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Sampling
the Headlines
The newspapers of
October 26 were disturbing. A sample of headlines that
reflect
America
’s confusion over how to deal with the arrival of the
Peace Process on its shores:
The New York
Times:
Antiterrorism
Bill
Passes
;
U.S.
Gets Expanded Powers
Bayer Halves Price for Cipro, But Rivals Offer
Drugs Free
The
Washington
Times:
Israel
Agrees to Partial Pullout; Will Depart Cities in
West Bank
The
Washington
Post: Missile Defense Tests Are Put Off;
U.S.
Delay Averts Face-Off With
Russia
Translations follow,
taken individually and assessing these stories as a
unit.
Expanded police
power will apply equally to all Americans, meaning that
civil liberties of innocent citizens will be ignored;
meanwhile, security staffs in airports will perform
time-consuming, invasive and ridiculous searches of
Swedish grandmothers so as to evade accusations of
racial profiling.
Private enterprise
will be undermined by an absurd bunker mentality calling
for Bayer, and surely others, to relinquish their right
to do business in the normal way. Both of these
developments indicate a nation in a panic, precisely the
effect terrorists hope to create.
Meanwhile, the
U.S.
leans on
Israel
to make concessions to their al Qaida, i.e.,
Fatah, Hizbollah and Islamic Jihad. Nothing new here;
more blaming of victims and intellectual desertion of
allies in favor of their enemies.
Finally, missile
defense tests are put on hold. Perfect. Despite a recent
poll sponsored by the Chicago Sun-Times
indicating that 77 percent of Americans support a
missile defense system, policy makers have chosen to
delay radar testing essential to its deployment. The
reason: hopes that the delay will make reaching arms
control agreements with
Russia
easier when President Putin visits November 12.
The
upshot: penalize law-abiding citizens, corporations, and
allies. Hamstring those who would pursue protection for
these entities with political correctness and diplomatic
maneuvering. All in all, a very dispiriting set of
responses to a threat against the very existence of the
nation.
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