Joe Scarborough
Don't deal with thugs
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Abraham Lincoln called America the last great hope for a dying world. And Ronald Reagan said America was like a city shining brightly on the hill for all the world to see.
Reagan proved it in the 1980s, when we had the twilight struggle against the Soviet Union. Reagan was not afraid to call the evil empire what it was: evil. And there were reports afterwards that, when Reagan gave that speech, Soviet prisoners that were in gulags across the USSR tapped on walls in Morse code explaining what the American president had just done.
That message of freedom kept those Soviet dissidents alive long enough to see the Soviet Union crumble from within. Reagan knew, you don't deal with thugs. Unfortunately, word is out tonight that the U.S. State Department is considering dealing with another evil empire, Iran.
Yes, the same Iran that this George Bush called a member of the axis of evil. And to add insult to injury, you know what they're talking about doing? Do you know what the State Department, your State Department, is talking about doing?
They're talking about turning over Iranian dissidents who are trying to take down the most brutal regime in the world and turning them over to the murderous mullahs of Iran. I got to tell you, it is absolutely despicable. It is wrong. And it sends the wrong message. It sends the same message that the first President Bush sent back in 1991, when we said to those in the south of Iraq: Fight, liberate yourself, and we will help you out. And then we betrayed them. And today, U.S. Marines are still paying for it, because the Iraqis still don't trust us.
We can't make the same mistake twice. You don't deal with thugs. And you liberate those who ask for your help.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Former Congressman Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.) hosts “Scarborough Country,” 10 p.m. ET, weeknights on MSNBC. Comment by clicking here.
08/04/03: The Buzz
08/02/03: Bush is ‘The Real Deal’
07/31/03: Liberal hypocrisy at its worst
07/30/03: ‘The Real Deal’ on Worldcom/MCI
07/24/03: Burying an Iraqi myth
07/22/03: How my mom would prosecute the Kobe case
07/18/03: The U.N. and gun control
07/17/03: Impeaching Bush
07/15/03: NAACP is getting a tax-free ride
07/14/03: No wonder most Americans hate politics
07/13/03: This time, Robertson did it to himself
07/11/03: Iraq uranium flap: What did Congress know and when did they know it?
07/10/03: Turning a blind eye to corporate crimes and playing fast and loose with your money
07/09/03: Crime pays if you're wearing a white collar
07/08/03: And freedom continues to ring
07/03/03: ‘The Real Deal’ on amnesty for illegal aliens
07/02/03: Free the Dog!
07/01/03: A letter-writing campaign can work wonders
06/27/03: More bad news for the Bush haters
06/26/03: Cancer or arousal?
06/25/03: Will institutional — and, now, governmemt-endorsed — racism ever end?
06/23/03: Held in Saudi Arabia against their will --- for oil!?
06/20/03: They're organizing to prohibit police from pursuing criminal suspects who refuse to stop
06/19/03: What burglars know about the Second Amendment
06/18/03: CBS courtship of Pfc. Lynch: Big media tries to win the heart of a teenage girl
06/13/03: ‘The Real Deal’ on White House hypocrisy
06/12/03: What's wrong with the way policy is made in Washington, D.C.?
06/11/03: ‘The Real Deal’ on Hillary and media double standard
06/09/03: Not in Babs' backyard!
06/06/03: 'The Real Deal' on Hillary's book deal
06/05/03: The way we get our news has been altered forever
06/04/03: 'The Real Deal' on the Martha
Stewart witch hunt: Making a big deal while others
get away
06/03/03: ‘The Real Deal’ on Sean Penn’s screed
06/02/03: “Alternative-lifestyle bachelor”?
05/30/03: Amnesty International makes U.S. the number one human rights villain
05/29/03: Why do we ignore home grown terrorism?
05/23/03: Bizarre Blair
05/21/03: ‘Capitol Offense’
05/20/03: A life in jail for 'conduct unbecoming'!?
05/19/03: You spoke, MCI listened
05/16/03: ‘The Real Deal’ on the Democrat attacks: Tasteless, and also untrue
05/15/03: ‘Capitol Offense’ goes postal
05/14/03: L.A. Times Book awards honor a child abuse manual
05/13/03: Reporter spills the beans on media's bias in covering Iraq
05/12/03: Danny Glover's supporters start letter writing campaign with ugly, racial overtones
05/09/03: Berkeley's Center for Middle East Studies funded by al Qaeda financial supporter?
05/08/03: Why they love Castro
05/07/03: Book industry finally opening doors to conservatives
05/06/03: ‘The Real Deal’ on ABC News: Another media insider expose
05/05/03: Why, despite recent successes, re-election is not a sure thing
05/02/03: ‘Capitol Offenses’
05/01/03: ‘The Real Deal’ on Hillary Clinton
04/30/03: The Iraq-al Qaida link: The elitists were wrong
04/29/03: Shiites biting the hand that released them
04/28/03: What the capitulation of Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, means for the rest of the world's tyrants
04/25/03: Noble-sounding names mask political motives
04/22/03: Bill Clinton should heed Paul McCartney's advice
04/21/03: The president with an I.Q. of a pot of clay has made New York City elitists look like a bunch of bumbling idiots
04/16/03: Russia, France and Germany: Not stupid, just immoral
04/15/03: CNN's too little, too late apology
04/14/03: Who's the first elitist to admit they were wrong about the war?
04/10/03: He's baaack --- and his terror tactics deserve an 'F'
04/09/03: Iraqi lawyer and American teenaged girl proved themselves to be 'The Real Deal'