Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Is This the Face of Evil?
Images of Osama bin Laden's mangled face will not be beamed around the world. But it's worth considering, as we think about the death of bin Laden, how his face looked in life. It was not the face of a rabid or fulminating zealot. It was not even an angry face. On the contrary, in nearly every photograph, bin Laden bears a benign expression. There is softness to his demeanor. He was reportedly soft-spoken (if intense) with colleagues and reasonably kind, if distant, with his wives and children.
Even With Bin Laden 'Bounce,' Some Lessons From '92 Still Apply
Killing Osama bin Laden is a strange way to start a presidential campaign season, but that's where we are. Now, bin Laden wasn't taken out for partisan political reasons. Nor was his death ultimately a partisan policy. With only the most cartoonish exceptions imaginable (a President Kucinich, perhaps), it's inconceivable that any Republican or Democratic president would have passed up the opportunity to kill the world's most wanted man. Killing murderers like bin Laden is simply what U.S. presidents do.
Killing Osama
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- It took nine years, seven months and 21 days to pinpoint the man who plotted, paid for and perpetrated the terror attacks of 9-11-01. When a U.S. Navy SEAL team finally found Osama bin Laden in the third-floor bedroom of a comfortable house in a suburb of Islamabad, Pakistan, they killed him. Last Sunday's complex and highly successful operation validates Ronald Reagan's maxim for terrorists after U.S. Navy SEALs captured the murderous hijackers of the Achille Lauro in October 1985: "You can run, but you can't hide." Afterward, one of the participants penned a corollary: "Don't bother to run -- you will only die tired."
Osama's Controversial Aftermath
It's inevitable that the joy and national unity over the killing of that monster bin Laden would cool. Already we're debating the journalistic and political ramifications. On Wednesday, President Obama told CBS he wouldn't "spike the football" by releasing photos proving Osama is dead. I agree with the president, as much as that pains my friend Sean Hannity and other conservatives (and non-conservatives like Juan Williams).
Reward, Don't Punish CIA Interrogators
While the Obama administration deservedly revels in the success of the U.S. operation to kill Osama bin Laden this week, one question remains: Why is the Justice Department threatening criminal prosecution of the men who made the mission possible? CIA Director Leon Panetta has acknowledged that the initial information that led to the discovery of bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad came, in part, from information obtained by "enhanced interrogation techniques against some of those detainees." Yet, Attorney General Holder persists in what appears to be a vendetta against these very CIA interrogators.
Obama's Scandalous War Against Domestic Oil
Do you remember the terrible things the left was saying about President George W. Bush when gas prices soared under his watch? Yet President Obama, whose policies and actions are actually contributing to rocketing gas prices today, gets the usual mainstream media pass. Is it that the liberal media exempt Obama from accountability because they're on his team in general? Is it because they think he's blameless in the equation even though they sprang to the unfounded conclusion that Bush was culpable? Or could it be that they aren't critical because they share his bias against conventional energy and believe the pain caused by his policies is necessary to move us toward alternative energy sources?
The Fog of Fog
The official White House account of Osama bin Laden's demise has seen more slapdash cosmetic surgery over the past week than your average "Real Housewives" reality-show star. President Obama's allies attribute the bungled "narrative" (their word, not mine) to the "Fog of War." But each passing day -- and each new set of hapless revisions -- shows that what really ails the administration is the Fog of Fog. Errors happen. Miscommunications happen. Confusing the name of which of bin Laden's myriad sons died (Hamza, not Khalid), for example, is no biggie.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Rules for Killing Rogues
The welcome end of Osama bin Laden at the hands of helicopter-borne American military commandos raises a number of issues. Americans rejoiced at news of the end of this psychopathic mass murderer, and, privately, are probably relieved that he was not to be captured and extradited to Guantanamo. If bin Laden had been taken alive, we might be revisiting the controversy surrounding the Obama administration's failed efforts to try in a civilian federal court bin Laden's subordinate, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- the master planner behind 9/11.
Do I Hear Cheers for George W. Bush?
WASHINGTON -- I in my innocence was, in the aftermath of SEAL Team Six's disruption of Osama bin Laden's bucolic life in posh Abbottabad, reading editorial comment by the great newspapers of this republic. As always, the Wall Street Journal was superb, pausing to congratulate President Barack Obama for "ordering a special forces mission rather than settling for another attack with drones or stand-off weapons from afar." The Washington Post was, likewise, informative and appreciative of the president's prudent decision to let SEAL Team Six do its thing, skirting the laws of a sovereign nation and acting unilaterally to put a bullet hole in Osama's head.
Insecure Communities
San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey explained in The San Francisco Chronicle's Sunday Insight his opposition to Secure Communities, the federal program that automatically passes new arrestees' fingerprints to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The program applies to "everyone booked into a county jail," Hennessey complained -- "even (in) a minor matter, such as having no driver's license in one's possession in a traffic stop." To Hennessey and many other "sanctuary city" supporters, a person can break federal immigration law, then violate state driver's license law, but still should escape the legal consequences.
Cut U.S. Funding for Osama's Mourners
Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that runs Gaza, is mourning the death of Osama bin Laden. He is a "martyr" to these jihadists. And Hamas has just concluded a pact with the so-called Palestinian Authority (PA), or Fatah, the group that the U.S. recognizes and to whom we give lavish foreign aid. We are currently giving $600 million to the so-called Palestinian Authority. Fatah has held an increasingly precarious control over much of the West Bank of the Jordan River since 1988. It was then that the U.S. brokered a deal in which the PLO morphed into the Palestinian Authority (PA), promised to give up terrorism, and promised to recognize Israel's right to exist. Many of us never thought the PLO would keep any of those promises -- but we knew they would cash our checks and pocket as well huge sums from the European Union. All of this in the name of "peace."
