THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, April 15, 2010

7

OBAMA’S NEW NUCLEAR POLEMIC MAKES IRAN LAUGH

United Na-

by John J. Metzler

Syndicated Columnist

t ions—Amid the majestic ba- roque setting of Prague Castle, the USA and Russia signed a new arms con- trol agreement, pledging to cut their nuclear

arsenals by up to one third. The politically hyped signing ceremony by President Barack Obama and Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev, in the Czech Republic was meant to go a step further to warm rela- tions between the cold war adver- saries. Days earlier in Washington, Obama signed off on a “Nuclear Posture Review,” which for all pur- poses weakens America’s global strategic standing but still plans to persuade both the Islamic Repub- lic of Iran and North Korea to “play

by the rules” in their ongoing and illegal nuclear proliferation. Surprisingly this new policy ex-

empts most non-nuclear states from the threat of nuclear retali- ation by the USA in time of war. Theoretically should a non-nu- clear power strike the American heartland with a chemical or biological weapon, this policy thus significantly reduces our military response options. On the other hand, the updated posture labels both Iran and North Korea “outli- ers” rather than the term “rogue states” as used both during the Clinton and Bush Administra- tions. The Oxford dictionary defines

the word “outliers” as “a person of thing away detached from the main body or system.” This is a rarely used word that harks more of sleepy sociology conferences

RULE OF LAW

Fourth in a se-

ries of reports from Afghani- stan

by Oliver North

Syndicated Columnist

KANDAHAR, AFGHAN-

ISTAN -- Much has been said and written this week about re- cent inflamma- tory comments

made by President Hamid Karzai, head of the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan -- an entity widely abbreviated out here as “GIRoA.” He has railed publicly against “interference” by “the West,” demanded that the U.N. cease complaining about corruption, and even defiantly threatened to abandon GIRoA and join the Taliban. The fact is GIRoA hardly exists outside of Kabul -- and where it is extant, it is often corrupt. Money from opium and hashish

fuels the Taliban, pays for impro- vised explosive devices, or IEDs -- which kill and maim Americans and Afghans alike -- and wreaks havoc with GIRoA credibility. Our allies, all 43 of them in the Inter- national Security Assistance Force “coalition,” know this to be so. The

Taliban know it is true. Whether he acknowledges it or not, Hamid Karzai knows it. So do the people of Afghanistan. And therein is the biggest challenge for successfully concluding this conflict. Over the past month, our Fox

News team has accompanied com- bined U.S. and Afghan units in four of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. We have heard scores of Afghan men at “shuras” (loose translation: meetings) with coalition forces -- women do not attend -- blatantly condemn government corruption. “We trust you (Americans), but we don’t trust (the GIRoA)” is a common refrain. If that sentiment isn’t repaired, Afghanistan could descend into anarchy -- like that which led to the Taliban’s first seizing power, in 1996, after a bloody civil war that destroyed the civil institutions and infrastruc- ture of this country. Now, after nearly nine years

of war, Afghanistan desperately needs rule of law. U.S. and allied military power alone cannot cre- ate a system of justice that holds criminals in this country account- able. Yet despite Karzai’s appar- ent opposition and considerable political and bureaucratic inertia,

See NORTH on 27

by Thomas Sowell

Syndicated Columnist

than serious security policy. By labeling such dictatorships in the nebulous legalese, we in a sense cheapen both our values and our own awareness concerning the clear and present dangers posed by such regimes. Imagine, the President of the

U.S. during a hypothetical crisis, calling upon the American military

to go forth and risk their lives to fight the “outliers.” Defense Secretary Robert Gates

stated, “There is a message for Iran and North Korea here…if you are not going to play by the rules, if you’re going to be a proliferator, then all options are on the table in terms of how we deal with you.”

See METZLER on 30

RACE AND POLITICS

Few c om-

binations are more poison- ous than race and pol itics. That combina- tion has torn whole nations apart and led to the slaugh- ters of millions in countries

around the world. You might think we would have

learned a lesson from that and stay away from injecting race into political issues. Yet playing the race card has become an increas- ingly common response to grow- ing public anger at the policies of the Obama administration and the way those policies have been imposed. When the triumphant Demo-

crats made their widely televised walk up Capitol Hill after pass- ing the health care bill, led by a smirking and strutting Nancy Pelosi, holding her oversized gav- el, some of the crowd of citizens expressed their anger. According to some Democrats, these ex- pressions of anger included racial slurs directed at black members of Congress. This is a serious charge-- and

one deserving of some serious ev- idence. But, despite all the media recording devices on the scene, not to mention recording devices among the crowd gathered there, nobody can come up with a single recorded sound to back up that incendiary charge. Worse yet, some people have claimed that even doubting the charge sug- gests that you are a racist. Among the people who are likely to be most disappointed with the

Obama administration are those who thought it would usher in a post-racial society. That they wished for such a society is a credit to their values. But that they actually expected a move in that direction suggests that they ignored both Barack Obama’s history and the heavy vested in- terest that too many people have in race hustling. This is just one of many areas

in which this country is likely to pay a very high price for the fact that too many voters paid atten- tion to Obama’s rhetoric while ignoring his actual track record. However soothing the Obama

rhetoric, and however lofty his statements about being a uniter rather than a divider-- both ra- cially and in terms of bipartisan- ship-- everything in his past fairly shouts the opposite, but only to those who follow facts. Has he been allied with uniters

or dividers in the past? Do Jer- emiah Wright, Bill Ayers and Fa- ther Pfleger sound like uniters? What has his administration

done-- as distinguished from what the president has said-- since taking office? It has dropped the prosecution

of black thugs caught on camera stationed outside a polling place intimidating voters. Obama has promoted to the

Supreme Court a circuit judge who dismissed a discrimination lawsuit by white firefighters, whose case the Supreme Court later accepted and ruled in their favor. He preceded this appointment

by talking about needing people on the court with “empathy.” That is a pretty word but the ugly

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