“What I am describing now is a plan and a hope for the long term – the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people.” These were the historic words Ronald Reagan spoke in his 1982 speech against communism and “The Evil Empire” before the British House of Commons.

Wednesday, President Bush sounded a similar theme against a different enemy – international terrorism – before British lawmakers and officials at Whitehall Palace in London. In a major statement of U.S. international policy, the President outlined “three pillars” for successfully combating terrorism and assuring the “peace and security of free nations.”

First, Mr. Bush cited the need for “international institutions and alliances” capable of meaningfully addressing the terrorist menace and warned against a United Nations relegated to the irrelevance of the League of Nations.

The second pillar, said the President, “is the willingness of free nations, when the last resort arrives, to restrain aggression and evil by force.” To those who decry the use of force, even in the restraint of evil, Mr. Bush responded, “The women of Afghanistan, imprisoned in their homes and beaten in the streets, and executed in public spectacles, did not reproach us for routing the Taliban. The inhabitants of Iraq’s Ba'athist hell, with its lavish palaces and its torture chambers, with its massive statues and its mass graves, do not miss their fugitive dictator; they rejoiced at his fall.” The President then carefully suggested that the U.S. may find it appropriate and necessary to make similar use of force in the future.

“The third pillar of security,” said Mr. Bush, adjoining the ideas of security and stability to international democratization, “is our commitment to the global expansion of democracy, and the hope and progress it brings, as the alternative to instability and hatred and terror.”

Continuing the theme of the third pillar – the essential need for global stability through democratization – the President warned, “The stakes in that region could not be higher. If the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place of stagnation and anger and violence for export. And as we saw in the ruins of two towers, no distance on the map will protect our lives and way of life. If the greater Middle East joins the democratic revolution that has reached much of the world, the lives of millions in that region will be bettered and a trend of conflict and fear will be ended at its source.”

While the content of President Bush’s speech at Whitehall Palace does not constitute a substantial policy shift, its significance lies in its systematic outline of a U.S. and allied strategy to combat global terrorism. In addition, the President’s speech highlighted the urgency of the moment and the need for unwavering resolve: “These terrorists target the innocent, and they kill by the thousands. And they would, if they gain the weapons they seek, kill by the millions and not be finished. The greatest threat of our age is nuclear, chemical or biological weapons in the hands of terrorists and the dictators who aid them.”

From the commencement of our war against Jihadistan, that borderless nation of Islamic extremists with global reach inhabited by al-Qa'ida and other Islamists who target the U.S., The Federalist has maintained that the most serious threat to our national security is the procurement of radiological WMD by Islamist terrorists cells now in the U.S., and the detonation of such a weapon (or weapons) in one of our urban centers. That, fellow Patriots, is why we fight.

Quote of the week…

“The people have given us the duty to defend them, and that duty sometimes requires the violent restraint of violent men. In some cases, the measured use of force is all that protects us from a chaotic world ruled by force.” –President George W. Bush, speaking Wednesday at Whitehall Palace, London

On cross-examination…

“I realize that this nation often tends to identify turning points in world affairs with the major addresses which preceded them. But it was not the Monroe Doctrine that kept all Europe away from this hemisphere – it was the strength of the British fleet and the width of the Atlantic Ocean. It was not General Marshall’s speech at Harvard which kept communism out of Western Europe – it was the strength and stability made possible by our military and economic assistance.” –remarks prepared for celivery at the Trade Mart in Dallas by President John F. Kennedy, on the day of his assassination, November 22, 1963 – a fitting reminder as President Bush reiterates President Reagan’s advocacy of democratization as the solution to tyranny.

Open query…

“The U.S. military has had considerably more success in turning Iraq around than liberals have had in turning the ghettos around with their 40-year ‘War on Poverty.’ So far, fewer troops have been killed by hostile fire since the end of major combat in Iraq than civilians were murdered in Washington, DC, last year. How many years has it been since we declared the end of major U.S. combat operations against Marion Barry’s regime? How long before we just give up and pull out of that hellish quagmire known as Washington, D.C.?” –Ann Coulter

In other news…

From the “Department of Military Readiness,” the Army’s JAG Corps finally convened its Article 32 Board to hear charges against Lt. Col. Allen West this week, with Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno, 4th Infantry Division commander, presiding. Ironically, the hearing is taking place in Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit. West, a 20-year artillery officer who was stripped of his battalion command last month, stands charged with aggravated assault and communicating a threat during his interrogation of an Iraqi insurgent – the circumstances of which West himself reported according to regulation. Of apparently little consequence is the fact that the information obtained during the interrogation led to the intervention of a plot to kill West and his men.

Testifying in his own defense, LTC West said, “I felt there was a threat to my soldiers…. If it’s about the life of my men, I’d go through hell with a gasoline can. There is not a man here I would not sacrifice my life for.” LTC West’s attorney Neal Puckett noted, “He doesn’t deny doing what is alleged in the charges, but we as a defense team deny the criminality of the charges. Given the circumstances, he hasn’t committed any crimes. … One thing we are saying is this is a specific case of self-defense called defense of others.”

As the Army has already, in effect, terminated LTC West’s future prospects for command, he has offered to retire at a reduced rank of major in order to settle the case. Gen. Odierno can recommend West for a court-martial or administrative punishment or that the charges against him be dropped.

Please join more than 120,000 other patriots and sign a petition asking Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to seek a quick resolution and closure to this grossly misguided criminal prosecution.

To support Lt. Col. West, Link to – https://patriotpost.us/petition/allen-west/

(If you don’t have Web access, please send a blank e-mail to: [email protected] Each e-mail sent to this address will be counted as one signature for the petition.)