To Get Bin Laden, Obama Relied on Policies He Decried
Let's cheerfully and ungrudgingly give credit to Barack Obama for approving the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. In my column last Monday, I criticized Obama's foreign policy, which was characterized by one of his advisers in an interview with the New Yorker's Ryan Lizza as "lead from behind." That criticism still stands.
The Day of Reckoning Arrives
They got him. Put a couple of slugs in his face. Then they dumped his body in the sea -- something for the fish, which don't much care what they eat, to feed on. No matter how you look at it, this was a masterful stroke by a group of Navy Seals who went about their business with great skill and steely nerves. Naturally, great credit went to the president who stuck with an operation that was set in motion by his predecessor, George W. Bush. We're told that President Obama not only approved the strike, but actually watched it unfold. As one of his predecessors would have said, "Bully for him."
Does Fido Have a Soul?
Recently, a friend of mine announced that dogs don't have souls. Inasmuch as I nearly always agree with her, I found it surprising that we were in opposing camps on this particular subject. Because I respect her opinion, I found myself questioning my own belief system somewhat more than usual. Is it possible, I asked myself, to have four legs, a tail, fleas and a soul? While I'm not absolutely certain what souls are, I finally decided that if they are what I think they are, dogs definitely have them. To begin with, a soul, to me, is the thing within us that urges us to behave as decently as possible, as if God, Himself, were actually paying attention. It is similar, I think, to a conscience, but with one important distinction: The soul, I believe, points you in the right direction, while the conscience kicks in with a vengeance once you break the Golden Rule or one of the Commandments. In short, one provides guidance, the other doles out punishment.
Americans Appreciate Bush
I'm a nonpartisan pollster, but I'm also a columnist with a strong Republican background. So let me be clear right from the start: I believe President Barack Obama and his national security team performed admirably in the near-flawless effort to capture and kill Osama bin Laden. It's disingenuous and just plain silly for anyone to say otherwise just because the president is a Democrat or because they disagree with his other policies. The snuffing out of the world's top terrorist demonstrated the power and determination of America and its leaders.
Next Time, Use FedEx
The CIA stepped up the search for Osama bin Laden last week after becoming as sick of royal wedding coverage as the rest of us. American intelligence operations located Osama by following his trusted couriers, whose names were given up by al-Qaida members during harsh interrogations at CIA black sites under President Bush. Yes, the same interrogations endlessly denounced by the entire Democratic Party (save Joe Lieberman), the mainstream media, and an especially indignant Jane Mayer in The New Yorker.
Bush Led, Bin Laden Dead -- Where's the Credit?
Osama bin Laden was a) killed by a unit overseen by what New Yorker reporter Seymour Hersh denounced as Vice President Dick Cheney's "executive assassination ring," which was b) sent into action based on intel derived from the now-outlawed "enhanced interrogation techniques," which were c) used on detainees captured during the George W. Bush administration, who were d) being held in now-outlawed "secret prisons" or in the intended-to-be-closed Gitmo. President Obama's deputy national security advisor, John Brennan, confirmed that the death of bin Laden resulted from "a mosaic (of intelligence) appearing over time and by ... people who have been following bin Laden for many, many years." This explains why 81 percent of Republicans give former President George W. Bush "at least some of the credit" for bin Laden's death. U.S. security forces tracked and were able to kill bin Laden through the use of the discredited, maligned, and -- in some cases -- the discontinued terror-fighting policies and practices of Bush.
Are We Done in Afghanistan?
In the aftermath of the killing of Osama bin Laden, I found myself agreeing with Charles Krauthammer that this was a global game-changer for American greatness. It was a gutsy and courageous decision by President Obama, brilliantly executed by the Navy SEALs and all the intelligence and support behind them. As Krauthammer put it, after the tough slogs in Iraq and Afghanistan, this amounts to the restoration of unquestioned U.S. military dominance. America has not slipped, nor has our military reach and power.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Got Him!
What impressed most when the news arrived late Sunday night was the cheering, yelling, flag-waving crowd that materialized almost immediately outside the White House. ("U.S.A! U.S.A!") In this country, a spontaneous demonstration can still be spontaneous. Nobody had to organize this celebration. It just burst forth. It came as naturally to Americans as breathing free, as celebrating the victory of good over evil. Justice had finally been done. And when the news -- the long awaited news -- reached America, celebrations erupted. Everywhere. Especially in the heart.
Let's Blame Speculators
Here's a non-rocket science question: If you expect a reduced harvest of wheat, corn, rice or any other commodity some time in the future, what would be the wise thing to do about your consumption today? I bet that the average person would answer: Consume less now so that more will be available in the future. But how in the world can people be encouraged to consume less now? Enter the futures market, which consists of a worldwide group of millions upon millions of traders, often called speculators. Speculators, betting on a future shortage, buy up wheat, corn and rice today in the hopes of making money selling it for a higher price when the bad harvest hits. As speculators buy more and more wheat, corn and rice, they drive up today's prices. As today's price gets higher, people consume less, but more importantly, people do the intelligent thing with bureaucratic edicts. The vital role of the futures trader, or speculator, is to allocate goods over different time periods. And, it's not just wheat, corn and rice that must be allocated over time but all commodities including oil.