wrbones
04-08-03, 05:53 AM
New York Post
PROOF POSITIVE
By RALPH PETERS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 8, 2003 -- YESTERDAY, our Marines crossed the waters of Babylon, swimming their combat vehicles through river currents to press deeper into Baghdad - and taking the Iraqis utterly by surprise.
The Army's 3rd ID has established an armored presence in the heart of Saddam's capital. The Screaming Eagles of the 101st scoured Najaf and Karbala clean of regime hardliners. Our forces have demonstrated an innovative mastery of urban warfare, embarrassing critics who predicted disaster in the streets.
The Brits broke the regime's last grip on Basra. "Chemical Ali," Iraq's worst war criminal after Saddam himself, lies dead in a pile of ruins. In the north, the sons of the Kurds he once slaughtered are advancing beside the U.S. Army's Special Forces.
Iraq's military has fallen apart. Thugs and party hacks cling to Baghdad. Every day, more and more Iraqis come out into the streets to cheer their liberators.
One terrorist training camp after another has been overrun. Reports stream in of probable chemical weapons stockpiles. Pretending its death rattle is a growl, the dying regime continues to violate every code and convention on warfare.
And Saddam's defenders, on both sides of the Atlantic, have been notably silent.
Where are they now, the voices that cried out that sanctions and inspections were working? Where are the champions of a terrorist regime who ignored the plight of the Iraqi people, insisting they didn't want to be liberated? Why don't we hear from all those who denied any connection between Saddam's regime and terrorism?
Consider the proof that this war was based on sober assessments of real threats:
* A vast terrorist camp in the north that harbored members of Ansar al-Islam, an organization with known ties to al Qaeda, was overrun by Kurdish freedom fighters and U.S. special operations forces. The haul of documents and other evidence was enormous.
* Next, the Marines overran a terrorist training facility south of Baghdad, complete with a commercial aircraft mock-up to train hijackers. The Leathernecks captured extremists from Syria, Egypt and Sudan.
And rumors persist of al Qaeda cells.
What about the insistence by critics that Saddam's weapons of mass destruction were a myth, a mere pretext for U.S. aggression?
* One possible chemical weapons cache after another has fallen to advancing allied troops. While some of the sites may test negative, there are so many reported seizures that there can be no doubt that firm proof of Saddam's relentless WMD program is only a matter of time.
Wisely, U.S. and British authorities have avoided dramatic claims and are waiting for definitive test results. We deliver proof, not rhetoric.
* Intelligence intercepts earlier in the war recorded orders authorizing Iraqi commanders to fire chemical munitions. Such orders are not given if such weapons do not exist. Of course, intelligence sources will always be dismissed by skeptics. So let them wait for the laboratory evidence. In the meantime, any converted "experts" are welcome to go to the head of the line at the strategic confessional.
* As an earlier column spelled out in detail, Iraqi irregulars and death squads have committed a long list of war crimes - most against their own people. Yet, we haven't heard much of late from those who declared that the United States was the world's greatest criminal for going after Saddam.
Forget the French and Germans, to whom honesty is an incomprehensible concept. Ignore the Arabs, with their addiction to comforting lies and a culture of blame. What about our bleeding heart celebrities who were so happy to ignore the bleeding people of Iraq?
Why hasn't the Holier-Than-Thou Club had anything to say about the regime's use of human shields? Or the use of hospitals as military facilities? Or the executions of Iraqi citizens by death squads? Or the mistreatment of prisoners?
Even if all the self-adoring celebs don't really care about the fate of individual human beings (one of the left's greatest sins throughout the past century), what about Saddam's failed attempt to wreck the environment of southern Iraq by blowing up his oil fields? On top of the colossal damage his regime did over the past decade by draining southern Iraq's once-vast marshes?
Let's face it. The Iraqi people had their 15 minutes of fame. Insufficiently loyal to Saddam for Hollywood's taste, suffering Iraqis are yesterday's cause.
But a person has to wonder: As they see Iraqi children running out to welcome our troops, don't any of America's critics, foreign or domestic, suspect they might have been wrong about Saddam's innocence?
Guess not. They've moved on. Not one film star is making an effort to go to Iraq to actually do something for the millions who suffered under Saddam. The antiwar movement was a fad for moral lightweights eager to portray themselves as heroes.
We all know where the heroes are today. They're in Iraq, making history. Not in film studios.
Ralph Peters is a retired military officer and the author of "Beyond Terror: Strategy in a Changing World."
