| I love when Bow Tie Boy at the State Journal gets writing in such huffy excitement that his words run right by obvious facts and he doesn't even wave to them as he passes them by.
As I always say, 50 years from now people will look back at us beset by challenges from the Islamists, the Chinese, the Russians and from our porous borders and they will say “And they tried to change the weather.”
If you don’t think that our first priority should be to get untangled from that nest of vipers in the Middle East, you’re not thinking like an American
Looks to me from where I sit that it's Chris Stirewalt's beloved Republican Party (except for Maryland Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, a Vietnam veteran) that intends to keep the U.S. forever in Iraq.
Somehow Bow Tie Boy overlooked that the occupation of Iraq is an entanglement in the Middle East, perhaps because he hasn't enlisted to serve in the occupation there.
Or is Bow Tie Boy suddenly bucking the Republican Party and reversed his position on Iraq and eager for bringing the troops home? Nah, he's just being his usual, illogical self.
Bow Tie Boy's criticism of Big Oil also rings exceptionally hollow when he approvingly quotes his reader "Bo":
At a minimum, we are funding the munitions (military, education, etc.) of the enemy every time we fill up a Hummer.
Why isn't Stirewalt then criticizing the Republican Party constantly for being in bed with those Big Oil companies funding the "enemy"?
Percentages of campaign contributions from Oil & Gas industry to Republicans:
* 2006 - 82 percent of contributions to GOP.
* 2004 - 80 percent of contributions to GOP.
* 2002 - 80 percent of contributions to GOP.
* 2000 - 78 percent of contributions to GOP.
Bow Tie Boy also thinks the danger of global warming is an issue only cared about by liberals.
Liberals love to put global warming first because it is somewhere over the horizon, is solved by government regulation and is our fault.
So does that make retired Marine Corp Maj. Gen. Anthony Zinni a "liberal?"
"We will pay for this one way or another," said retired Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni, former commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East. "We will pay to reduce greenhouse gas emissions today, and we'll have to take an economic hit of some kind. Or, we will pay the price later in military terms. And that will involve human lives. There will be a human toll."
"The U.S. should commit to a stronger national and international role to help stabilize climate changes at levels that will avoid significant disruption to global security and stability," the Military Advisory Board recommends.
The study, "National Security and the Threat of Climate Change," explores ways in which climate change acts as a "threat multiplier" in already fragile regions of the world, creating the breeding grounds for extremism and terrorism.
The CNA Corporation, a nonprofit research and analysis organization, brought together 11 retired four-star and three-star admirals and generals as a Military Advisory Board to provide advice, expertise and perspective on the impact of climate change on national security. CNA writers and researchers compiled the report under the board's direction and review.
Members of the Military Advisory Board come from all branches of the armed services. The board includes a former Army chief of staff, commanders-in-chiefs of U.S. forces in global regions, a former shuttle astronaut and NASA administrator, and experts in planning, logistics, underwater operations and oceanography. One member also served as U.S. ambassador to China.
"We found that climate instability will lead to instability in geopolitics and impact American military operations around the world," said retired General Gordon Sullivan, chairman of the Military Advisory Board and former Army chief of staff, in releasing the report today at a Washington news conference.
Granted, Bow Tie Boy spends so much time hyping false threats to national security that he probably can't see real ones coming. But still...
The Military Advisory Board report recognizes that unabated climate change could bring an increased frequency of extreme storms, additional drought and flooding, rising sea levels, melting glaciers and the rapid spread of life-threatening disease.
These projected effects are usually viewed as environmental challenges, but now the Military Advisory Board has looked at them from the perspective of national security assessments.
They are serious risk factors for massive migrations, increased border tensions, greater demands for rescue and evacuation efforts, and conflicts over essential resources, including food and water, the board said, saying such developments could lead to direct U.S. military involvement.
"Climate change can provide the conditions that will extend the war on terror," said retired Admiral T. Joseph Lopez, former commander-in-chief, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and of Allied Forces, Southern Europe.
"Rising ocean water levels, droughts, violent weather, ruined national economies-those are the kinds of stresses we'll see more of under climate change," he said.
"In the long term, we want to address the underlying conditions that terrorists seek to exploit," Admiral Lopez said. "But climate change will prolong those conditions. It makes them worse."
I guess a rightwing, 101st Fighting Keyboardist might know more about national security issues than those 11 retired three and four star generals and admirals...but I have my doubts. I'd bet they know a bit more about national defense than him. |
