First ... let me ask you this question. If we discovered that Syria was not only hiding some of Saddam's chemical and biological weapons, but was producing some of its own, what would we do about it? What should we do about it? The Bush doctrine is, or was, no country that cozies up to terrorists will be permitted to develop or to possess weapons of mass destruction. Good doctrine? Damned right it's a good doctrine. It's a bold commitment such as that that will possibly save us from the horror of a chemical, biological or nuclear attack in one of our major cities. That doctrine, though, has been weakened. Severely weakened. It has been weakened by the constant partisan hammering of the Democrats who are far more dedicated to the cause of winning the White House in November than they are fighting terrorism.
Let's go back a few weeks. Remember that huge explosion in Korea? At first we heard that thousands were killed. That number was eventually reduced to hundreds. The explosion, however, was huge. North Korean authorities are trying to float a story that it was fertilizer. Are you buying that? Now we learn that there were technicians from Syria on that train .. and that these technicians were accompanying some unidentified equipment. The damage from the explosion was greatest in that portion of the train carrying the equipment from Syria. Reports in Japanese newspapers say that North Korean military personnel arrived soon after the explosion and removed materials, but only from the Syrian portion of the train. The soldiers doing this work were wearing protective suits.
Who were the Syrian technicians? They were from the Syrian agency viewed as the center of Syria's WMD program.
This event should be setting off all types of alarms. Why Syrian techs in North Korea? What were they carrying on that train? Why did it explode? What's with the protective suits? Is Syria helping North Korea build some ugly weapons? Or is it the other way around?
I honestly believe that our ability to protect this country from an attack by Islamic terrorists using weapons that will kill tens of thousands has been severely restricted by the irrational hatred of George Bush that is manifested in Democratic Party election politics. Things are a bit rough right now in Iraq. How much better might things be going if Iraqis knew that the entire American political community, both left and right, Republicans and Democrats, was united behind an absolute determination to stay there until Iraq became a safe, secure, free nation with a popularly elected government. The Iraqi people have been looking for a signal of that determination ... and they see powerful politicians like Ted Kennedy invoking the name of Vietnam. America surrendered and lost in Vietnam .. and the world knows it. Iraqis know it. When Ted Kennedy and his Democratic sycophants say "Vietnam" Iraqis hear "America will abandon us again." How many Americans have died because of Kennedy's partisanship? How many Iraqis have withheld support and information because they feel they will be left to deal with the consequences when America bails out?
And just what do the Syrians and North Koreans have up their sleeves? Do we still have the national nerve to find out?