PROOF POSITIVE
By RALPH PETERS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 8, 2003 -- YESTERDAY, our Marines crossed the waters of Babylon, swimming their combat vehicles through river currents to press deeper into Baghdad - and taking the Iraqis utterly by surprise.
The Army's 3rd ID has established an armored presence in the heart of Saddam's capital. The Screaming Eagles of the 101st scoured Najaf and Karbala clean of regime hardliners. Our forces have demonstrated an innovative mastery of urban warfare, embarrassing critics who predicted disaster in the streets.
The Brits broke the regime's last grip on Basra. "Chemical Ali," Iraq's worst war criminal after Saddam himself, lies dead in a pile of ruins. In the north, the sons of the Kurds he once slaughtered are advancing beside the U.S. Army's Special Forces.
Iraq's military has fallen apart. Thugs and party hacks cling to Baghdad. Every day, more and more Iraqis come out into the streets to cheer their liberators.
One terrorist training camp after another has been overrun. Reports stream in of probable chemical weapons stockpiles. Pretending its death rattle is a growl, the dying regime continues to violate every code and convention on warfare.
And Saddam's defenders, on both sides of the Atlantic, have been notably silent.
Where are they now, the voices that cried out that sanctions and inspections were working? Where are the champions of a terrorist regime who ignored the plight of the Iraqi people, insisting they didn't want to be liberated? Why don't we hear from all those who denied any connection between Saddam's regime and terrorism?
Consider the proof that this war was based on sober assessments of real threats:
* A vast terrorist camp in the north that harbored members of Ansar al-Islam, an organization with known ties to al Qaeda, was overrun by Kurdish freedom fighters and U.S. special operations forces. The haul of documents and other evidence was enormous.
* Next, the Marines overran a terrorist training facility south of Baghdad, complete with a commercial aircraft mock-up to train hijackers. The Leathernecks captured extremists from Syria, Egypt and Sudan.
And rumors persist of al Qaeda cells.
What about the insistence by critics that Saddam's weapons of mass destruction were a myth, a mere pretext for U.S. aggression?
* One possible chemical weapons cache after another has fallen to advancing allied troops. While some of the sites may test negative, there are so many reported seizures that there can be no doubt that firm proof of Saddam's relentless WMD program is only a matter of time.
Wisely, U.S. and British authorities have avoided dramatic claims and are waiting for definitive test results. We deliver proof, not rhetoric.
* Intelligence intercepts earlier in the war recorded orders authorizing Iraqi commanders to fire chemical munitions. Such orders are not given if such weapons do not exist. Of course, intelligence sources will always be dismissed by skeptics. So let them wait for the laboratory evidence. In the meantime, any converted "experts" are welcome to go to the head of the line at the strategic confessional.
* As an earlier column spelled out in detail, Iraqi irregulars and death squads have committed a long list of war crimes - most against their own people. Yet, we haven't heard much of late from those who declared that the United States was the world's greatest criminal for going after Saddam.
Forget the French and Germans, to whom honesty is an incomprehensible concept. Ignore the Arabs, with their addiction to comforting lies and a culture of blame. What about our bleeding heart celebrities who were so happy to ignore the bleeding people of Iraq?
Why hasn't the Holier-Than-Thou Club had anything to say about the regime's use of human shields? Or the use of hospitals as military facilities? Or the executions of Iraqi citizens by death squads? Or the mistreatment of prisoners?
Even if all the self-adoring celebs don't really care about the fate of individual human beings (one of the left's greatest sins throughout the past century), what about Saddam's failed attempt to wreck the environment of southern Iraq by blowing up his oil fields? On top of the colossal damage his regime did over the past decade by draining southern Iraq's once-vast marshes?
Let's face it. The Iraqi people had their 15 minutes of fame. Insufficiently loyal to Saddam for Hollywood's taste, suffering Iraqis are yesterday's cause.
But a person has to wonder: As they see Iraqi children running out to welcome our troops, don't any of America's critics, foreign or domestic, suspect they might have been wrong about Saddam's innocence?
Guess not. They've moved on. Not one film star is making an effort to go to Iraq to actually do something for the millions who suffered under Saddam. The antiwar movement was a fad for moral lightweights eager to portray themselves as heroes.
We all know where the heroes are today. They're in Iraq, making history. Not in film studios.
Ralph Peters is a retired military officer and the author of "Beyond Terror: Strategy in a Changing World."