Look At Both Sides of All Issues

Most of us tend to read only things with which we already agree. Liberals read the New York Times; and conservatives read the Wall Street Journal. How can we expect to grow in understanding if we continue doing that?

An editorial by James P. Rubin in the Wall Street Journal dated 14 June 2010 presented both sides of the controversy over President Obama’s foreign policies, however. Rubin was an assistant secretary of state in the Clinton administration.

He pointed out that the Republican attitude toward the Obama foreign policies is that they see him as “an unreliable friend (of our allies), and a faint-hearted adversary (to our enemies). U.S. allies in Europe no longer treasure their ties to the United States. Turkey defies us without paying a price. China’s leaders question our fortitude. Iran’s nuclear weapons program continues unchecked.” And, I would add, Russia extracts a weapons reduction agreement from us without an equal reduction in their arms stores and both Russia and China continue trading in oil and arms with Iran over our weak, only verbal, arguments.

On the other hand, Mr. Rubin claims that Mr. Obama’s administration has “restored strained alliances and friendships around the world while weakening the likes of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.” He has restored “respect for international rules on prisoners and acceptance of responsibilities associated with climate change, transformed America from a lonely superpower often seen as a threat to international order back to an indispensable leader in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.”

I have a hard time buying Mr. Rubin’s attitude, especially in his praise for the good relations built up in Europe. I feel sure that the emotions felt in The Czech Republic and in Poland by Obama’s decision to quit the construction of the missile defense shield there have not endeared those Eastern European peoples to the United States.

Never the less, I think that we all should try to look at both sides of all issues before we jump to any conclusions.

America Not Prepared for Disaster

The inspector general of the federal Justice Department, issued a statement in late May, saying the department is not prepared to ensure public safety in the days or weeks after a terrorist attack in which nuclear, biological or chemical weapons are used. That is certainly a fine state of affairs for a country that has had nine years after 9/11to prepare for a terrorist disaster.

"The Department is not prepared to fulfill its role . . . to ensure public safety and security in the event of a WMD incident," says the 61-page report. Justice has yet to assign an entity or individual with clear responsibility for oversight or management of WMD response; it has not catalogued its resources in terms of either personnel or equipment; it does not have written plans or checklists in case of a WMD attack. A deputy assistant attorney general for policy and planning is quoted as saying "it is not clear" who in the department is responsible for handling WMD response. Workers interviewed said the department's operational response program "lacks leadership and oversight." An unidentified Justice Department official was quoted: "We are totally unprepared." He added. "Right now, being totally effective would never happen. Everybody would be winging it."

It is true that the federal government has done a good job in prevention of future attacks; and we hear not infrequently how individual terrorists have been apprehended. But…what will we do if one of them deploys a biological, chemical WMD or if one of them should fire off a dirty bomb, spreading nuclear material all over a large metropolitan area. Such a weapon can be carried in a suitcase and exploded in New York’s Central Park.

Many are of the opinion that it is absolutely unthinkable that anyone in their right mind would ever deploy one of these WMD in America. How naïve!! Ronald Reagan has been quoted as saying, “Man has never had a weapon he didn't use.” The question is not whether a terrorist would use such a weapon against the United States. The question is, rather, WHEN.

The above report from the Justice Department needs to be brought to the acute attention of our legislators in Washington. Write to them now and ask them if they are aware of the dangers we face from WMD. If we have another 9/11 all Americans will suffer. Our Congress and Senate are in the worst state of public opinion that has ever existed. If a disaster such as the deployment of a WMD happens, they will all be kicked out of Washington.

This blog post was excerpted from an editorial by Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal 11 June 2010.