Santorum’s farewell: “The Gathering Storm of the 21st Century”
posted at 3:03 pm on December 8, 2006 by Allahpundit
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Never in my seven months of blogging for this site have I encountered meat this red. This is the speech he delivered a few nights ago after voting no on Robert Gates’s confirmation (the only other no vote came from Jim Bunning).
Whether we know it or not, they have been at war with us, and the State of Iran specifically has been at war with us, since 1979 when they declared war against the United States. They have not rescinded that declaration. So when we talk about engaging Iran as the Secretary, the new, future Secretary of Defense has talked about, we are talking about engaging someone who is at war with us, who has declared war with us, and who has been at war and, and as I will talk about here, and I think it has been widely reported in the press, has been doing a lot to substantiate the claim that they have been at war with us…
If we saw anything from the last election, the American public has no appetite for a broadening of this war, increasing the complexity of this war. You might be seen as warmongering, digging us deeper and more dangerously into a region of the world that we would rather not be in in the first place.
So what do we have? We have the Baker-Hamilton report which is a prescription for surrender. It is just a matter of time. It is certainly not a prescription for victory. Nowhere does it mention, other than of course that we would like victory, nor is there a prescription for victory in that report…
Iran did as I predicted on this floor back in the spring–they played us along. They said: Well, you know we will negotiate with you as long as we can continue to produce nuclear materials and continue our nuclear program. So we negotiated and we negotiated and they developed and they developed. So finally in September of this year, enough people on both sides of the aisle and enough people in the administration finally were convinced that this was not a viable strategy anymore. What did we gain? We passed the Iran Freedom and Support Act, which probably surprised most people in this Chamber. We passed it unanimously–one of the last things we did before we broke. Most Americans don’t know it. Unfortunately, most in the Middle East don’t know it. I suspect if we went into the bowels of the State Department they may know it, but they are not going to do a damned thing about it because that is not their intent. They do not want to do anything about it. My guess is they will take that money and spend it on a lot of conferences and studies on what we should do instead of giving it to the bus drivers who went on strike as a strike fund so they can stand up to the government. Instead of giving it to dissent groups so they can disseminate information, instead of actively engaging we will appease. We will study, we will delay, and they will have time to further build.
I’m not even going to try to blockquote the part about Hugo Chavez. Dynamite stuff, all of it. The whole speech is quite long but trust me, you’ll find it worth your time. I wouldn’t call myself a Santorum fan, but he sure went out with a bang.
Meanwhile, Gordon Smith took to the Senate floor last night to “speak from my heart” by deriding the war as borderline “criminal” and encouraging Bush to “cut and run” — in those exact words. Smith is a Republican.
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RED.
amerpundit on December 8, 2006 at 3:09 PM
Well,maybe Pelosi was right when she said that Al Q is not in Iraq anymore.Apparently they have moved to Rockford IL.
The appeasers and negotiators are just digging a hole I hope we can get out of, it is going to get real ugly real soon and we had better have the will to fight.To hell with world opinion, most of them want us dead anyway.
bbz123 on December 8, 2006 at 3:09 PM
I heard that the other night on Hewitt. I was thinking, and I know I am about to be burned for blasphemy, that it was “Reaganesque”.
This would be a great one for audio if you can find it. Not only does it read well, he delivered it well, which is very rare for Senate speeches.
see-dubya on December 8, 2006 at 3:10 PM
Tar-Tar. Vege’s are for ‘realists’.
Limerick on December 8, 2006 at 3:15 PM
Dynamite stuff indeed.
I’d almost swear Santorum lifted most of those statements from the comments section of HotAir.
I get the strange feeling that these quotes will have profound meaning in the next 50 years.
We may be repeating these quotes to our grandchildren one day in an attempt to explain why America is in such dispair.
natesnake on December 8, 2006 at 3:15 PM
I liked the suggestion of Santorum for UN ambassador. A recess appointment would work, too.
Attila (Pillage Idiot) on December 8, 2006 at 3:16 PM
He found his testículos too late!
Dread Pirate Roberts VI on December 8, 2006 at 3:17 PM
I take it you’ll be taking ASL (Arabic as a Second Language) classes??!!
Dread Pirate Roberts VI on December 8, 2006 at 3:19 PM
WOW. All I can say is YOU GO BOY!
dalewalt on December 8, 2006 at 3:21 PM
Who wants to be the star pupil and answer this simple question:
When does negotiation cease to be a useful tool?
natesnake on December 8, 2006 at 3:24 PM
Pat Toomey might have enjoyed meat so red…skip…
meat so red…skip…
meat so red…skip…
meat so red…barf…
meat so red…earlll…
Sorry; can’t get over it. And give 5 term Senator Arlen Specter a big round of applause, Thanks for coming by tonight Senator!
