The Weekend War

Remember nine months ago when the Iranian navy brazenly attacked a British warship in the Persian Gulf and captured fifteen British sailors and marines?  Or, indeed, seven years ago when al Qaeda attacked the USS Cole in Aden harbor with a well armed dinghy and blew a huge hole in its side?

You shouldn't wonder at the establishment of that context:

Five Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats harassed and provoked three U.S. Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route off the Iranian coast, over the weekend, CNN reported on Monday.

Citing unidentified U.S. officials, CNN said the Iranian vessels came within 200 yards (meters) of the U.S. ships in the strait on Saturday.

A radio transmission from one of the Iranian ships said, "I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes," CNN reported, citing a U.S. official.

After the threatening radio communication, U.S. sailors manned their ships' guns and were very close to opening fire, it said.

There was no immediate U.S. comment.

The incident occurred on the eve of a visit to the Middle East by U.S. President George W. Bush, who said last week that one of the aims of his trip was to counter Iran's ambitions in the region.

It seems to me that the captains of those US warships could have done a lot more to "counter Iran's ambitions" in the Middle East than a state visit from a one-time warrior president who is now just playing out the pacifist string.  Indeed, it makes me wonder what, if any, reaction the Bushies would have had if these Iranian attackers had followed through on their threats and taken out one of the American vessels.  Offered a bigger incentive package to persuade them not to do it again?  Decree that the next time Adolph Ahmadinejad visits America, he can only give a speech on the new American Gladiators program when his face is buried in Hulk Hogan's armpit?  Stomp, whine, and cry for another UN Security Council resolution?

Of course not.  The answer is obvious: don't speak so "provocatively," and only go to Iran's "region" to assist them in the realization of their ambitions.  Hey, can't be rude to so gracious a host - right?

The mullahs weren't the only enemies preparing a warm welcome for President Bush:

American al-Qaida militant Adam Gadahn urged Islamist militants to welcome President Bush with bombs when he visits the Middle East this week.

“Welcome him not with flowers and applause but with bombs and traps,” he said in an Arabic aside on a 50-minute video posted on the internet on Sunday, which was mostly recorded in English and aimed at the American public.

Gadahn, who is also known as Azzam the American, devoted most of the tape entitled “An Invitation to Reflection and Repentance,” to a detailed explanation of the shortcomings of U.S. foreign policy and Western Christian civilization and their defeat at the hands of Islam and Muslims.

Yeah, Gadahn is just one Islamist crank.  But then so, once, was Osama bin Laden.  And never forget, they believe all this seemingly fanciful propaganda they spew.  They believe they're on the winning side, that they'll ultimately outlast us and our cultural short attention span, that the Global Islamic Caliphate is inevitable.  The near-attack in the Persian Gulf over the weekend proves they're serious.  Our letting them get away shows, redundantly, that we are not.

And for what, pray tell, is Dubya making this pilgrimmage to the region where human civilization originated?  Do you really want to know?

President Bush heads to Israel and the West Bank this week, hoping his first visit as U.S. leader will open the throttle on Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

But in the six weeks since Bush declared at an international gathering in Annapolis, Maryland, that "the time is right" to make peace, two perennial obstacles to Mideast peacemaking have already reared up: Israeli settlements and violence.

What is it about American presidents in their closing days in office that they always think they can wade into this intractible conflict which can only be settled by war and somehow wave a magic diplowand and transmogrify spears into pruning hooks?  Why can't they see that such a high profile intervention simply serves as a rallying point for the enemies of peace (and I don't mean the Israelis) to ramp up the murder and mayhem?  Why can't they leave the Jews and Pals alone to settle matters for themselves?  If there ever is to be peace in "that region," that's the only way that it can evey ultimately happen.

GDub has nothing on King Sisyphus.

Except, hopefully, dramatically better security arrangements.