Blackjack!
By Irwin N. Graulich (12/18/03)
Pay out George W. Bush 3:2. After capturing Saddam's advisor, the king of spades, Ali Al-Tikrit, it was discipline and patience that allowed the American president to pull a true blackjack
The Iraqi deck of cards was a brilliant strategy developed by the US military to keep track of the "hits" it captured. However, why isn't Arik Sharon permitted to play under these same house rules in the World Casino using his own deck of Palestinian cards? By barring Israel from the gaming table, the world has allowed terrorism to blossom. Until terrorist leaders see the consequences of their evil on television, similar to the newly released Saddam capture video, will they be affected by the results of their actions. This public relations brainchild, created and produced by Donald Rumsfeld, is a wonderful 21st century WMD (Weapon of Mass Depression).
The parallels between the two aces and their regimes are amazingly similar. The Iraqi ace of spades, Saddam Hussein and the Palestinian ace of spades, Yassir Arafat are men who have murdered many innocents and attacked sovereign nations. Both men have wives who presently live high on the hog in other countries, spending their people's wealth in quite an extravagant way. Both consider themselves to be modern day Saladins. Each leader has claimed to be "democratically elected" by over 90% of his people.
These two household names have become the key sponsors of Palestinian terrorism through financing suicide bombers and their families. Saddam and Arafat each sent other people's sons to die for them. Both of these high profile murderers have captured the awe and respect of Dan Rather and Ted Koeppel. The two Arab "executives" love corporate titles--Chairman and President. Each has manipulated the UN in his own way and has earned the veneration of Kofi Annan. Finally, both despots have a visceral hatred for Israel and America.
America has dealt an important hand to the Iraqi people. The evil house of cards has fallen and there will be no more cheating tolerated. Yet for many, there is no gratitude for making the game honest. After seeing their fraudulent, "brave" leader having an American doctor pick lice out of his hair, many Iraqis demonstrated wildly in favor of their ex-hero. How can any decent human being feel this way about a mass murderer, who was involved in the torture and death of close to one million of their fellow citizens?
Why are Palestinian Arabs walking around depressed with their tail between their legs? The Arab world in general is torn on this issue between sympathy and satisfaction. Although it is not politically correct to say so, the Arab mentality is quite childish. Due to its tribal nature, the entire society prefers evil dictators of their own kind to decent people from outside their culture. How sad.
Saddam and Arafat have stood up to America and Israel which is the reason why they are admired and worshipped. Until the Arab and Muslim world drops their "god of the macho" superiority complex, they will never become a viable part of the 21st century. With Saddam captured from his spider hole in the ground and Arafat confined to his little nest, the next image that the world should see is Arafat, who already looks disheveled and homeless, appearing with a nice Jewish doctor checking his hair and using a tongue depressor in his mouth.
Finally, the message would be out to the Osama's of the world, "You are next!" Evil leaders in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Libya and other dictatorships will be taught the ultimate lesson--public embarrassment is the severest penalty for the Middle East mentality. A loss of dignity is the ultimate disaster; which is the reason there are honor killings prevalent, whereby a father will actually murder his own daughter who has sex before marriage. She has brought shame to the family.
Since humiliation is worse than death, we can only hope that Rumsfeld is working on a new video story line for the Osama capture. Unfortunately, within the Arab world, pride is the most important value, whereas goodness is the predominant value in America and Israel. Unless Israel decides to bravely copy the US card playing strategy, the Israeli-Palestinian game will be a total "bust." "So ladies and gentlemen, let the chips fall where they may!"
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