THE END OF BELGIUM
In the early 1990s following the fall of Communism, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia fell apart. Today, the federal Kingdom of Belgium, the last of Europe's multinational states, is beginning to unravel. In 1830-31, the international powers put Belgium together as a political compromise and an experiment in building one state out of two nationalities. The country is home to 6 million Dutch-speakers, or Flemish in Flanders, its northern half bordering the Netherlands, 3 million French-speakers or Walloons in Wallonia, its southern half bordering France, and 1 million people in its capital Brussels, an enclave within Flanders, which is also the capital of the European Union (EU). While capitalist-minded Flanders generates wealth (it accounts for 70 percent of Belgium's GDP and 80 percent of its exports), Wallonia, at the receiving end of a generous welfare system, spends most of the money and vetoes any attempt to reform the system. Every year 6.6 percent of Flanders' GDP is spent on welfare in Wallonia. Flanders cannot allow this situation to continue. The growing electoral appeal of the secessionist Vlaams Belang (VB) party, which strives for an independent Flanders, pressured the Flemish Christian Democrats to propose the transformation of Belgium into a confederation of two largely independent states with only the king, foreign policy and defense in common. On June 10, the Flemish Christian Democrat leader Yves Leterme, the son of a Walloon father and a Flemish mother, won the Belgian general elections. The end of Belgium may be nigh.
SIX YEARS AFTER
In the Moslem fifth of the world, probably about a quarter of the population wishes to be in conflict with America and the West. Probably more than half do not wish such conflict but wrongly suspect that America is out to divide and suppress Islam. Meanwhile, much of the Moslem Westernized elite (no more than 5 percent of the total Islamic population) both in Moslem countries and in America and the West rather desperately hope radical Islam and the Western response it has induced would just go away. They would prefer to live and prosper peacefully in the globalized Western political world. Moslem governments in the Middle East and elsewhere are playing a dangerous double game - cooperating with Western intelligence and covert military efforts and jailing some of the terrorists, while at the same time giving rhetorical and sometime financial support to much of the deranged paranoia about Americans and the Jews that further inflames the radical instincts of the Moslem masses. In fairness to those governments, most governments - West or East - live in the short term. In the long term, the Moslem regimes would be overthrown if the radicals gain power, but in the short term they would risk further inflaming the radicals if they didn't rhetorically support their madness. So the Moslem governments increasingly risk losing tomorrow for the sake of staying alive today.
A GENERAL WHO DEFEATS TERRORISTS IN IRAQ AND DEMOCRATS IN DC
Fresh from having put al Qaeda to flight in Iraq, General David Petraeus routed the Democrats in Washington this week. Gen. Petraeus came to Washington in obedience to a law passed by Democrats that he report on the situation in Iraq. But Democrats wanted to pick a fight with him, because they didn't like what he had to say. "There is a long American tradition of savaging failed generals," wrote Michael Gerson in the Washington Post. "It is more novel to attack a successful one." And not very wise. When asked in a New York Times/CBS poll who they trust the most on Iraq, 21 percent of respondents chose Congress. Sixty eight percent chose the U.S. military. When asked about the MoveOn ad, Gen. Petraeus had this classy response: "Needless to say I disagree with the message of those exercising the First Amendment right that so many generations of soldiers have fought and died protecting." While Gen. Petraeus was being classy, Democrats were not.
MOONBATS JUMP THE SHARK
Hear that wonderful sound - the sound of liberal teeth gnashing? How does that old crooner tune go? "It was desperation, I know..." OK, maybe Dinah Shore back in 1957 said "fascination," but Moveon.org sang an updated version in their full-page New York Times ad calling the commander of our soldiers in Iraq a traitor. Desperation City, folks. I love to see liberals living in it. All that sweet taste of thumpin' they gave the hated Republicans last November has turned to ashes and bile. The Moonbat Left is so consumed with rage and frustration it's jumped the shark. That's what the Moonbats have done with the "General Betray Us" ad - and that's what the Democrats in Congress have done by their cowardly refusal to condemn it. After something has jumped the shark, there's nowhere to go but down, all the way to crash and burn.
