Briefcase vindicates Bush, Cheney, and West - Tom Kovach

Six days ago, members of the American military captured the former dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. He was apprehended by Special Operations troops, who were operating with the Fourth Infantry Division (4-ID) of the US Army. Hussein was hiding in his “Spider Palace” — a slightly modified septic tank, located beneath the home of a tribal relative near his hometown of Tikrit.

Late yesterday, senior military officers released the fact that Hussein had a briefcase, described as his personal briefcase, with him at the time of capture. The information found in that briefcase has already led to the arrest of another general of the former Iraqi army. Reports are also starting to surface about the arrests of a number of lower-level guerilla operatives. It is precisely these types of operatives, many of them members of the newly organized Iraqi Police (IP), that have staged many of the attacks upon US and Coalition troops in recent months. Those attacks have accumulated more deaths than the “major combat” that led to the fall of Baghdad. And, it was a member of the IP that was being interrogated by former 4-ID battalion commander LTC Allen B. West. After a loud “close encounter” with a bullet from LTC West’s pistol, Officer Hamoody vomited up the names of some accomplices, and the 4-ID went to work rounding them up. Then, as I wrote in a recent article, the CIA and the Army went about questioning more such operatives, and Saddam Hussein was later captured.

Remember all those whiners that were worried that LTC West had somehow violated IP Officer Hamoody’s “rights” by firing that pistol during the interrogation? (How can a traitor to his own country, which doesn’t even have a government yet, have any rights while being interrogated for guerilla actions against a conquering army?!) Well, it seems that the contents of Saddam Hussein’s briefcase may also contain the vindication of LTC West’s actions. Our military is busy rounding up and interrogating more IP officers right now. The degree to which they cooperate will be directly proportional to the degree to which the injustice against LTC West is made right. If our government sends a signal that we coddle turncoat guerillas, then don’t expect much information. But, if our government gives Allen B. West a medal and an immediate promotion to full colonel, then you can expect a new flock of songbirds in Iraq. So, in the clear hindsight of night-vision goggles inside a septic tank, West was right.

But, wait, there’s more.

Remember all those whiners that said we shouldn’t fight a war in Iraq? (You can start with the Nay-saying Nine candidates that, until six days ago, had a slight chance of challenging President Bush next November.) Well, that briefcase is full of information that proves that the president was right all along. Saddam Hussein is an evil madman, and he would rather destroy his own country — and those of his neighbors — than give his people any real degree of freedom. Reports have already surfaced that Hussein’s henchmen have taken the guerilla war to the next level: kidnapping Iraqi citizens and forcing them to attack American troops. Saddam Hussein is incorrigible. Negotiating with him would be like asking a freakish 45-year-old pedophile to stop seducing little boys with an amusement park. But, I digress. The point is that President Bush was right.

Remember all those whiners that said we shouldn’t award money to those big defense contractor companies to provide police organization and training in Iraq? They said that it was merely a ploy for Vice President Cheney to award contract money to his big-oil cronies in exchange for campaign contributions. Admittedly, there is some evidence that palm-greasing may be a factor. Even so, there remains a basic premise that it was the right thing to do. America liberated Iraq by conquering its tyrannical regime. That regime was so repressive that many Iraqis still do not know quite how to behave with their emerging freedom. Thus, some Iraqis would prefer to return to the “devil that you know”. Many of that ilk have apparently joined the Iraqi Police. And, if the IP have been infiltrated that much under American supervision, can you imagine how much worse it would have been if we hadn’t used those contractors? Cheney was right.

In short, the Bush-Cheney team has been handed the 2004 presidential re-election ... in a briefcase.

Tom Kovach