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March 16, 2007
U.S. Conservatives convene
Presidential candidates weigh in on the threat of global terrorism.
DAVE GORDON
The 34th Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington,
D.C., March 1-3, was thought by many to be the pulse of the American
conservative movement, as well as the launch pad for the next American
president. Speeches and seminars ran the gamut in theme from terrorism
to taxes, from war to education.
A dramatic video presentation was shown, asserting America's strength
in the world. The video also showed a hypothetical news report about
where the world would be without American ingenuity, scientific
breakthroughs and its support for Israel. The world's Jewish refugees,
it declared, would essentially be without a place to safely flee.
However, Benjamin Shapiro, syndicated columnist and author of Brainwashed:
How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth, noted the peculiar
lack of speeches pertaining to Israel and the Jewish people.
"It seems to me that support for Israel was taken for granted,"
said Shapiro.
"In conservative circles, the only people who bring up Israel
are generally those who are anti-Israel, such as Pat Buchanan. In
liberal circles, they have to constantly reassure the crowd that
they are not anti-Israel. If you took a poll of the attendees and
speakers, you would certainly get almost universal support for Israel
and Israeli military strength."
Dinesh D'Souza (author of The Enemy at Home) and Robert Spencer
(author of The Truth About Muhammad) sparred at a debate
called Terrorism: Is Religious Extremism or Secular Extremism the
Problem? D'Souza said that the key to fighting Islamic extremists
is to embrace the moderate Muslims before the fanatics do. Spencer
disagreed, largely due to the overwhelming influence of the extremist
faction. "The silence of the moderates [against terrorism]
indicate that they tacitly approve of Islamic fundamentalism,"
he said. "The Koran dictates that the infidel should be killed."
In response, D'Souza said, "I feel like I'm a mosquito at a
nudist colony. I don't know where to even begin."
Newt Gingrich, House Speaker and rumored presidential candidate,
in an interview with the Independent, gave his thoughts about
the looming threat of the Iranian nuclear program.
"I think the average American, if they want to protect our
cities and our population, needs to insist that our government adopt
a strategy of replacing the [Iranian] dictatorship," said Gingrich.
"And if you look at the new book by John O'Sullivan, The
President, the Pope and the Prime Minister, which describes
how Reagan and Pope John Paul II and [Britain's] former prime minister
Margaret Thatcher had a peaceful nonviolent strategy to dramatically
change the Soviet Union, which worked, the whole government was
replaced. There are ways we can do this without war. But our goal
should be to get a new government in Iran and recognize that the
current government is a mortal threat to our survival."
Joseph Farah, an outspoken Arab Christian American, weighed in on
the topic of the Islamic Republic's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction
in an interview with the JI.
"The public needs to pull its government into this fight. We
need to make it clear to our elected officials that we are indeed
at war and we need to behave that way," said the editor of
WorldNetDaily.com, one of the largest independent news sites. "No
more cover-ups of terrorist violence in America. It has been going
on too long – at least since 1993. Jews and Christians need
to join together in an unprecedented way, because our very lives
depend on it. There should be a widespread crackdown on those who
fund terrorism."
In an exclusive interview, Senator Sam Brownback (Kansas), a presidential
candidate, expanded on his views about the threat of Iran. "Iran
has a stated ideology to destroy Israel and the United States"
he said. "We have to confront their pursuance of weapons of
mass destruction. We need to talk about their lack of human rights
and highlight that a lot more, and put economic pressure on them,
as they export 40 per cent of our oil."
Rudy Giuliani gave one of the more popular and stirring speeches.
The former mayor of New York, a favored presidential candidate,
spoke to a packed hall about Islamic extremism, terrorism, war and
education.
"I have no doubt we will beat the Islamic terrorists,"
Giulani said. "No doubt. It's just a matter of how long. Because
the power of our ideas are so great, the human mind and the human
heart is moving in our direction. When you expose them to our ideas,
it's dramatic."
He invoked the Reagan-era "peace through strength" motto,
adding that the U.S.'s Cold War enemies and Second World War enemies
are now our friends, and said he had hope that in the future, "our
current enemies will also be our friends."
Likening terrorists to the mob, and speaking of the necessity of
suspending civil liberties at a time of war, Giuliani said that
the apprehension of the Gambino crime family was as a result of
tapping their phones, breaching their privacy and using electronic
surveillance. "We found out all about the businesses they were
controlling, the drugs they were selling; it's very much the same
thing with terrorists. It requires offence."
Dave Gordon is a freelance writer. You can see more of
his work at DaveGordonWrites.com.
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