders? At this point it is hard to tell. The only possible help for this situation is a United States currently in a mode of Defense Department firesale.

First, whether they want it or not, US air power must be used against the Taliban to break up and break down their forces. If all else fails, we need an international team of special forces to seize all Pakistani nuclear components before the country falls.

Allowing Pakistani nuclear arms to fall into the hands of Islamic fundamentalist militants who have encouraged destructive attacks on the United States would be a criminal act of folly on the part of the Obama Administration. It is time to stop wasting money on frivolities, stop gutting the Defense Department, and start rounding up a posse to prevent a nuclear Taliban.

The Barack Obama School of Diplomacy

Last week Barack Obama, in a very defensive move, lashed out at President Bush. Bush stated that some advocate negotiating with terrorist states such as Iran, but that he refused to do so. Obama naturally felt that Bush referred to his long cherished dream of someday negotiating with the only world leader currently calling the Holocaust a hoax and lashed out.

Obama angrily denied that he would ever negotiate with terrorism. Then he turned around and said he intended to open negotiations with Iran. Apparently he does not believe Iran represents a terrorist state. Iranian homosexuals might disagree, had they not been murdered or driven into hiding by the regime. The Iranian president's dream of destroying Israel might also strike some as terroristic.

To back his idea, Obama strangely brought up the Reagan talks with Mikhail Gorbachev. If Barack Obama seriously wants to compare the current Iranian leadership with former Soviet leader Gorbachev, the latter might have a great case for slander in US federal court. Reagan started out his presidency with tough talk and tougher action. He moves against Soviet designs in Grenada, helped anti-Soviet rebels in Afghanistan, and scared the bejesus out of them with the Strategic Defense Initiative. The Soviets spent themselves into collapse and Reagan had given the United States a position of strength from which to begin talks. A position of strength is the only one dictatorial regimes respect. Besides that, Gorbachev advocated expanding liberties and free speech. I do not see Iran's government doing the same.

Obama is not the next Jimmy Carter. He could be far worse. Obama believes that his charm and savvy would be enough to make revolutionary Iran see reason. Five presidents' best efforts tell a different story. Iran's best hope lies in the kind of quiet pressure maintained by Bush, not public enough to force a nationalist response on the part of their people but strong enough to impress the many in that country that yearn for freedom. Iran's mullahocracy may not be as stable as it looks, but giving it credibility by negotiating with it would be a huge mistake.

Our position in the world cannot afford the appeasment impulses of Barack Obama.

Hither and Yon

Ever since it was declared that Mineral County should cease development or risk running out of water, God has seen fit to drench the region with rain and snow almost every single day .

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The Grant County Press reported lottery payouts to local governments.

Hampshire, $2,803.63; Hardy, $1,698.89; Mineral, $11,039.98; Pendleton, $157.51; Tucker, $153.15.
Petersburg received a payment of $176.37 and Bayard picked up $21.76.
Some other cities and their payments were: Franklin, $16.97; Keyser, $3,109.46; Moorefield, $401.56; Romney, $301.12: Wardensville, $41.59; and Elk Garden, $127.24.

From the new table games account, Grant, Hardy, Hampshire, and Pendleton each received $242.65. Cities received $57.67.

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Antiwar protesters love using quotations. Ever notice that? They love to drag some quote out of context to try and prove that Founding Fathers or other respectable people share their viewpoints. The Devil can even cite Scripture for his own purposes. People's actions reflect their nature better than their words. Yes John Adams discussed the evil of war, but he built up a United States Navy and sent it to war, as did his successor Thomas Jefferson.

Quotations are easy to memorize and antiwar folks are very good at learning their lines. However, true wisdom lies in knowledge AND understanding. Ron Paul on his website utterly distorts the meaning of Washington's Farewell Address. Knowing the text helps one to under stand that Washington meant only Europe. Understanding the man could lead one to believe that Washington's nature was far from dogmatic. He changed his approaches to problems in life, war, and politics readily. When someone uses a quote alone to argue a point, it may serve as a red flag that he or she has chosen the easy way out and does not truly understand.

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Can someone please explain why that beautiful evergreen tree on the Mineral County courthouse lawn is not decorated for Christmas?

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Sean Penn has visited the dictators of Iran and Venezuela. All three agree that Dennis Kucinich is the right president for the United States. With those kinds of endorsements, who could lose

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All baseball players found to have used steroids need their statistics and awards expunged from the record books. It would be nice to see the fans get their money back from these cheaters.

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The New York Times has a long history of looking the other way in the face of leftist terror. Seventy five years ago last month, their correspondent Walter Duranty reported at the height of the Stalin imposed famine, "there is no actual starvation or deaths from starvation." Reports of hundreds of thousands, even millions of deaths he called "Malignant propaganda." In Ukraine alone perhaps five million died during this crisis imposed by Stalin's desire to communize farming.

At the New York Times, bending over backwards to accommodate dictators has been tradition.

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Don't forget about the Harrison County Republican Club Dinner on Friday December 21. Tommy Phillips and the Harrison County Club have done an outstanding job putting together a Christmas dinner. The food will be terrific, the speakers and good times even better.

2007 Harrison County Republican Club Christmas DinnerDecember 21, 2007

Social - 5:30 P.M. -

Dinner 6:00 P.M.Cottage Corner Restaraunt in SalemGuest Speaker -

St. Senator Clark Barnes (R-Randolph)Auctioneer - Rocky PeckTickets - $20.00 per person

Please contact - HCRC President Tommy Phillips - (304)672-6890

Email - gopguy1980@verizon.net

HCRC Vice President Jack Pringle - (304)669-3781

Also in attendance will be Republican candidate for the 14th Senatorial District Gary Howell.

Giddiness Over Iran

The media is giddy. Democrats are giddy. Even Iran is Giddy. What is the source of all this giddiness?

The National Intelligence Estimate laid what has been touted as a bombshell, that Iran has not actively tried to produce a nuclear weapon since 2003. Harry Reid of course used it to promote Bush as a warmonger trying to start a conflict with Iran for no real reason. The media, Nancy Pelosi, Ron Paul, the Iranian president and every other opponent of Bush's policy will pile on, once again touting a Bush failure, but hold on a second.

Seems to me that this 2003 date seems vaguely familiar. Why on earth would Iran select 2003 as a year to fall into line with the world's demands (minus France, Russia and all else making money off of Iran) to stop pursuing nuclear weapons. Did Iran just pick this day out of the clear blue? The Democrats and the media may have missed it, but I doubt thinking people have.

Cause and effect. We invaded Iraq in 2003 over the issue of weapons of mass destruction. Even the mullahocracy has a sense of self-preservation even though they discourage it in others. They understand the possibility of the United States targeting their regime next and shut down their program.

For four years they have not had an active program, but that does not mean they do not pose a threat. Iran continues to produce for its nuclear reactors the kind of enriched uranium that can be used for weapons. George W. Bush's policy in the Middle East once again has borne fruit. First Libya committed to disarming, now we see that Iran did the same. Only continued pressure and the threat of force will keep Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon. Once again President Bush should receive the credit for removing a potential threat to the United States before it becomes too dangerous.