Uncle Sam Strikes Back

The people of Arizona last week took a giant step to preserve the Union passing a long over due law to curb illegal immigration by the Mexican hordes. The new law makes it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally. Immigrants unable to produce documents showing they are allowed to be in the U.S. could be arrested, jailed for up to six months and fined $2,500.

For over 30 years the US federal government has dithered, failing to control massive invasions by Mexicans across the US southwestern borders. President Reagan passed an absurd law to staunch the flow by legalizing those already in the US. That failed to the extent that now there are an estimated 20 million illegals in the US. If you do not believe it, look out your window.

GW Bush tried again to find a legal path to make the illegals legal; Ted Kennedy (RIP) and Bomb Bomb McCain spear headed the failed effort in congress. Now with nearly 10% unemployment in the US, Bush's plea that the Mexicans do work others in the US will not, appears even more moronic. More accurately, Mexicans do work for less and under poorer working conditions than others. And that is the exploitive basis for globalization and agreements such as NAFTA.

President Obama has attacked the Arizona law despite the fact he stood by and watched the invasion and just pontificated... There are roughly 460,000 illegal Mexicans in Arizona. Whether they are hard working and work cheap has nothing to do with the more important fact: they have broken the law to achieve this distinction. Other pervasive Mexican lawlessness in the state prompted the new Arizona law to control the illegals.

There will be court challenges to the law when it is implemented about 90 days from now, in August. The Mexican lobbyist groups in USA have already begun mass protest demonstrations; if they participate in these in Arizona after August, suggest they carry their of papers authorizing them to be in the US, or it is fines and the slammer – into the waiting arms of Sheriff Arpaio with his pink, striped prison outfits.

Black groups are joining the Mexican and Latino protests. It is a mistake as illegals take Black jobs and this will sharpen the Black racial conflicts over illegal immigration. Blacks have major problems on Chicago streets. Solving these should take priority rather than joining united fronts that do not affect them directly; on the contrary, this creates friction that will work long term to the Blacks disadvantage.

The critics of the law claim it prompts profiling. They are probably right, but the test is how many legals are minimally inconvenienced for the common good of law and order; and, curbing the exploitation of state welfare, medical services and educational facilities by free-loading illegal aliens.

There has been a parade of policies that attacks the cohesiveness of the US nation state. Most obvious is the participation in global organizations: World Trade Organization, NAFTA, other regional economic agreements, monetary policy with China and the self-destructive helplessness to reject Israeli influence in US policy formulation. Anchor babies, dual citizenship, and failure to defend borders all auger toward this disintegration.

If the illegals do not like the Arizona law, they can move to south of the Rio Grande River. The US rejects the anarchy associated with their presence. Hopefully other states will follow Arizona's example. Colonel Robert E Bartos USA Ret.

Lech Kaczynski R.I.P.

Polish president Lech Kaczynski was killed last week in an airplane crash along with much of his top leadership. He was buried at a state funeral in Cracow, Poland at the Wawel, a medieval castle where Polish kings and super heros rest. A controversy developed on whether he was worthy of the honor.

It was a judgement to be made by Poles, so outside criticism should dismissed by them arbitrarily. Kaczynski had plenty of detractors and enemies internally; his approval poll numbers reportedly was around 30%. He also had strong critics in the European community. So what was the man all about ?

Traditional conservative Poles considered him a nationalist, a Pole's Pole, but the modernists or progressives believed him to be an obstructionist, especially as it concerned integration into the EU. This cleavage was evident on social, political, defense and economic issues. Many now consider these differences sharp enough to have served as a basis for a conspiracy and motive for his death.

Kaczynski was a devout Catholic; he was unlike the run-of-the-mill Polish politician who was a secular Catholic – who had ties to the old Party's apparachiks and used his religious affiliation to promote his popularity with the Polish voters. As a high official in Solidarity and a key advisor to Lech Walesa, Kaczynski used an anti communist party path to power.

The dead president had a PhD in engineering; he was bright and held high political positions to include the mayor of Warsaw. As a mayor he surprised many when he deeded city property to Jewish groups to erect a WWII monument; as a result he enjoyed good will in Israel. A rare thing for a Polish nationalist.

He had an identical twin brother who was embedded in the political system with whom he was closely linked operationally. Lech was the policy guy while his brother Jaroslaw was executor. There is much speculation that brother Jaroslaw will run for president against the progressives drawing on a sympathy vote.

Kaczynski's strict Catholicism was to impact on his relationships with the EU. Recently, Poland won an opt-out from the EU Charter at the Lisbon Conference, because it insisted on retaining national control over family issues and morality, such as abortion and homosexual rights. Poland has been cited with violation by the EU at the human rights court. Kaczynski was to counter gay rights parade by sponsoring a march of Normal People.

A bubbling issue stemming from territorial changes decreed at WWII Potsdam conference involves former German territories ceded to Poland to compensate for land on its Eastern border forcefully transferred to Russia. Private German organizations want to buy them back; there is no official German government position on this proposal, but Kaczynski responded with a furious refusal along the following lines: In WWII Germans destroyed over 80% of Warsaw in two months and killed 200,000 Poles at the same time during the Warsaw Uprising... he darkly hinted at a quid pro quo request for compensation.

