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The Forsyth County News
Opinion
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OIYJCQUNGIL
Mayor, H. Ford Gravitt
P.O. Box 3177, Cumming, GA 30028; (770) 887-4342
Mayor Pro-Tem. Lewis Ledbetter
205 Mountain Brook Dr., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-3019
Ralph Perry
1420 Pilgrim Rd., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-7474
Quincy Holton
103 Hickory Ridge Dr., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-5279
Rupert Sexton
705 Pine Lake Dr., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-4332
John Pugh
10813th St., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-3342
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
, Charles Laughinghouse, Post 1
3550 Rosewicke Dr., Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 886-7937; office, (770) 886-2010
David “A.J," Pritchett, Post 2
4840 Chesterfield Court, Suwanee, GA 30024
(404) 392-6983; office, (770) 886-2809
John A. “Jack” Conway, Post 3
6130 Polo Club Dr., Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 886-9226; (770) 886-2807
Mancie Kreager. Post 4
9810 Kings Rd.. Gainesville. GA 30506
office. (770) 886-2806
Eddie Taylor, Post 5
4195 Morningside Dr., Cumming. GA 30041
(770) 886-2802
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Ann Crow
96 Barker Rd.. Cumming. GA 30040
(770) 887-9640: acrow@forsyth.kl2.ga.us
Paul Kreager
9810 Kings Rd., Gainesville. GA 30506
(770) 889-9971: pkreager@forsyth.kl2.ga.us
Nancy Roche
7840 Chestnut Hill Rd.. Cumming. GA 30041
(770) 889-0229: nroche@forsyth.kl2.ga.us
Rebecca K. Dowell
2030 Commonwealth Place. Cumming. GA 30041
(770) 844-0830: rdowell@forsyth.kl2.ga.us
Chairman Jeffrey Stephens
P.O. Box 169. Cumming, GA 30028
(770) 889-1470: jstephens@forsyth.kl2.ga.us
NATIONAL LEGISLATORS
tU.S. Sen. Zell Miller
Russell Senate Office Building, Room C-3
Washington. DC. 20510
(202) 224-3643: Fax: (202) 228-2090
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss |
1019 Longworth House Office Building L - - J
Washington, DC. 20515 1
(202) 224-3521
U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, 10th District
F 2437 Raybum House Office Building,
* Washington, DC. 20515
L 4 Gainesville: PO. Box 1015, Gainesville, GA 30503
I 'J® Gainesville. (770) 535-2592
I—3® Washington: (202) 225-5211; Fax: (202) 225-8272
U.S. Rep. John Linder, 7th District
1727 Longworth House Office Building, I .
Washington. DC. 20515-1011 1 4
Washington: (202) 225-4272; Fax: (202) 225-4696 Lk
STATE LEGISLATORS
a Sen. David Shafer, 48th District
109 State Capitol
Atlanta. GA 30334
(404)651-7738
Sen. Casey Cagle, 49th District Lt -r
--421 State Capitol, Atlanta, GA 30334 F - lij
(404)656-6578; Fax:(404)651-6768
BSen. Dan Moody, 27th District
(770) 695-3127;
Office (404) 463-8055 ,
Sen. Renee Unterman, 45th District MR
(770) 466-1507; ■ '
Office (404) 463-1368 ft j
~ Rep. Tom Knox, 14th District
Legislative Office Building, Room 504
- 18 Capitol Square, Atlanta, GA 30334
V<.. a (404) 656-0188, (770) 887-0400, law office
SRep. Jan Jones, 38th District
412 Legislative Office Building, Atlanta GA 30334
(404) 656-0137
Rep. Jack Murphy, 14th District I
Legislative Office Building, '
Room 612, Atlanta GA 30334 CJrl
(404)656-0325 JO
(770) 781 -9319, home IWt
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Generals unhappy with Bush
WASHINGTON The
New York Times Book
Review of last Sunday
received unusual attention in
the Pentagon's corridors this
week. The review of "In the
Company of Soldiers" by
Washington Post war corre
spondent Rick Atkinson
reveals the ridiculously low
estimate made by the
Pentagon's civilian leadership
of troops needed in Iraq.
