Evil is still in Style
By Johnny Roosh
I was reading a summary of a journal belonging to Hideki Tojo, one of Japan’s World War II era Prime Ministers, that described his disposition just after the incineration of Japan’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Tojo, executed in 1948 after being convicted of war crimes by the Allies, was prime minister during much of the war. The notes buttress other evidence that Tojo was fiercely opposed to surrender despite the hopelessness of Japan’s war effort.
The stridency of the writings is remarkable considering they were penned just days after the U.S. atomic bombs incinerated Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing some 200,000 people and posing the threat of the complete destruction of Japan. At the time, Japan had begun arming children, women and the elderly with bamboo spears, in addition to the aircraft and other forces it had marshaled, to defend the homeland against a ground invasion.
The mindset of the times and of this man seem to express a level of nationalism and kamikaze pride too extreme to exist today. To think that a nation would preemptively attack another to gain ground or extinguish another people is nearly unthinkable in this day and age.
Fifty years seems like a long time, especially for me, one generation removed. Names like Hitler, Mussolini, Hirohito and Tojo are just ink on a page in a history book. The evil they represent has been diluted by time, relative peace and prosperity in America.
…and then Russia attacks Georgia and we are faced with the fact that history repeats itself.
And that a stong national defense, and the proper use and maintenance thereof is of no less value now than in any time in the past.
Probably even moreso now as more and more nations, with our help, gain footholds in world commerce, capitalism and democracy, thereby becoming world powers if not superpowers.
One has to wonder if we weren’t in Iraq and gearing up for an attack or counter-attack on Iran, would our response to Russia’s attack on a burgeoning democracy and ally to the West be more than tough talk on the part of Bush and McCain?
Is our military as stretched as we keep hearing? …or do we have capacity to wage war that is kept up our sleeve?
It seems to me that the attack on Georgia should not have been a surprise, and even if it was, why are we (and I mean the whole Western world) not responding in kind while hundreds maybe thousands of citizens of a sovereign nation lose their lives and homes to a neighboring aggressor?
European leaders have criticized us for Iraq and yet I still get the feeling that those same leaders are looking to us for a reaction to the (now apparently reduced if not ceased) aggression on the part of the Russians.
Will there ever be a time when America is not expected to shoulder the burden as well as the criticism of being the globe’s police force?
In any case, I think it wise for voters to consider their choice for President as it relates to their role as commander and chief of America’s military resources.
Talk is cheap and it is clear that we have given Russia exactly what they anticipated in planning this attack. At the same time, Iran is watching us right now and no doubt the world’s response can only be emboldening their irrational ambitions.
Speaking of cheap talk (guess who):
Chicago, IL — “I strongly condemn the outbreak of violence in Georgia, and urge an immediate end to armed conflict. Now is the time for Georgia and Russia to show restraint, and to avoid an escalation to full scale war. Georgia’s territorial integrity must be respected. All sides should enter into direct talks on behalf of stability in Georgia, and the United States, the United Nations Security Council, and the international community should fully support a peaceful resolution to this crisis.”
Not that George Bush’s response has been all that more assertive:
Mr. Bush, in an interview with NBC Sports, said, “I’ve expressed my grave concern about the disproportionate response of Russia and that we strongly condemn the bombing outside of South Ossetia.”The president called the violence in Georgia “unacceptable.”He said he did so directly to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is in Beijing with Mr. Bush for the Olympics, and by phone to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.“I was very firm with Vladimir Putin,” said Mr. Bush. “Hopefully this will get resolved peacefully.”
I would have liked to have also heard:
In the mean time, I am working with other world leaders such as France, Germany, Great Britian and Japan to marshal and mobilize military resources to stand ready to defend our ally if Russia continues to defy our demands to stand down.
As costly as military action is, sometimes it is a necessary tool to act as a deterrent to those that would use it against weaker nations. It may be all that they are capable of understanding.
Sometimes the Good Guys need to kick some ass.