Kaczynski's foreign policy was to play to the US to offset the influence of Russia and Germany on Poland. He was a loyal supporter of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and sent his troops to fight. He also was supporter of the US missile defense program to be stationed in Poland. This type of big power balancing act has never worked for Poland as it has been crushed regularly and occupied by these two countries since the 18th century

A German Socialist magazine wrote that Polish anti communists are Catholic bigots; one thing for certain is that the Catholic church of Poland holds a mystical sway over the people as a pervasive, consistent beacon of Polish culture and freedom when their government failed them throughout history. This influence will not disappear, but it could dissipate.

Poles are preparing to vote on the euro to replace the zloty and there are tensions with the EU on the over valuation of the Polish currency. The head of the Polish central bank, killed with Kaczynski, intentionally has not been replaced by the new opposition government.

Lech Kaczynski was just a two act play. May he rest in peace in the Wawel. The third and final Kaczynski act will be played by his twin brother Jaroslaw whose ideas like his visage are IDENTICAL. Colonel Robert E Bartos USA Ret.

Cursed Katyn

No amount of sprinkled holy water, priestly incantations with swinging smoking censers or grim exorcists dispatched from the Vatican can purge Katyn of its deadly curse for the Polish people. Twenty-two thousand Polish officers were murdered in cold blood in 1940 in the killing fields at Katyn by the Soviet KGB under orders from Stalin. A few days ago a Russian made aircraft filled with the highest ranking Polish military and and civilians crashed and burned in the area, adding another 96 Polish souls to charnel house known as Katyn.

The tragic irony is that those recently killed were to attend ceremonies on the spot commemorating the 70th anniversary of the thousands of Poles killed previously by the Russians in the WWII era.

Though the Polish anger over the incident festers, the Russians finally made an effort to show culpability by sending Vladimir Putin to the event sponsored by the Russians. As the event plays out, despite soothing diplomatic cooing from both sides, the compounded tragedy will increase the traditional hatreds between the two countries. The Russians have still to make amends officially for the atrocities and war crimes of the forties.

As human butchery is scored in WWII, 22,000 murdered Polish POWs is a low score; comparatively 2 million Poles were killed, 6 million Russians, and 6 million Germans. Additionally the Jews claim 6 million of their people were killed. But this figure is challenged as high and confused by the nationality of the Jews killed. Were they also counted in the Russian or Polish figures? The killer big-time was Josef Stalin who was reported to have killed another 6 million Russians during collectivization and War Communism of the 20s and 30s.

The Polish rage over Katyn is not only based on the horror of the murders, but also over the effort by the Russians to shift guilt and blame to the Nazis. There was a premeditated effort by the Russians to convince the world the officers were murdered by Germans. The POWs were killed with German small arms and ammunition with a single bullet to the back of the head. The Germans discovered the mass graves, but the Russians claimed to be innocent of the crimes. It soon became evident through international investigations that the Germans were in the clear.

Forensic evidence, diaries of the dead, eye witnesses and timelines, let the Germans off the hook and pointed to Russian guilt. This was surprising given the German record of killing Russian POWs, mass reprisals in occupied areas, and the systematic genocide of Jews; but it was evident in the end; the Russians were guilty. It was only after the advent of Solidarity could the Poles openly discuss the Russian responsibility for the murders.

Why did Stalin kill the Polish officers rather than do as they did to the captured German POWs; work them to death as slave labor? Two reasons: The officers were bourgeois, educated and constituted a threat to postwar Communist rule of Poland; secondly, was revenge. Stalin had a score to settle with the Polish Army that defeated him and the Red Army 20 years earlier in the Polish-Soviet War. Stalin's foolish actions in the war as a Commissar personally contributed to the Soviet defeat.

Putin has taken charge of the crash investigations, but there is Polish representation in the process. At this time many unanswered questions exist, but it is clear to me that it is unlikely the Russians bear guilt. This event was an overt effort by the Russians to bring closure to a burning issue between the two countries. If there was a conspiracy to kill off the Polish leadership, look elsewhere. The Russians had nothing to gain killing more Poles near Katyn.

The Polish leadership was on record rejecting international banking interests. It wanted no part of a one-world banking system run by the world bankers. It was the same group that Putin kicked out of Russia that subsequently made the US neocons squeal so much; and, that led GW Bush to trash relations with the Russians. And coincidently, the head of the Polish central banking system was killed in the crash. Was it a possible warning to the next Polish government? We will wait Mr. Putin's findings with great anticipation.

Flying around in Russian transport aircraft, in my book, is always hazardous duty. In the 60s I logged many hours as an American military attache in Russia on Aeroflot, the Soviet airlines. It was always a hair raising experience which included tipsy pilots and stewardesses. I was awarded an air medal for flying around in combat in a helicopter in Vietnam, but using the criteria of that medal, my earlier duty in Russia probably would have qualified for a distinguished flying cross.