Those words echoed eerily
amid news of open fighting in
Baghdad between U.S. troops
and Shiite militia.
In the "afterword" follow
ing his brilliant account of the
actual war, Atkinson wrote:
Pentagon planners in early
May had predicted that U.S.
troop levels would be down to
30.000 by late summer (of
2003)." That was the first time
that prediction had been seen
in print by startled readers at
the Defense Department. The
existing 125,000 troop-level
(currently at 135,000 because
of replacements) is considered
inadequate by the generals.
Gen. John Abizaid. the region
al commander-in-chief, is not
a yes-man and has made clear
he will ask for more troops if
his subordinate commanders
need them.
But Afghanistan also needs
more troops. So, where will
they come from? Nobody
knows, and that connotes an
Fake political victims seek to smear nation
Ever since self-defacing
teenager Tawana Brawley
smeared feces all over herself,
scrawled "KKK" and "n—-r"
on her skin, climbed into a
trash bag. and blamed it on
racist cops in New York.
America has been victimized
by wannabe victims
warped publicity-seekers so
desperate for attention that
they’ll fake the hate by any
means necessary.
Brawley (who now calls
herself Maryam Muhammad)
is all grown up. But her psy
chologically stunted heirs con
tinue to soak up public sympa
thy and squander police
resources. Recent media atten
tion has focused on the pathet
ic case of Audrey Seiler, a 20-
year-old sophomore at the
University of Wisconsin at
Madison who reportedly faked
her own abduction and sent
150 cops on an intensive man
hunt. The search ended when
law enforcement authorities
discovered Seiler in a marsh
two miles from her home. A
store surveillance tape re
vealed that Seiler herself had
purchased a knife, duct tape
and rope found at the "crime"
scene.
Experts have compared
Seiler to Brawley, but the
analogy does not quite fit.
There will always be lone
troubled hoaxers like Seiler
who abuse a community's
compassion for bizarre per
sonal gratification. What made
Robert
Novak ‘ f
overcommitment by the U.S.
and a miscalculation at the
Defense Department. The uni
formed military does not
speak out publicly, but the
generals are outraged. A for
mer national security official
who held high office in previ
ous Republican administra
tions considers the relation
ship at the Pentagon between
civilians and the military as
worse than at any time in his
long career.
At the heart of this debate
is the original belief by
Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld's team that con
quering U.S. troops would be
welcomed by open arms in
Iraq. In this highly political
season. Democrats are
replaying the debate of a year
ago. Gen. Eric Shinseki, then
about to leave as the Army's
chief of staff, said "several
hundred thousand soldiers"
could be needed in Iraq.
"Way off the mark," retorted
Deputy Defense Secretary
Paul Wolfowitz.
Adhering to the principle
of civilian control of the mili
tary and unvarying obedience
to orders, the generals have
Michelle ® ’Vb
Malkin JB
the Brawley case truly distinct
and despicable, however, was
its underlying political agen
da. Braw ley and her race card
playing patrons. Al Sharpton,
Alton Maddox and C. Vernon
Mason, maliciously smeared
innocent white men-to falsely
reinforce the notion of
America as an unredeemable
oppressor of females and
minorities. This vicious strain
of Tawana Brawleyism is alive
and well on college campuses.
In these educational temples
of the perpetually aggrieved,
rationality and truth have been
recklessly sacrificed at the
altar of diversity.
I've reported before on the
hate crime hoax phenomenon
at Arizona State University
(where Muslim student
Ahmad Saad Nasim faked
assaults against himself to
exploit the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks) and at the University
of Mississippi (where black
students falsely blamed racist
vandalism against fellow
black students on whites). The
latest case of apparently man
ufactured racism involves left
wing academic Kerri Dunn.
On March 9, the Claremont
McKenna College visiting
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Frldiy, April », 2004
not publicly expressed their
opinion that Shinseki was
much closer to the truth than
Wolfowitz. However, the
widely respected Abizaid
made clear Monday that he
was not going to be the fall
guy if conditions in Iraq fur
ther deteriorate. If command
ers want more troops to fulfill
their mission, he will ask for
them. That would leave
Rumsfeld with no choice. The
secretary announced on
Tuesday that the generals
"will get what they ask."