OSAMA AS A COFFEE HOUSE COMMIE
There was something odd about the Osama bin Laden video made public last week, noticed Web logger George Maschke (Booman Tribune). "The video freezes at about 1 minute and 58 seconds, and motion only resumes again at 12:30," (10½ minutes later) Mr. Maschke said. "The video then freezes again at 14:02 and remains frozen until the end. All references to current events occur when the video is frozen." Could the current events references have been added to an older tape? Osama is dressed just as he was in his last video, released in 2004. But that may be simply because there isn't much of a selection at the mall near his cave. Bin Laden sounds more like Keith Olbermann, MSNBC's nutty talk show host, than like an Islamic terrorist leader.
VICTORY OVER JIHAD DAY
We mourn and grieve on September 11. We should celebrate on September 12. Today is Victory Over Jihad Day. For it was on September 12 that the Moslem Jihad to conquer Europe was defeated, decisively defeated for centuries. The year was 1683. The battle scene was Vienna. We owe this victory over jihad to one of the truly great heroes of Western Civilization, Jan Sobieski (so-be-yes-key), Jan III, King of Poland (1629-1696). When, then, will Islam's current Jihad against us be over? Because rest assured, it will be over, most likely not with a bang like the Battle of Vienna (or nuking Mecca) but with a whimper - a Moslem whimper. A whimper is what I'm hearing with Osama Bin Laden's alleged video speech released last week. Take a careful look at this pathetic drivel, folks. You just won't believe how sophomoric and downright stupid it is.
THE ALPHA OF 9/11 AND THE OMEGA OF IRAQ
Next week will see an interesting juxtaposition of events: the sixth anniversary of the Islamist Attack on America of September 11, 2001 and the testimony of Gen. Petraeus to Congress on Iraq. Alpha and Omega. As the first letter of the Greek alphabet, Α, α, "alpha" signifies the start of something, the last letter, Ώ, ω, "omega" signifies its end. The destruction of the World Trade Center Twin Towers was Al Qaeda's Alpha. Bin Laden and his cronies were ecstatically jubilant when they got the news of their mission's success, certain that America would then collapse psychologically as did the Towers. Thus you can bet your last farthing that the last place Osama thought he would be six years after his triumph is still in an Afghan cave hiding for his life. And worse, for Bush's war in Iraq is his omega. For all the caveats and qualifiers Petraeus will provide in his testimony, one truth should shine out: that Al Qaeda has been defeated in Iraq. It's over. They lost. We won.
THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO STUDY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
Students the world over have always asked their elders, what should I study in order to get a good job? In this age of globalization and the Internet, the question involves a whole new dimension. Students in rich countries, such as the United States and Germany, fear their chosen trade or profession might be outsourced to a low-wage country. Students in developing countries, such as Mongolia and Paraguay, understand that globalization and the Internet may give them access to jobs never before available. Those on both the left and right who can only see dangers and misery from any new technological advance argue that huge quantities of jobs will be transferred to the developing world, resulting in big drops in income in the developed countries. It is turning out, however, that if you have two basic skills, you'll be able to learn what you need to know for most jobs anywhere in the world.
THE JERSEY LEATHERNECKS OF FALLUJAH
Fallujah, Iraq. The Marines of 1st Platoon, Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines - many from New Jersey - aren't living large, but they're making a huge difference. Bunking in a police precinct headquarters in Fallujah, they're at the forward edge of our current successes in Iraq. It's summertime, but the living ain't easy. The work's tough, the heat's wicked, the "facilities" conjure the old line about what bears do in the woods, and only goodie boxes from home liven up a diet of field rations (great for two or three days, nasty after two or three months). You'd expect complaints. I didn't hear one. And talking to three Jersey boys, I was surprised to hear just how positive they felt about the mission. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat," Lance Cpl. Justin Blitzstein of West Milford told me. Self-assured and ready for anything, he added, "Anybody who doesn't think we should be here should see the difference we've made in the way these people live. And everybody here's a volunteer. We want to be here."
HOW TO IMPROVE CONGRESS’ UNDERSTANDING OF THE MILITARY
Next week, Gen. David Petreaus will make his report to Congress on the situation in Iraq. Much will be written about what he has to say. I'd like to devote a few words to those who will be passing judgment on Gen. Petreaus' report, relative to their military service to America - or lack thereof. We are in the midst of a world war, as the disruption this week of bomb plots in Denmark and Germany reminds us, or ought to. It figures to be a long war. What Congress does or doesn't do in response to Gen. Petreaus' report largely could determine whether we win or lose. But the number of senators and representatives who are veterans -- that is to say, who have the experience to make an informed judgment about what Gen. Petreaus has to say -- is the lowest it's been in half a century. There's an easy way to fix that.