A Despicable Man

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has done it again. Last Thursday September 23^rd, while addressing the UN in New York, Ahmadinejad condemned American Capitalism and made extremely heinous remarks about the September 11th attacks. He claimed that our way of life and western countries have reached their demise because of the failure of capitalism. Also, he stated that that most Americans and nations believe that the U.S. government "orchestrated the attack to reverse the declining American economy and its grip on the Middle East in order to save the Zionist regime." These remarks and a number of other outrageous claims Ahmadinejad made his address triggered a U.S. and allied walkout during his speech.

U.S. Officials Walk Out during Ahmadinejad's speech

Youtube Video of walkout

This isn’t the first time Ahmadinejad has sparked a walkout during a UN speech. Last year while delivering another provocative speech, Ahmadinejad sparked a walkout after he attacked the Israeli and called them a "cruel and repressive racist regime."

How this delusional man is the President of a country is beyond me. The fact that he is delivering these incendiary remarks so close to Ground Zero makes his statements especially infuriating. His insensitive and offensive comments not only spark hatred towards him from Americans and others, but they also have a negative effect on the Iranian people that he represents as their leader. His habit of making these ridiculous claims about the United States and its allies decreases his legitimacy as a leader.

The people of Iran are suffering with this madman as their leader. He is threatening their safety and the safety of others around the world with his refusal to negotiate with the United Nations on Iran’s continued efforts in their nuclear program even though President Obama has repeatedly reached out to them and has said “the door remains open to diplomacy should Iran choose to walk through it.” It is hard for me to believe that Iran will ever enter talks with the US with Ahmadinejad in power, which is a frightening thought. A man with such despicable beliefs cannot be allowed to have control of nuclear weapons.

The entire world will be in danger if Ahmadinejad continues to remain in power and gains control over nuclear weapons. For the good of Iran and the rest of the world, Ahmandinejad must go.

Pastor Terry Jones and Koran Burning

Pastor Terry Jones, a Florida preacher has become the center of a international firestorm regarding his proclamation that on September 11^th he and his congregation would “burn a few hundred Korans.” The controversy began early this summer when Jones and his group posted their intentions on their Facebook page. Jones and his group’s mission statement, which could also be found on their Facebook page is "to bring to awareness to the dangers of Islam and that the Koran is leading people to hell"[i] This radical ideology catapulted Jones from relative obscurity into a extremely controversial figure in American politics and media. In addition, he quickly became a villain of the Islamic community and was immediately criticized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the rest of the Islamic community around the world.

While Jones has the right under the First Amendment to burn Korans- just like protestors have the right the burn the American flag, this proclamation to do this is completely and utterly disgusting. Jones, who claims to be a patriot and believes he is honoring and defending America is doing exactly the opposite. He and his followers have stooped to the same level of the Islamic fundamentalists that he is preaching against. He is not only damaging the reputation of us here in the United States, he is also jeopardizing our relationship with the Islamic Community around the world.

Beyond reputations and relations, Jones’ radicalism and his Koran burning threat is endangering our troops abroad. General David Petraeus spoke out strongly against Jones;

"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan, were the actual burning to take place, the safety of our soldiers and civilians would be put in jeopardy and accomplishment of the mission would be made more difficult," he said.

After months of turmoil and securitization from the media, the White House and General Petraeus , when the day came on 9/11, Pastor Jones decided to not burn Korans.[ii] Thankfully, Jones came to the right decision, but the mere threat of carrying out such a plan is damaging to our Islamic relations and our fight against terrorism.

We are better than this as Americans. We must not stoop down to the level of the Terrorists who murdered thousands of people on September 11^th, 2001. We must understand the reasons why some Islamic Fundamentalists have such hatred for us and we must seek ways to diffuse that hatred. We must remember that we are not fighting the Islamic religion itself, but a small minority of fundamentalists.

Above all, we must remember to support the men and women in our armed services and never endanger them with our actions.

 God Bless America.