The problem of where to
find these troops is not easily
solved. There are simply no
large units available and suit
able for assignment. The 3rd
Infantry Division was sent
home early, but is now in the
midst of Rumsfeld's "trans
formation" (from three
brigades to five) and so is not
ready to be inserted into
combat. National Guard
brigades could be activated,
but the need for full training
before going to war means
they cannot help resolve the
present crisis.
Democrats have demand
ed the use of foreign troops,
but countries that previously
refused to help without a
United Nations mandate have
not changed their minds.
Britain announced Tuesday it
was replacing an armored
brigade, keeping their contri-
professor of psychology
claimed she discovered anti-
Semitic. anti-black, anti
woman epithets ("kike," "nig
ger lover" and "whore") spray
painted on her 1992 Honda
Civic. The car's windows were
smashed and the tires slashed.
Dunn had been a vocal critic
of other alleged racist inci
dents on campus. After she
reported the incident, adminis
trators and students rallied
around Dunn; classes were
cancelled at all five of the
Claremont Colleges; local and
federal authorities launched an
investigation.
Things started smelling
funny when so many students
didn't even know what "kike"
meant that the campus rabbi
had to put out an explanatory
press release. Dunn, for that
matter, isn't even Jewish. She
is a Catholic "considering"
converting to Judaism. So how
did Dunn's purported assail
ants know this? She explained
that the attack which she
called "a well-planned-out act
of terrorism" must have
been committed by her own
students, who knew of her
plans to convert. More irk
some questions arose. How
did the assailants know which
car on the campus parking lot
was hers? The students must
have followed her, Dunn said.
And what about the $1,700 in
property she told police had
been stolen, which mysteri
ously turned up in Dunn's pos-
button at the present level of
8,700 troops but not adding
any. Spain's new leftist gov
ernment wants out. That
leaves only Turkey willing to
help, but the U.S. has ruled
that out in the face of fierce
Kurdish opposition.
Although underestimating
troop needs in a less political
environment would mean fix
ing the blame at the Pentagon,
every issue today becomes a
test of party loyalty. Sens.
Richard Lugar and Chuck
Hagel, the top two Repub
licans on the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, are
assailed by the White House
for offering constructive criti
cism. With Sen. Edward M.
Kennedy setting the
Democratic line by saying that
"Iraq is George Bush's
Vietnam." sensible dialogue is
impossible.
While Democrats roar, the
generals are silent in pub
lic. Many confide that they
will not cast their normal
Republican votes on Nov. 2.
They cannot bring them
selves to vote for John Kerry,
who has been a consistent
Senate vote against the mili
tary. But these generals say
they are unable to vote for
Don Rumsfeld's boss, and so
will not vote at all.
Robert Novak is a nation
ally syndicated columnist and
a television commentator.
session? No explanation.
The final blow to Dunn's
credibility came when
Claremont police and the FBI
concluded that Dunn the vic
tim was also the victimizes
Giving new meaning to the
phrase "auto vandalism." two
witnesses told investigators
that they saw Dunn drive her
car adorned with the
offending graffiti into a
parking lot and smash the car s
windows and slash the tires
herself. Investigators and
administrators say the wit
nesses are credible and (unlike
Dunn) have no agenda.
As is typical in these cases,
the perpetrator and her loyal
supporters are in denial. Dunn,
who was involved in past tan
gles with the law over
shoplifting charges, blames
the police for being irresponsi
ble and "irreparably dam
aging) her reputation and
emotional health." Minority
students shrug at the fraud.
"I'm not concerned with
whether it's a hoax or not,"
said Pomona College junior
Adam Briggs of the Pan-
African Student Association.
Os course not. When it
comes to smearing America,
as Tawana Brawley taught us
all so well, the end always
justifies the manufactured
means.
Michelle Malkin is a
nationally syndicated colum
nist. Her e-mail address is
malkin @ Comcast, net.
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