I was still in high school when the American Embassy in Iran was taken under siege.  52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days.  On inauguration day 1981, fearful that Ronald Reagan would keep his promise to declare unrestricted war on Iran, the hostages were released.  For some reason – probably an almost complete lack of reporting by the main stream media – people have forgotten or ignore the fact that the current Iranian President was one of the people who attacked our embassy and held our citizens hostage.  I can’t help but wonder which “hero of the people” will be created out of the recent siege on our embassy in Libya and the murder of our ambassador?

Even as I type this our embassies in Yemen and Egypt are fighting off attacks. It’s been reported that President Obama has sent a contingent of Marines to bolster the security at our embassy in Libya (a day late and a dollar short in my opinion).  I can’t help but wonder if he’s doing the same at our other embassies.  Might it be a good idea (if he has any common sense) to send contingents of Marines to EVERY embassy we have in any country controlled by Muslims?

I won’t get into the argument of whether or not the Muslim faith is a peaceful one.  No religion is perfect and throwing stones back and forth – even verbal stones – seems counterproductive to peace.  That said, I will be critical of our current President and then point out two things about “peace.”

As to our President, I don’t think he’s much of one and whether or not he’s of the Muslim faith is academic:  it simply doesn’t matter.  No matter what faith he claims, his words and actions have always been in support and defense of Islam and those who follow that path.  Our president may claim to be Christian, but if he is, the only church he attended for any significant period of time was one that preached hate based on race.  So I’m left with a choice:  do I believe the president is a Muslim?  If he is, then his words and deeds are at least understandable and predictable, though I’ll disagree with about 99% of them.  Or is the president Christian but formed by a foundation of hate for anyone white?

I think it’s a greater possibility that the president is Muslim, but saw the need to appear some semblance of Christian as he pursued his political career.  Based on what documented history there is of his childhood, it’s clear that he was raised by parents or grandparents who were either Muslim or Communist (at different times) and he had no ties to anything remotely Judeo-Christian until he decided he wanted to live a life supported by the tax payers’ involuntary donations to the government.  Given that he is currently seeking reelection, I would think it highly advisable to keep in mind that his actions across the past four years, where foreign policy is concerned, clearly show that he values the welfare of other countries over that of America and he will always support Islam no matter how heinous a crime members of that faith commit against our nation or her citizens.

Now, a few comments about peace.  One of the great falsehoods of our time is that it takes two people to fight, and that if only one of them is adult enough not to fight then no violence will occur.  Not only is this patently false but this philosophy only serves to empower those who would commit the acts of violence in the first place.

In schools we call some people “bullies.”  They are notorious for pushing other kids around, sometimes stealing from them, and – in general – strutting around like they own the place, daring anyone to even look at them much less challenge them.  No matter how much our school systems try to prevent or stop bullying, it still happens.  The great piece of wisdom that seems to have gotten lost in the ’50s and ’60s is that only the students themselves can stop a bully.  It usually brings some pain with it and it requires at least one student to have the courage to step up and be willing to fight.

NOTE:  All those students who have tolerated the bully up to that point have not helped to create “peace.”  They’ve only empowered the bully and accepted living under the stress and oppression he created.  Peace is not the absence of conflict.  PEACE is a living condition wherein no one is preying on another; no one is intimidated; everyone’s opinion is respected and common courtesy is the rule of the day.

Ever since the “peace movement” of the late ’60s and the “zero tolerance” policies that started in the ’80s and have grown through today, we’ve been raising generations of Americans who have been taught – for at least twelve years of public schooling – that fighting is never the answer.  To that I respond, “But fighting BACK might be.”

Have you ever heard the statement, “Everything I ever needed to know I learned in Kindergarten?”  Yeah, it’s like that.  Play nice.  Be polite.  Show common courtesy.  If you disagree, do it politely.  If you hit someone, expect to be hit back.  How is it that we have elected “leaders” who don’t understand these simple principles?  I think it’s more likely that they simply don’t have the intestinal fortitude to actually back up a promise of hitting back so they hide behind moral platitudes and high-mindedness.  They wouldn’t have survived in the 1800s because they’d have been rolled over like so much horse manure.

Reality is that in today’s world America has enemies.  Our enemies are not people of a given faith.  Our enemies are those in control of nation-states who use their religion as an excuse to expand their power and commit acts of war.  They are the bullies on the playground of Earth.  They will continue to bully others until someone on that playground steps up in their face, says, “Stop or be knocked out,” and then ACTS on that statement.

If America wants to make a clear statement to Egypt, Libya and Yemen about how we feel in response to the attacks on our embassies and the MURDER of one of our Ambassadors, it’s easy enough to do.  It requires just three steps:

1) Evacuate all American personnel from those embassies immediately.

2) BOMB those embassies without regard for “collateral damage.”  Yes, bomb our own embassies.  Not only would this be defensible but it would clearly state that the hosting country now has the burden of rebuilding the relationship that they invariably need more than we do.

3) EVICT representatives from those countries immediately from the United States and not permit them within our borders.  If the United Nations wants representatives from those countries at UN meetings, then the meetings better be held someplace else.

Is that too harsh?  MAYBE.  But no schoolyard bully ever learned his lesson from a kid who pushed back or told the teacher.  The schoolyard bully learns his lesson when a kid steps up, punches him in the face and breaks his nose or knocks out a few teeth… or both.  If America wants respect from the countries of the world we have to stop acting like a trembling fearful child on the playground.  It’s time to stand tall, accept that we might get a black eye or a fat lip, and beat the living crap out of the bully.

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