Jaibones on December 8, 2006 at 3:26 PM
Thank God someone gets it… I was afraid I was the only one… I hope he runs in 08
DarianCounts on December 8, 2006 at 3:26 PM
Santorum isn’t the perfect politician, but he damned sure knows where things stand. And he seem to think America ought to prevail.
It’s a shame that such an attitude makes him a loner in the United States Senate.
Pablo on December 8, 2006 at 3:26 PM
This is too strong of stuff for the land that brings us Murtha and Specter. Silly goose no wonder he couldn’t get reelected. Want further proof just look at the Steelers. C’mon PA has a governor that actively tried to get the absentee ballots from service members thrown out in ‘04. There ain’t a spine in the whole state. C’mon down south Rick where men are still men and they ain’t afraid to say so.
LakeRuins on December 8, 2006 at 3:28 PM
I’m stunned that anyone thinks that a nuclear armed Iran is a good idea under any circumstances.
Weirdbeards with nukes….hell, they can’t be trusted with regular arms.
quax1 on December 8, 2006 at 3:28 PM
I’m in my second semester. I figure why wait, go ahead and beat the rush.
Also I’ve got my SBA loan application in to open a chain of prayer rug discount outlets. It will be called Crazy Nate’s Discount Prayer Rugs & Falafal Emporium.
Sure, one day I’ll be a Muslim drone,…. but I’ll be a rich Muslim drone.
natesnake on December 8, 2006 at 3:30 PM
Wow. That’s not just red meat, it’s prime rib, grilled to utter metaphysical perfection.
I’m thinking Bryan and Rick Santorum have recently done a vulcan mind meld or some such thing.
thirteen28 on December 8, 2006 at 3:31 PM
thirteen28–did you think “Bryan” was his real name?
see-dubya on December 8, 2006 at 3:32 PM
Shouldn’t we all…?
CliffHanger on December 8, 2006 at 3:39 PM
Farsi.
They’re organized.
see-dubya on December 8, 2006 at 3:40 PM
What is Smith & Wesson in Farsi? How about Warning: Dogs bite is worse then his bark!
LakeRuins on December 8, 2006 at 3:42 PM
If Al-Queda has been reduced to throwing hand grenades in shopping malls I think we’ve won the war on terror.
JaHerer22 on December 8, 2006 at 3:44 PM
This just frosts me……Rick Santorum is right on so many counts.
Of course it is. That’s their goal, but WE do NOT have to accept it. We should tell Mr. Baker to lube his report with Preperation H and follow the directions!
We should be demanding victory, demanding strength, demanding accountability for the traitorous remarks and intelligence leaks. Why give any credibility to Mr. Baker, the MSM, the Democrats, CNN, etc., etc., etc.
Remember, just because they say it, DOESN’T make it true! We should be calling these people out everytime they open their mouths.
We have not lost in Iraq! We are not loosing in Iraq! Don’t get sucked into the MSM, the Democrats nor their agenda.
PinkyBigglesworth on December 8, 2006 at 3:50 PM
I think Zawhiri and Bin Laden turned down the surrender terms proposed by Baker/Hamilton since it didn’t include a set date for the withdrawal of US troops from the capitol of the caliphate.
/Other then that they have no problem with it
LakeRuins on December 8, 2006 at 3:54 PM
Im telling ya Santorum for UN Ambassidor !
William Amos on December 8, 2006 at 3:55 PM
GLORIOUS NEWS TO FOLLOW:
So 5-10 American civilian deaths per year is an acceptible casualty rate? Or is that per month? Or per week?
natesnake on December 8, 2006 at 3:56 PM
They killed 3,000 on 9/11 and most Americans seem content to accept that.
LakeRuins on December 8, 2006 at 3:58 PM
Before this is over, there’ll be a day of reckoning for those who brought this upon us through their greed, stupidity and cowardice. We need something to look forward to in the grim times ahead.
dhimwit on December 8, 2006 at 4:01 PM
Where was this during the campaign?
SouthernGent on December 8, 2006 at 4:03 PM
In PA talk like that loses you votes. Talk like Murtha makes you a shoo in.
LakeRuins on December 8, 2006 at 4:07 PM
WOW, Sen. Santorum really has it all figured out. It is clear that, when others nodded off in history class, Mr. Santorum paid attention.
Here’s hoping that he isn’t limited to the private sector for too long. Santorum ‘08.
flutejpl on December 8, 2006 at 4:09 PM
I checked a Farsi course out at the library a few months ago - enough to know whether I wanted to buy a course. It’s not too bad.
