Olympic Gold

Well, there you have it, exactly one day after the announcement that London beat out Paris to be the host city of the 2012 Sumer Olympics, a terrorist attack, courtesy of Al-QAueda Europe, has claimed, at last count, 43 lives, and this shall doubtless grow. By the time I have finished with this post, I wouldn't be surprised to hear there have been another one, or others. If not by then, perhaps by sometime in the day, or the next one, or the next, etc.

The irony is, I for one believe London was chosen to be the host city of the 2012 Olympics for security reasons, more than any other single reason. What amazes me was even that Paris was in the running to begin with, to say nothing of making it up to the top two. True,m there have been no terrorist attacks in Paris. But think about it. There is a large Muslim population in France, more so than in most other European countries, and this has had a heavy, considerable impact on French politics. One need only to look at the recent rejection of the EU Constitution to see this. One of the major reasons the French people voted overwhelmingly to reject the EU blueprint, besides a growing dislike for Jacques Chirac, and dissatisfaction with the state of the French economy, is their wariness, and weariness, with immigration. Specifically, with immigration from Muslim countries. This has been a bad problem which the EU does not deign fit to address, probably due to the fact that Turkey is an important member. Still, the French people spoke with a huge voice on the matter. As did the Dutch.

There are many Arabs and Muslims, currently living in European countries, who have no respect or regard for European people or culture. It seems to be an ongoing policy of immigrate, breed like rats, do not assimilate any more than necessary, and then one day become the majority. Then, rule with an iron fist, doubtless, over a European Islamic state. This I have heard is actually a stated goal of a certain Turkish Islamic fundamentalist group, who are in fact responsible for recent violence in the Netherlands, culminating in the death of Dutch film maker Theogh Van Gogh.

But as uncertain as the situation is in The Netherlands, it is worse in France, in fact, France is a powder keg, getting ready to blow up at any time. Small wonder the Olympic Committee chose London. To be sure, Britain itself has a sizable Muslim population, and liberal policies towards it's immigrants, but it's record and policies toward security are far more comforting.

Until today. I believe the Al-Queda network has really screwed up now, though. I remember when Argentina thought they could bulldoze their way into the Falklands, a small group of islands that belongs to Britain, off the coast of Argentina, that contains a larger population of sheep than it's few thousand citizens. The war that resulted could have almost been missed had we blinked long enough. The British made short work of this bunch.

And Britain has without a doubt the best intelligence service in the world, with the possible, arguable exception of Israel's Moussad. I have always been of the opinion that Britains major contribution to the Allied cause in World War II was not so much it's military (though it's contribution here is more than is generally recognized) as it was it's intelligence services, particularly MI5. I have no doubt the British tradition of efficiency in intelligence gathering and consequent appropriate actions taken will result in a massive apprehension of Al-Queda terrorists, not only in Britain, but probably as well in Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, and France. It may take a while, and there may well be more terrorist incidents in Britain in the meantime, as well as in the aftermath, but the British will do what they have to do, and will not allow themselves to be hamstrung by the so-called "liberal" politics which has afflicted the United States, and so many other European communities. The British, I am certain, will stand together as one people, much like the Americans in the aftermath of 9/11, only the difference will be they will stand united. Those who oppose any necessary actions will be marginalized and shunned, as they should be.

There is just too much at stake, for Britain and for the civilized world, for the British to not take a firm, just stand against this barbaric savagery.

Guantanamo-The Perfect Training Facility

I feel that a great many of detainees of Guantanamo could probably be allowed to leave. Some, for example, that were merely innocent bystanders in Afghanistan, citizens of that place, or even those that may have been low level soldiers or mid-level officers of the Taliban. Sure, it would be taking a chance, however, it would at least be an effort on the part of the U.S. to show some kind of conciliatory move, even if some of these folks had indeed taken up arms against us. After all, how would we feel if suddenly we found ourselves surrounded by an invading army from another nation?

On the other hand, there are those that should be brought to trial. Not in our court system, however, but through the use of military tribunals, if there is evidence to warrant this. An example would be fighters who were taken on the fields of Afghanistan, who were from other nations, such as Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. Whether they are Al-Queda members or sympathizers, or higher level Taliban members, they should be brought to trial, with of course some judicial oversight and review.

As for those who might have pertinent information, we have every right to extract that information by any means available, in my opinion. They are combatants who target civilians, who are not legitimate members of a recognized military or nation. Therefore, their rights under our constitution, and as far as I'm concerned under international law, ends where begins my rights to live my life in safety and security, for myself and my family. Guantanamo should therefore be closed to any scrutiny by any outside entity, such as Amnesty International, The International Red Cross, or any other group, foreign or domestic, who deigns it fitting to interfere, on whatever pretext, in our national security affairs.

However, I do not condone excessive brutality, unreasonable torture. By the same token, there might be a better way, a way to totally break their spirits. Simply make Guantanamo the training area of choice for the future Iraqi Army. Once the incarcerated terrorists see the resolve, the dedication, that the average Iraqi civilian goes about the process of training in order to protect the security of their state, the love and patriotism they exhibit for the prospect of finally living in an open, democratic society based on the rule of law, and equal protection under the law, of justice for all, a good many might come to see reason, if for no other reason than simple shame. If not, part of the Iraqi training can be in the area of enemy interrogation. The thought of suddenly finding themselves alone in a room of Iraqi military, American trained interrogators, might make some open up out of terror at the consequences, and others more out of the simple religious bonds that supposedly exist on at least a latent level amongst all Muslims.

If that fails, we can always go back to Christina Aquillierra.