Aeroflot no longer uses the TU154 aircraft in which the Polish leadership perished. This aircraft had been refurbished in December 2009, so it is doubtful the crash was due to aircraft failure. More likely it was pilot error, but with the high military brass aboard it is doubtful the pilot made the final call on landing in turbulent weather at a field without instrument capability. The Polish aircraft had been directed to other airfields by Russian ground control.

No matter what the findings of the crash investigations determine, the permanent conclusion will be established by the BABAs, the Slavic old ladies who sometime double as sorceresses; the ground of the Katyn Forest will be found as hallow for Poles but deadly – to be avoided like dogs’ blood and cholera. You believe you are in Eastern Europe? Nope... East of Europe works better. Colonel Robert E Bartos USA Ret.

Holy Week Or Holy Mackerel

Seven days from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday is Holy Week; that is unless you follow the Orthodox faith and therefore, march to a different religious calendar. This 2010 Holy week was a disaster for some establishments. Look what happened to the Catholic Church, Obama's national security apparatus, the Republican National Committee and the rambling wreck we call Healthcare Reform.

Holy Week is show time, BIGTIME for the Catholic Church throughout the world. The holy days are led by the Pope from the Vatican, filled with ancient pageantry and traditions – flocks of pilgrims fill Rome to renew the faith with the Pope as the super star; who is, according to the Church, Christ's vicar on Earth.

Except this year the Vicar has a big problem that seriously obscured his Easter duties. The Pope has been accused by the world press of covering up for pederast priests. It is an old story in the Church, but this is the first time in modern times it has touched the Papal cassock.

Like most secular establishments savvy on public relations, the Vatican counter attacked the press for the published story – stories that by now demonstrate an epidemic of pedophilia in the Church that was not staunched.

The current pope, in an effort to protect the Church, has been implicated administratively in this scandal. His counter attack as of today has backfired as the press bores in deeper justifying its criticism... The Vatican's maladroitness was compounded when the pope's private preacher, Rev. Cantalamessa defended the pontiff publicly at St. Peters Basilica on Good Friday. He compared those who attack the Vicar, to those who attack Jews...as a form of anti-semitism.

Despite the fact the Vatican leadership quickly sought to crush the story, the cat was out of the bag. For centuries Jews were known as Christ killers; bloody pogroms were launched against them in Eastern Europe, especially on Good Friday; the local religious populace was enraged by the passion of Christ dramatized in village churches during Holy Week.

The last thing the Vatican wanted was to insert angry Jews into the turmoil; they were apparently upset that the Vatican wanted to invite itself to its private pity party. Some Jews have complained that the Vatican wanted to involve them in its child abuse mess. That accusation is an exaggerated stretch by Jews who seem to enjoy the Vatican's problems.

It is still too early to predict the outcome for Pope Benedict XVI. His problem is that the Church forgives carnal sin, but Caesar adjudicates the crime of child molestation. The Pope appears to be involved in controversy since his election by the Curia. Even divine choices may be fallible. The Shoes of the Fisherman are easily filled.

Holy Week brought bad news for President Obama's national security establishment. The US puppet in Iraq, Maliki, is to be ousted by Allawi, a former US puppet under Paul Bremer. Allawi has both Sunni and non-secular Shiite support and at one time was a member of the Baathist Party. Personally he is tough – has pulled triggers to execute. He is also a relative of double-dealing Ahmed Chalibi.

You remember last week Obama visited Afghanistan. I figured he went there to relieve the US Ambassador to Kabul, General Eikenberry Ret. because the General was right about the hopeless situation there and Obama was wrong; or Obama went to relieve General McCrystal who is obviously in way over his head; or he went to depose that duplicitous Karzai. Obama stumped me when he returned without a severed head.

It appears that the president's target was Karzai. A few days after Obama's return, Karzai promptly blamed foreign powers for corruption problems and his woes. Karzai is officially now a puppet off the string and Obama must dump him soonest. With the Israeli Netanyahu thumbing his nose at him and now Karzai saying it is somebody elses fault, the time for pontificating is over in both cases. Netanyahu celebrated Holy Week bombing Gaza. Does Obama appear weak internationally? YOU BETCHA.

About the only thing that really brings joy to the Democrats' heart is the Republican National Chairman (RNC) Michael Steele. He has no clue when it comes to management – his fiscal house is in disorder as he shells out money for visits to strip clubs. Republican Tony Perkins, chairman from a powerful religious right organization, advised Republican donors to give directly to candidates, not to the RNC. Steele has not demonstrated his ability as a fund raiser to date. As a matter of fact, he is spending faster than donations are received.

Others in the Republican leadership want to hold on to Steele as he is black and appeals to minorities. If they keep him, they might want to work on his wardrobe. Right now his sartorial taste is between a pimp and a side show barker... not quite ready to join the refined Republican country club set.

This Healthcare debacle rattles on. During Holy Week we learned that there is no penalty if you do not buy healthcare insurance; it was written out of the bill. Republicans did not want to tell you because they wanted to continue to scare you; the Democrats did not tell because now there is no penalty to force you to buy the insurance and without it, many of the uninsured will remain so.

Hope your Holy Week went better for you than for the Catholic Church and the US Government; and, that of the Republican Party. Holy mackerel!! Colonel Robert E Bartos USA Ret