Prof. Boerner's Explorations

Edited by Gerald Boerner

    
Introductory Comments:

This day, February 26th, saw many important events through recent history. In 1846, the frontiersman, buffalo hunter, and showman, William Cody, was born in Iowa. We earned is famous nickname, “Buffalo Bill,” by providing buffalo meat to the railroads. In later years, he would create his wild west show that took the adventure of the western frontier to arenas across the United States; these shows provided the easterners with an experience in roping, shooting (Annie Oakley), and cowboys and Indians in a safe environment.

Also on this day in 1917, President Woodrow Wilson learned of an encrypted telegram sent from Germany to the German Ambassador in Washington to be forwarded to the German ambassador in Mexico City. This telegram, the Zimmermann Telegram, sought Mexico’s help in breaking the Allied blockade of Germany in Europe by military action in North America. The British codebreakers in London broke the cypher and provided Wilson with the true contents of the telegram. This evidence in conjunction with the sinking of the Lusitania, lead to the entry of the United States into World War I.

In 1919, the Congress included the Grand Canyon into the National Parks system under the signature of President Woodrow Wilson. The Grand Canyon’s amazing natural wonders had already been protected by an executive order by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 as a National Monument. It became the 15th park included in the National Parks System and included the Grand Canyon, the Colorado gorge and the wild country around it. If it were not for these actions, we may not have this as one of Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

We also witnessed the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 by a terrorist car bomb in the parking garage. Radical Islamist were convicted of planning this bombing in 1994; all the men associated with this attack are serving life sentences in prison.

Also on this day in 1952 the Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that the British has successfully tested an atomic bomb. It became the third world power to acquire atomic weapons. This day also witnessed, in 1815, the escape of Napoleon from the island of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea; he returned to France where he led the French forces into the Battle of Waterloo, which he lost. 100 days after his escape, he was exiled to the island of Saint Helena in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Well, this day, February 26th, has had quite a history. It is now time to proceed to examine some of the events that are associated with day in history... GLB

These Introductory Comments are copyrighted:
Copyright©2012 — Gerald Boerner — All Rights Reserved

[ 1182 Words ]
    

Quotations Related to Theodore Roosevelt:

[ http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/theodore_roosevelt.html ]

“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”
— Theodore Roosevelt

“No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expedience.”
— Theodore Roosevelt

“No great intellectual thing was ever done by great effort.”
— Theodore Roosevelt

“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”
— Theodore Roosevelt

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
— Theodore Roosevelt

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
— Theodore Roosevelt

continue reading…

Edited by Gerald Boerner

    
Commentary:

The War of Terror started shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Virginia. We all stood in disbelief when those airliners, filled with aviation fuel and passengers, crashed into these two iconic structures. We mourned for those lives lost when the two towers collapsed with many people inside them. It was unbelievable that such a surprise attack could occur. It brought on shades of the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The territorial integrity had been breached and we sought out the group behind it — Al-Qaeda.

Unlike the First Persian Gulf War (1990) or the War in Iraq (2003), President George W. Bush put together only a loose coalition to seek out and attack Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. No attempt was made to obtain an UN Security Council Resolution to allow us to take military action in Afghanistan; we acted as if that country was responsible for the attacks. Being attacked by another country was the only legitimate grounds for taking independent military action according to the United Nations Charter, which we had agreed to by ratifying it. It would seem that we were taking illegal action, playing the 800 pound Gorilla going after a weak, third-world country.

To date, we have been fighting in Afghanistan for longer than any other war in which we have been involved. We ignored the previous experience of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1975. They fought hard to claim control of that country over the approximately ten years that they were there. We have been no more successful than the Soviets in bringing a stable government to that land of opium poppies and ancient Silk Road legacy.

What have we gained from this experience? We have found that we are hard-pressed to supply troops to two country-wide war zones concurrently. We have also found that the cost of waging two wars is very expensive. We have found that our guerrilla tactics are not as sophisticated as we might have thought. We have also realized that finding the location of a small band of terrorists willing to live with few creature comforts is beyond our intelligence agencies. But we have found that using drone aircraft, such as the Predator, can be a valuable asset in battle and surveillance.

We have finally assassinated Osama bin Laden in his enclave in Pakistan and we are now starting to drawdown our troop levels. But we will leave behind a country that is not much better off than they were ten years ago! What have we accomplished, then?

Let’s get into an exploration of the War on Terror as it has gone on in Afghanistan… GLB

These Introductory Comments are copyrighted:
Copyright©2011 — Gerald Boerner — All Rights Reserved

[ 4524 Words ]
    

Quotations Related to Veterans Day:

“This was not an act of terrorism, but it was an act of war.”
— George W. Bush

“Everybody’s worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there’s a really easy way: stop participating in it.”
— Noam Chomsky

“If Clinton had only attacked terrorism as much as he attacks George Bush we wouldn’t be in this problem.”
— Dennis Miller

continue reading…

Edited by Gerald Boerner

Commentary

Due to injury, this commentary will be added later. Please check back. Thank you.  GLB

These Introductory Comments are copyrighted:
Copyright©2010 — Gerald Boerner — All Rights Reserved

[ 3996 Words ]

Quotations Related to MUSLIM

“He who becomes a Muslim does so in his own interest.”
— Abu Bakr

“At times one feels that what is being said in the West is that the fact that you are a Muslim predisposes you to this blind, stupid terrorism.”
— Lakhdar Brahimi

“Do not look down upon any Muslim, for even the most inferior believer is great in the eyes of God.”
— Abu Bakr

continue reading…