Laura on December 8, 2006 at 4:28 PM
I would have voted “No” on Gates, too. He’s probably a good guy, but I don’t perceive that he has any vision for the military or the country.
Moooooooo.
When it…begins…?
I’ve got a better idea. Open a magic carpet store on the roof of a ten story building, and offer to let potential customers take them for test drives.
Putting him at the UN is a waste. They don’t deserve him anyway. He should hve been SecDef instead of Gates, or maybe the next VP.
urbancenturion on December 8, 2006 at 4:42 PM
Gordon Smith is an idiot. I don’t know anyone here in Oregon who actually likes him. He got all weepy for the stem cell bill too.
Jacka**.
PaisleyCow on December 8, 2006 at 4:50 PM
Multipart answer:
If you are a socialist, who doesn’t care to support or defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, the answer is NEVER. Always negotiate, never act. The appearance of being civil rather than jingoistic is of the utmost importance, moreso than even national security.
If you are an American patriot, the answer is the moment your nation’s goals cease to be viewed in good faith by the other side of the table. In other words, before you reach the table, when it comes to anyone with world domination on their minds. Since the-bad-man-in-a-dinner-jacket has publicly declared his willingness to lose half of his population to defeat the West, we can safely say that point has been passed.
Freelancer on December 8, 2006 at 4:53 PM
Dude, that was, like, five whole years ago! Ya gotta stop living in the past, man!
Farmer_Joe on December 8, 2006 at 5:02 PM
Which is, at least for now, more than we’ve lost so far in Iraq. And yet nobody in the media talks about that…
I fear we will lose many thousands more in the coming years.
Dinsdale Piranha on December 8, 2006 at 5:17 PM
Reading Santorum’s speech reminds me of a couple of scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail:
- The first scene being where Lancelot charges the gates of a castle, the two gate guards just stupidly watch him come up and don’t lift a finger as he cuts them both down before massacring the people inside;
- The second scene being the “killer bunny” that - despite obvious warning signs (“Look at the bones!!”) - everybody treats like a joke (“One rabbit stew, coming up!”) until it starts ripping people’s throats out.
People see the dangers, and they just ignore them to their own destruction. Only the Python gang could make me laugh at that.
But what Santorum talks about is no laughing matter.
It’s been said that the greatest failure of the so-called “Greatest Generation” (”so-called” because if they were still living today I think that the American Revolution and Civil War generations would put up a spirited debate to that claim) was this: that they failed to replicate themselves.
Instead, we’ve presently got what history may one day remember as “The Stupidest Generation:” after all, it only took one Pearl Harbor to wake up our parents and grandparents to the mortal threat they faced. Evidently, given that the electorate last month voted for what amounts to a “vacation” from fighting the present struggle, we’ll need two or three Pearl Harbors to achieve the same effect.
So let the Iranians and North Koreans build their bombs. Let Chavez turn South and Central America into another cauldron of violent revolution and anti-Americanism. Let the Syrians gobble up Lebanon again. Bug out of Iraq and let the whole region go to hell.
Ironically enough, the faster we let our enemies work up the means and the gumption to clobber us another two or three times, the faster we might finally reclaim our WWII forebears’ collective spine and confront what lonely Rick Santorum already sees coming down the tracks.
And as an Oregon resident, I second what PaisleyCow says above about Gordon Smith. He’s always been a squishy Republican, at best, and a borderline RINO on too many occasions (including this one).
Spurius Ligustinus on December 8, 2006 at 5:43 PM
Good question…
One example is early December 1941. While we were negotiating with Japan, at the exact time we were sitting down and negotiating, half their fleet was ON ITS WAY to bomb Pearl Harbor.
When your enemy, and history, show that you should not trust them at the table, and as Santorum’s entire speech points out as proof, Iran and all islamafascists can not be trusted, EVER.
Maybe we could just believe what they say, that they want all infidels dead, or converted to islam.
We negotiate AFTER they’ve proven they can be trusted, and not a minute before.
shooter on December 8, 2006 at 6:01 PM
ANOTHER BOOK FOR THE PRICKS IN WASHINGTON TO READ:
HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR by Thucydides
Troy Rasmussen on December 8, 2006 at 6:39 PM
I’m willing to bet there are at least a few members of Congress, in both houses, who see as clearly as Santorum does and believe as we do, but they are too afraid of losing their seats to say it like he does. He lost his seat because he didn’t sugar-coat things, and others will frantically slather the sugar on as a result–they don’t want to suffer his fate. Kudos to Santorum for being a man of firm beliefs and convictions, not a wishy-washy politician.
aero on December 8, 2006 at 7:00 PM
If by some miracle, Santorum were recess appointed to replace Bolton at the UN, my ill feelings about that particular subject would be much improved.
