The Loony Left: shouldn’t they protest Iran’s act of war?
By: Steve Yuhas
It has been almost a week since fifteen British sailors and Royal Marines were captured while legally operating in Iraqi waters 1.7 nautical miles from Iranian turf. In an act of war against the United Kingdom Iran’s Revolutionary Guard captured the crew at gunpoint and has paraded them around for television cameras. They’ve now forced the lone female to don a head-scarf and admit that she and her comrades infiltrated Iranian sovereignty.
I’ve been looking for the hate America crowd to demand the release of the sailors. After all these leftists seem to have become experts on the rules of war and the rights of the detained and insist that their motives are pure when they protest against the USA. They want to see the laws of war enforced, so why not now?
Foolishly I figured that since Iran is violating the rules of war and international law that these groups who take to the streets to protest the capture of any anti-America Muslim would be there now protesting this capture.
Whatever the reason for their non-action there is no doubt that the British sailors are prisoners by a foreign government. Using the logic of the anti-American protest groups every member should be out in force demanding that the British sailors be accorded the same privileges they demand for every death to America Islamic fanatic detained at Guantanamo Bay.
Where are the nut jobs that become enraged when a captured extremist is shown on camera at GITMO wearing prison garb, being fed, permitted to pray, sleep and even watch American Idol?
Where is Hollywood and all of the C and D list celebrities that come out to demand freedom for those who want to kill us (and freedom for those who did while helping in the planning of 9-11)? Are people like Cindy Sheehan, Sean Penn, Charlie Sheen and Rosie O’Donnell too busy to notice that our greatest ally in the world have servicemen captured by a regime that hates the USA?
Apparently their outrage is selective and reserved only for those who actually follow the rules of war and abide by the various conventions dealing with the care of captured enemies. Any capture of any Muslim willing to detonate an atomic bomb if he had one is met with jeers from the left and calls of racism. The capture of innocent sailors operating in Iraqi waters is dismissed and not even considered by this bunch of protesting hypocrites.
Instead, they blame America (because we’re there) and then effigies of servicemen and call on America to follow the laws that we already do. The Red Cross is at GITMO – the British embassy has not been allowed to even see or talk to the British sailors captured by Iran.
The abuse and mistreatment of illegally captured people from Britain has been met with silence from the vocal minority who claim their protests are all about rights.
These folks insist they are standing up for peace, justice and the rule of law. Code Pink and Moveon.Org enjoy protesting outside the hospital rooms of wounded American soldiers because in their minds soldiers deserve it, but they’re not outside any Iranian consulate or the UN demanding action from Iran.
They take offense at anything America or our coalition does to protect America from another 9-11 and have the injuries to prove it: burn marks from all of the candle wax that falls on their hands and allergic reactions to the spray paint they use to vandalize private property and monuments.
The good thing about this last week has been that it proves that most of America is right when they consider these professional protesters just a group of anti-American blowhards whose double standard about abiding the laws of war is obscene.
They’re not anti-war or anti-GITMO, they’re anti-American and anti-Western. If America captured a boatload of Iranians and the captured sailors claimed they were not in American water these protesters would believe them over America and take to the streets.
The New York Times would be demanding someone from the administration resign and Sean Penn would write some more poetry about blood soaked underwear while people clapped, burned flags and spat on recruiting posters and troops who happened by (especially those evil ROTC types).
When Iran boards a boat in Iraqi waters, takes the troops hostage, parades them through the streets, covers the head of the female and forces her to write a letter and violates every convention known to the rules of war outside of genocide (they haven’t gotten their nuke for Israel yet) – protesters ignore it.
Sheehan, Penn, O’Donnell and so many more from Hollywood must find virtue in the actions of Iran because they are certainly not showing any displeasure.
It should be obvious now (if it wasn’t before) by the lack of protests against Iran that burning flags and troops in effigy is not based on a moral code that war is wrong or that the US is violating the Geneva Convention. It is proof positive that these protesters don’t care about the UN, rules of war or international conventions. They just hate America.
They must because if they were truly protesting the use of force or their conceived violation of any number of UN conventions – they’d be in the streets over Iran’s actions and they’re not.
Leftists like Penn and O’Donnell would rather protest giving three square meals a day, prayer rugs and better living conditions than our own troops to people caught trying to kill American servicemen than to protest a sworn enemy of the United States.
It appears that the left’s attempt at virtue was all a façade and I knew that long ago and so did many Americans – it is just time to convince people in Berkeley and Frisco that protests against America with regard to fighting terrorism hurts America and aids the enemy.
They’re willing to play Islamic roulette with their lives. I’m not.
Steve Yuhas is a talk show host on AM 600 KOGO in southern California. He may be reached at www.steveyuhas.com or steve@steveyuhas.com