HAPPY NEW YEAR



This is a somewhat belated greeting to you all this new year. I hope all of your dreams come true.

FIRST SHOPPING DAY OF THE SEASON...



...and I can't believe how full I still am. Really.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING



I hope you all have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. Take care!

DON'T TREAD ON ME

AND THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT...



I loved this letter to editor which appears in today's Wall Street Journal:

Islam in Practice



According to Mr. Moeser, chancellor of UNC at Chapel Hill, requiring the reading of parts of the Koran is fulfilling the responsibility of the university is to provide students "with an atmosphere in which they can deepen their sense of themselves and the complex, often contradictory world around them" (Letters to the Editor, Aug. 20). To that end, may I suggest that the program include a study of the genocide and forced slavery in Sudan, or how Islam has brought its version of "peace" to Lebanon, Nigeria, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Balkans, as well as a consideration of democracy and human rights in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, et al. Interviews with those attempting to practice a religion other than Islam in Islamic countries would be enlightening, along with interviews of women, or family members of those who have disappeared at the hands of these "enlightened" governments. Video clips of the numerous celebrations in various Muslim countries at the destruction of the Twin Towers and the murder of 3,000 innocent Americans would also be instructive.



Alan Biehl

Dallas

Excellent work, Mr. Biehl!

CLINTON LIES YET AGAIN -- NO SURPRISE



Mr. Clinton revises history yet again by claiming that President Bush (#41) somehow was to blame for the disaster in Somalia. Here are the actual facts, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal editorial staff:

President Bush the Elder sent U.S. forces into Somalia in December 1992 to aid the United Nations in relieving a massive famine. In May of 1993, four months into his term, President Clinton declared that mission accomplished and pulled out most of the U.S. forces. In a speech on the South Lawn to associate himself with the effort, he extolled the decision to intervene: "If all of you who served had not gone, it is absolutely certain that tens of thousands would have died by now." It was a "successful mission," he said, and "proved yet again that American leadership can help to mobilize international action ..."



But back in Somalia, with no U.S. deterrent, Somalia's warlords began fighting again. After a series of bloody attacks on U.N. peacekeepers, Mr. Clinton launched a new mission: In August 1993, he sent in a force of Rangers and Special Forces units to capture the brutal warlord Mohammad Farrah Aidid and restore order.



That force asked for heavy armor -- in the form of Abrams tanks and Bradley armored vehicles -- as well as the AC-130 gunship, but the Clinton Administration denied those requests. On October 3 on a mission to pick up Aidid, two Black Hawks were unexpectedly shot down; in the ensuing urban gun battle, 18 American soldiers were killed and another 73 injured.



Many military experts believe that if the U.S. forces had had armor, fewer would have died. Secretary of Defense Les Aspin resigned two months after Somalia, having acknowledged that his decision on the armor had been an error. A 1994 Senate Armed Services Committee investigation reached the same conclusion. But perhaps the most poignant statement came from retired Lieutenant Colonel Larry Joyce, father of Sergeant Casey Joyce, a Ranger killed in Mogadishu: "Had there been armor ... I contend that my son would probably be alive today ..."



Mr. Clinton's responsibility in Somalia doesn't stop there. Despite the mistakes that October day, Aidid had been struck a blow. The U.S. military, with 18 dead, wanted nothing more than to finish what it had started. Mr. Clinton instead aborted the mission. The U.S. released the criminals it had captured that same day at such great cost, and the U.N., lacking U.S. support, was powerless to keep order. Somalia remains a lawless, impoverished nation. Worse, the terrorists of al Qaeda interpreted the U.S. retreat from Somalia as a sign of American weakness that may have convinced them we could be induced to retreat from the Middle East if they took their attacks to the U.S. homeland.



Those are the facts. The reason Mr. Clinton can't blame the events of "Black Hawk Down" on President Bush's father is because those events had nothing to do with him. They were Mr. Clinton's responsibility, and his alone.

I'M COMING HOME



It's been many days since I last posted here. Sorry for the absense. Work has been crushingly busy as of late. Also, my parents are here in town for a visit.



Although I keep my primary residence in San Francisco, CA, I currently spend my weekdays working in Vancouver, British Columbia. I hope to post, over the next several week, my observations as an American living here. Keep watching this space for more...