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Ralph Peters is a regular columnist with the New
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PETERS |
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World-wide Whoopers of the Week
by Ralph
Peters [author,
novelist] 7/4/07
If a Web site were created just to record the daily lies of world leaders, politicians and other invertebrates, overwork would soon wipe out its staff. But sometimes a week delivers such breathtaking dishonesty that someone has to step in to award the bronze, silver and gold. Here goes:
Contributor
Ralph Peters - Contributor
Ralph
Peters is a retired Army officer and the author of 19 books,
as well as of hundreds of essays and articles, written both
under his own name and as Owen Parry. He is a frequent columnist
for the New York Post and other publications. [go to Peters Index] |
The bronze liar's medal for the last week in June 2007 goes to Serbian "patriots" who sought to march into Kosovo to remind the world of Belgrade's historical claims to that wretched territory - based on Serbia's defeat by the Ottoman Turks in 1389.
File this one under "What They Don't Tell You." Yes, the Serbs suffered a military calamity at Kosovo Field, where the better-disciplined Turks made short work of them. In the Serbs' national myth, Prince Lazar and his warriors were stalwart defenders of Christianity, embodying a great Serbian tradition that endures to this day.
What those Serb nationalists (who brought the world Srebrenica and still protect war criminals) leave out is that, a mere seven years later, in 1396, the Turkish sultan, Beyazit the Thunderbolt, slaughtered a huge Christian army at Nicopolis. And he did it with Serb help.
Christian knights from France, Burgundy, Flanders, England, Bohemia and Hungary had united in a last crusade to drive the Turks from Europe. The Turks crushed them - as their new Serb allies delivered the coup de grace against their fellow Christians, then chilled out as thousands of prisoners were beheaded.
Nicopolis set the conditions for a Muslim military presence in Europe for the next five centuries. Thanks, guys.
This week's silver medal goes to a regular competitor, President-beyond-the-grave Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, a concentration camp with its own flag.
Once the breadbasket of Africa, Zimbabwe can no longer feed itself. At least half its population is malnourished. Starvation threatens millions. Inflation is above 4,000 percent. Unemployment runs as high as 70 percent.
All this upsets Uncle Bob. So, having destroyed Zimbabwe's once-golden economy, he's threatening to nationalize what remains of the country's industry: dusty remnants of multinationals, mining operations struggling to meet payrolls and black-owned businesses that have failed to adequately bribe his government.
Zimbabwe's plight is all the fault of its few remaining employers. Who knew?
An honorable mention goes to all the other African heads of state who'd rather watch Zimbabwe's people starve to death than criticize a fellow potentate.
This week's gold liars medal goes to . . . the Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill who have publicly declared that "the war in Iraq is lost."
Great morale-builder for the troops, fellas. It must be a comfort to them to go into combat knowing you've declared their sacrifices worthless. Of course, those men and women in uniform on the streets of Baghdad or Ramadi don't know what's going on in Iraq. The only clear view is from a D.C. steakhouse.
The truth is that the war in Iraq isn't lost. Nor is it won. Thanks to myriad blunders (and the Democrats' cheerleading for our enemies), it's been a long and miserable stand-off. Yet we're finally making military progress, however belatedly. That might not be enough to win (we need the Iraqis to get their act together for that), but we are not losing.
Not all results are as clear-cut as a sitcom ending. Sometimes real life is more like that last "Sopranos"episode.
Iraq is frustrating. The Iraqi leadership's penchant for squabbling and grabbing while the country bleeds is disgusting. But the war isn't just about Iraq's irresponsible government - if it were, I'd suggest leaving tomorrow. If al Qaeda gets to declare victory (which it'll do, even if the Shias slaughter the Sunni Arabs), we're going to pay in blood for a long, long time.
Can we win? I don't know; none of us do. That's war, folks. But to declare a conflict lost just when we're finally seeing signs, however limited, of progress against America's terrorist enemies is madness.
Of course, the pronunciamentos in Washington aren't really about Iraq. They're about the 2008 presidential election. And plenty of politicos - on both sides of the aisle - would be willing to sell out our troops, abandon Iraq and abet the triumph of terror to put or keep their party in the White House.
We haven't had a worthy president since 1988 - almost 20 years - and it doesn't look as if we'll to get one soon.
It's no wonder that so many of us tune in to "American Idol": After listening to our politicians, the show's honesty is refreshing. And the votes of the average citizen actually count. ExileStreet
Ralph Peters' new book, "Wars of Blood and Faith," comes out on July 25.
This
piece first appeared in the New York Post
copyright 2007 - NY Post
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