A New Yorker speaks down to Nebraskans

In a Guest View article in the Lincoln Journal Star, Philippa Stasiuk, a former Lincoln East High School graduate chastises Nebraska voters for their part in the re-election of Geaorge W. Bush as President. As she so aptly puts it; However, in the wake of the election results, I have begun to wonder if Lincoln, if not Nebraska entirely, has fallen victim to the fact-avoiding nationalistic fervor that has gripped so much of this country since Sept. 11, 2001.

The article in and of it's self is just too ridiculous to fisk. I will address two of Stasiuk's points though.

Consider this: In the last two years, the membership of al-Qaida has increased from less than a thousand members to hundreds of thousands, with new recruits joining daily from countries all over the world, including those once considered our allies. As these numbers increase, the capability for tracking members and thwarting possible terrorist action diminishes.

I'm sure membership in al-Quaida has increased, any intellegent person would have expected that. Consider however, who these recruits are. They are thugs that are predisposed to this type of activity anyway. Many of them have been active in terrorist or terrorist like activities in their own countries. Just because they reside in a Countries that once was considered us a friend does not mean that we are not now friends with those Countries. Nowhere in this world do I see entire countries changing their nationalities to al-Qaida. It is only natural that ineffectual rebel rousers in one country would align themselves with those of other countries.

I also refute the concept that it will be harder to track and thwart future activities. Quite the contrary now that these thugs are coming under one umbrella there will be more contact between these groups making it easier to identify and deal with them. The truth is we generally know who most of these groups are already.

This isn't merely a popularity contest that we are losing; this rising hatred of the United States results in increased terrorist recruitment rates everywhere. Think of your own justified outrage on
Sept. 11, when our country lost 3,000 people. Now consider that Iraq has lost many times that number since the invasion in March of 2003. As reported in the conservative Economist, estimates of Iraqi civilian deaths range as high as 100,000 people, more than 30 times the number of civilians we have lost in the war on terror. What will those young Iraqi men whose families were killed by U.S. bombs turn to? If you lost your entire family, would your views be moderate?

The survival and safety of our Country should not be a popularity contest in any form. The rising hatred stems from the groups that we are having to deal with and the countries that support them. Specifically it has been proven that the Governments of France and Germany have been secretly supporting a large portion of these types of activities in clear violation of United Nations sanctions for years.

100,000 "civilians"? This begs the question; What is the Econimist's defintion of a civilian? Would that be anyone killed that was not wearing a uniform? How much intelligence does it take to realize that terrorists do not wear uniforms. Oh there may be some that wear parts or pieces of uniforms, but the terrorist we are having to fight are not part of a regular Military Service. They are not issued uniforms as part of their recruitment. I would dare say that a very large portion of the 100,000 were killed while engaged in active combat against U.S. or Coalition Forces. As to how the surviving young men feel about it, it is probably them that have been killed engaging Coalition Forces in combat and not their entire families.

It is readily apparent why Ms. Stasiuk feels they way she does. She holds a Masters Degree in international policy from the Monterey Institute of International studies. The Institute is aligned with with the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) and The Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) and provides an education (ed.. read indoctronation)in European, Russian and East Asian studies. It would seem that Ms. Stasiuk has been indocronated and forgotten what it is to be an American.