I often see “War is not the Answer” lawn signs and bumper stickers and in response I always say “It depends on what the question is.”
Russia (and Iran) may need to be answered soon. I hope we are ready.
August 12th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
“Is our military as stretched as we keep hearing? …or do we have capacity to wage war that is kept up our sleeve?”
We’re only stretched thin because we haven’t mobilized.
Whether we still have the national will to mobilize, I don’t know. I’d be very surprised if we did, over South Ossetia.
August 12th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
I wonder if, when speaking firmly with Vlad the Impaler II, Bush called him Putie-Poot?
Using language like “disproportionate response” to make a nation feel guilty only works when the nation has some moral base like Israel or the US. Most of Europe has become too fat, dumb & happy. We will always be the one they come to when they are in need & the first they blame when they deem in necessary & convenient.
August 12th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Russian ground forces are formidable only in the context of Eurasia and central Asia. We could have stopped the Russian advance by bombing a few strategic mountain choke points. And we could have done it with bombers based in Missouri.
Putin gambled that he could finish his business there before the political mechanisms in the West could respond. Politics sometimes can make B1’s slower than an armored column.
August 12th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
I dunno. I think Obama should grab his umbrella, head out and meet with Mr. Putin, and bring back peace in our time.
August 12th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
I’m sure Barry will do just that joel.
August 13th, 2008 at 9:46 am
I’m sure Barry will do just that joel.
No, no, no. Don’t you see that all The One has to do is request a cessation of hostilities and it will happen?! The One would never have to stoop to actually doing something, he can merely command it to happen. All hail The One!
August 13th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I’m as big on American power as the next guy, but I’m a little more thrifty on where I’d spend it (I’m biased – my kid is a Navy Chief Petty Officer).
The United States of America have no national security interests in the nations of Georgia or South Anywhereistan, similarly Sudan, Haiti, Burma, and numerous other garden spots we’re urged to conquer.
We went to Iraq because we believed Saddam was a threat to our natioanl security. Turns out that belief may have been ill-founded (unproven, see trucks-to-Syria claims) but we acted on an honestly held belief that our national defense was at stake. There’s no such claim here.
Therefore, we don’t go to war for Georgia. Not hard to fathom.
.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I wonder who gave Russia exactly what they wanted.. oh, yeah, George Walker Bush,
And you think we should consider McSame.
Realpolitik has consequences – yet you endorse those who have said they would do otherwise, yet in fact operated under the same ideas, they failed to address Musharaf, and they failed to address Putin – calling him someone we could trust.
BTW – we acted upon a dishonestly delivered set of intelligence – WE , the American people acted honestly (on Iraq) as in general did Congress, -but the administration – not so much. Saying Hussien was a threat to national security (which you said ‘we believed’ – I recognize) was wrong, and many very smart people said they weren’t, but you, and McCain didn’t believe them, you KNEW better, you said, ‘The President undoubtedly has better information than WE do” – i.e. cult politics – and therefore we should trust him. Yes, we should trust the guy who required Hussien to disprove a negative or guaranteed he’d start a war, we should have trusted a guy who so many times showed he wasn’t trustworthy, but ok.. you’re right, he was honest.. despite the half dozen times he’s been shown to be dishonest, but we should believe he acted with honestly held beliefs. He trusted Ahmed Chalabi, Mitch, and a whackjob named Curveball, and not only believed those two clowns over the REPEATED and very vocal intelligence warnings of very highly skilled professionsals in our own government, he sought to fire those who disagreed with him, chased out good men like Erik Shinseki (who turned out to be right – ta da) – but even set up his own intel agency rather than listen to the CIA, the NSA, or the DIA any longer when they told him, over and over and over again, that the case for war was weak, probably wrong, and based on utterly flawed data. But you go ahead, gloss over those realities.