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[i] http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/09/11/2010-09-11_pastor_terry_jones_how_he_went_from_nobody_to_international_villain.html

[ii] http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39113743/ns/us_news-security/

The Marine Corps Public Intellectual

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Who is a “Public Intellectual” and why does the public listen to them? Is the Public intellectual some cable news T.V.  pundit who throws out his own opinions on a number of different contemporary issues? I think not. As we will see, the public intellectual is much more than that. The public intellectual is not just a talking head academic who offers his or her own opinions on specific issues in a public forum. Rather, the public intellectual is one who offers both insight and solutions on specific issues that are relevant to the general public. Most importantly, the public intellectual is someone who has legitimacy with the public; they have had experiences in the issues that they are discussing, which makes them a credible and influential source.

Nathaniel C. Fick, the C.E.O of the Center for a New American Security, is a Public Intellectual who has served eight years as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps. His experiences on his tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq make him a credible expert in his fields of expertise, which include Terrorism & Irregular Warfare, U.S. Foreign Policy, U.S. Military Forces & Operations, and U.S. National Security Strategy. (cnas.org) What is so interesting about Fick is that he is different from your stereotypical “jarhead” marine. He graduated from the liberal arts school, Dartmouth, with a degree in the classics. While at Dartmouth, Fick became disillusioned with the typical path that he saw his classmates taking. Many of them were off to be consultants, or investment bankers and he couldn’t fathom what a 22-year-old kid, fresh out of college could possibly be consulted about. Fick wanted to “go on a great adventure” to prove himself and serve his country.[i] Fick’s great adventure in the Marines has made him a reliable and influential Public Intellectual.

Although Nate Fick is the CEO of a academic think tank, he has found a way to engage the general public by offering his own story in his book One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer. In his book, Fick explains in plain language, his time in the Marine Corps. He isn’t engaging in a complicated analysis of our military or foreign policy. Rather, he tells us his story and gives us insight on issues facing our military a manner in which everyone can understand. He does this by relaying his personal experience in the Marine Corps and commenting on what he saw as valuable lessons or detrimental problems with the Marines that he saw while in service. While in the Marines, Fick often asked the tough questions and sometimes challenged his superiors on things that he saw were flawed or detrimental to the greater mission at hand.  He did this both in Afghanistan and in Iraq. On one specific occasion while on a combat patrol in Afghanistan, he stormed up to his Company Commander and demanded to know why his (Fick’s) Marines were carrying over 200lbs. of gear each while Marines in other platoons were riding in Humvees. [ii] Fick ended up obeying to his superior officer, but he wanted his Marines to know that he was looking out for their best interest and not just blindly following orders.

            Fick’s questioning of what he saw as flawed orders from his superior officers and his criticism of some of the problems he experienced with the leadership of the military can be found throughout his book. His frank writing style is also apparent in a number of his current works such as his report on General James Mattis taking over for the United States Central Command and in his commentary of President Obama’s firing of General McChrystal. Fick has a great ability to discuss things how they are without worrying about a political backlash or something of the sort. He can be critical and brutally honest on many issues, which are attributes that are essential to a public intellectual as Mack stated in his “Decline” essay  “Elshtain’s point is that the public intellectual function is criticism.” Mack goes on further;

 And if intellectuals are in a better position to perform that function it’s not because they are uniquely blessed with wisdom—and it’s certainly not because they are uniquely equipped to wield social or political power. It is only because learning the processes of criticism and practicing them with some regularity are requisites for intellectual employment. It’s what we do at our day jobs.

It can be agreed upon that public intellectuals must be critical and frank. And while it is true that public intellectuals inherently learn the processes of criticism and put them into practice on a daily basis, that is not the sole reason why they are more equipped to criticize policies or be more influential in their comments. Public intellectuals have and very well should, have had a great number of experiences and credentials in the field that they are speaking. At least when it comes to military affairs and foreign policy analysis such as the case of Nate Fick, a public intellectuals’ background and their experiences elevate the importance of what they are criticizing or commenting on. It makes people want to listen to them. The “average Joe” would rather listen to Nate Fick discuss the War in Afghanistan than listen to his accountant neighbor discuss the same topic. The key that makes the public intellectual influential is legitimacy and that comes from their experiences. Nate Fick has certainly experienced a lot in his relatively young life and when he talks, people want to listen.

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[i] Fick, Nathaniel. One Bullet Away: the Making of a Marine Officer. Boston: Mariner Book/Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Print.

[ii] Fick, Nathaniel.