I Told You So With Tears
by Jonathan Quince
Friday, July 14, 2006 11:28:58
Cue scenes of apocalyptic doom. Arab rockets rain down on major cities while terrorist groups kidnap hostages. Army forces move into areas that have been well-fortified by groups backed by the likes of Syria and Iran. Air Force raids target Islamic missile bases and weapons caches, but this belated action cannot stop attacks that have already come to take lives. Young men and women in uniform brace themselves to enter a rain of hellfire from which some of them will not return, and others will return as cripples.
Bad movie? No: Israel, 2006. And adding insult to literal injury, all of this was entirely foreseeable by those not corrupt enough to stick their heads in that golden, oil-rich Arabian sand.
You heard me aright. As politicians run around in a frenzy trying to figure out what to do, I have only one question for one of the men most responsible: With all due respect, Mr. Bush, what the bloody hell did you expect?
With super-power comes super-responsibility. It is high time those who give lip-service to the war on terrorism own up to the disastrous results of their actual policies.
I have a most splendid idea: Let’s let Osama bin Laden take over southern Canada and build up an army there. Then, let’s give him California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, Colorado, and Oklahoma. Just to round things off, Osama should get political and security control of about two dozen states in the eastern half of the country; to ensure he can keep law and order, we’ll give him lots of guns and a few billion dollars in taxpayer money. In the midst of all of this, we’ll make speeches about how he deserves his own sovereign state.
Gee, I simply cannot imagine what could go wrong.
I predicted ex ante the horrors that would materialize on September 11. I was written off as an alarmist.
I opposed the Oslo process, the Gaza expulsion, and Israeli policy toward southern Lebanon. I was brushed away as a reactionary.
Today, I bring you dire prognostications of terrorism, war, death, and generalized horror in both Israel and America. Yea, the entire civilized world now stands at a precipice. The only reason we haven’t yet seen it here is that the Feds are working overtime—yes, with the likes of NSA wiretaps, SWIFT monitoring, and other operations that hopefully the New York Times will never hear about—but they can’t stem the tide forever. Every passing day is a gamble with our lives.
Please start listening to me. Being Cassandra is tiresome and not very rewarding.
Save some lives; save, indeed, the world itself. Against all odds, there is still time. Support full-scale military action now.