Lastly, of course we don’t go to war over Georgia, but that’s such an obvious conclusion it hardly warrants statement. That said, however, Bush’s ludicrous, meaningless ‘demand’ that Russia stop attacking, as if Russia needs us, as if we (and Europe) aren’t so obligated to Russian oil (and pipelines/access), that there isn’t a damned thing we’re going to do. His comments amount to bluster and nothing.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Nate,
Why was Iraq an issue of national security? It was clearly oil. I’m not saying we went to war for oil, but if Iraq had no oil, then there is no significance to Iraq & Saddam would have just been another tin-pot thug like Robert Mugabe.
Oil is why Saddam was a threat. Not only did he hold control over a significant amount of the world’s economic life blood, but it also gave him the money, power & leverage to become a military threat to his neighbors & our allies (perhaps only ally).
If this is true, then Georgia is definitely a vital interest to the US. It is an oil rich ally, with a major pipeline that feeds the Western World with crude. I’d argue that Georgia is more important to the US than France & Germany, which we protected militarily for 60 years from Russian expansionism.
If we do nothing for an ally who has sacrificed much for us (US) when they are in need, then we are in serious trouble. Who will be next when we do nothing? Ukraine, Taiwan, South Korea, Columbia? Like it or not, we are the world’s policeman & have been for about 100 years.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
…we acted upon a dishonestly delivered set of intelligence…
There were disagreements on intelligence. However, the majority of those tasked with Iraqi intelligence both in the US and with other Western powers had good reason to believe that Iraq was a threat to the West. Yes, there were those who disagreed, so what? There was nothing to make their opinions all that much better at the time than anybody else’s, especially as some of those “professionals” had been so wrong about Iraq for so long as to be less than creditable before the war. Or are you Cassandra now?
You go off on a 266 word tangential rant on Iraq and intelligence failures in a discussion on Georgia, without any application to the present topic. Unless you meant to mention just how much we should trust all those guys in the CIA since they all saw the Russian buildup and warned us of it, proving how infallible our intelligence operatives are.
Gawd, he just can’t let go. The classic definition of obsessed!
His comments amount to bluster and nothing.
And BHO’s now are different … how? And the fact that his initial statements seemed to support the Russian attack indicates what exactly?
I don’t know why you think of McCain as W2. He certainly was much more emphatic in his response and he grasped the situation much more quickly than BHO.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
His comments amount to bluster and nothing.
I see now you and GWB have something in common.
/snark
August 13th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
it hardly warrants statement.
And yet you stated it.
Make up your mind.
That said, however, Bush’s ludicrous, meaningless ‘demand’ that Russia stop attacking, as if Russia needs us, as if we (and Europe) aren’t so obligated to Russian oil (and pipelines/access), that there isn’t a damned thing we’re going to do. His comments amount to bluster and nothing.
Dunno, Peev. It wasn’t the Georgian Army that stopped ’em.
Russia needs the market as much as the west needs their oil. Any interruption in oil and gas sales would make a lot of kleptocrats very angry.
Just saying; you’re speaking (as usual) from an unwarranted position of authority.
Time will tell.
August 13th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
“Saying Hussien was a threat to national security (which you said ‘we believed’ – I recognize) was wrong, and many very smart people said they weren’t, but you, and McCain didn’t believe them, you KNEW better, ”
Oh lord. Look, dipshit. After 911 the world had changed. The president had to make a choice. If he choose to do nothing with Iraq (or leave it with the UN,but I repeat myself) then he was betting a US city that you were correct, that despite Iraq’s history and resources (and at 150/barrel how much cash would that have been?) that Suddam was bluffing. Or, realizing he was President of the United States and that his responsibility was to defending this country, and not being beloved by the left of the world he could do what he did. Was the occupation screwed up? You bet. Did that have anything to do with what happened in Georgia? Nope. Did the constant backbiting from folks like you since day 1 he took office embolden Russia? Suspect so.
August 13th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Look! Bertie the Cockney chimney sweep from Mary Poppins agrees with peev!