But something tells me that President Bush never really much cared for Santorum in the first place, and that the ‘new tone’ in the Adminsitration would make Santorum Persona non grata around the White House.
Shame, really. Santorum is one of the few that cares more about the survival of the Nation than he he does merely retaining his power and membership in the Frat Boys Club of the Senate.
LegendHasIt on December 8, 2006 at 7:24 PM
LegendHasIt,
The litmus test for who is and isn’t persona non grata with the administration seems to be a person’s stance on immigration, period. Teddy the Swimmer is more welcome to the White House than Tom Tancredo or Rick Santorum.
Unless someone can devise a formula to squelch the Politics of Pull as the prime motive force in Washington, we are in a death spiral as a constitutional republic.
Freelancer on December 8, 2006 at 7:34 PM
Just saw a clip with the Gordon Smith thing…..
Sorry, but I find it difficult to take a guy with a two dollar wig on his head very seriously.
LegendHasIt on December 8, 2006 at 7:36 PM
Santorum has been talking about this for a long time. He is right about a lot, but I don’t quite think he completely understands Islam enough to recognize why the threat is so grave. I watched his speech that night, all of it, and thought he was shadowing Churchill, even with quotes from that man, to deserve recognition. Thanks HA for pointing out his excellent speech. However, I am very, very afraid that it will take something far worse than 9/11 to *finally* awaken the american people to the significant threat of Islamic Supremacism.
Defeat Jihad!!!
rslancer14 on December 8, 2006 at 8:08 PM
What the American people fail to understand is that the military, if unleashed, could win this local battle against the global jihad with no more pain or inconvenience to the genral population or economy than purposely trying to lose now costs us.
The failure is of imagination and survival instincts on the part of the diffident civilians. Merely seeing (Media purposely) upsetting images of the (Media purposely) confusing conflict, for two minutes, on their evening news, is enough to fatally unnerve them.
Thank God they weren’t at Bunker Hill. Or Gettysburg. Or Iwo Jima. Or Omaha Beach. Or confronting the gates of Dachau and Auschwitz.
The extent of the spinelessness is staggering.
And it encourages the predatory jihadists.
Leaving the only real question left in this War:
How many more must die to finally wake the West?
profitsbeard on December 8, 2006 at 8:27 PM
The a-holes who weremembers of that report are frauds… and soon we will be threatened by an Iran with nukes. I hope the pricks in DC enjoy the misery they have started..
retired on December 8, 2006 at 8:43 PM
Santorum is the kind of leader we need to face the threats confronting us. He names our enemies. He names their goals. He shows how to fight them.
We’ve got to figure out a way to keep him in public view.
I’m really pissed that it seemed like the GOP wrote him off.
I’m getting tired of hearing the elites telling us that we’ve lost and have to accept it.
How come we have to appease the iranians or any of these other third world armpits? They don’t have nukes (yet) cruise missles, aircraft carriers, stealth aircraft, or satelites. They should be beging us not to wipe them off the planet. What’s their leverage, cheap oil? We’ve got oil too, plus nuclear, solar, wind, and pig-shit for crying out loud. In the next 2 years electric plugin SUVs will be available that can go 250 miles on a charge. Its time to start throwing or weight around.
Iblis on December 8, 2006 at 10:27 PM
Profitsbeard, I would like to respectfully disagree with you. War is politics by extreme means. It is a tool to express and impose your political will. Islamofacism, radical Islam, or whatever else you might call it is spread out in dozens of countries. It is concentrated most strongly in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and Pakistan. It is very, very strong in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and parts of Turkey. It exists in varying degrees in nearly every country in Europe, Asia, and Africa. There is no way the military can destroy or defeat an ideology this widespread. We have no political will to invade Iran or to lend direct military assistance to Pakistan, Turkey, or Saudi Arabia (these countries have no political will to accept direct military assistance, either).
The bottom line, unfortunately: Santorum is right. Iran and much of Islam have declared war on us. And you are right: We don’t care, yet. We won’t care until it gets much, much worse.
cmay on December 9, 2006 at 9:12 AM
…finally finished reading Santorum’s speech.
It should be *MADE* required reading at the White House.
Sadly, I’m sure that Santorum’s regarded around DC today as a has-been, a lame-duck crank whose views, inconveneint to leisure-seeking constituents daily awash in apologist propaganda, got him ousted from the Senate. Be that as it may, he’s going to turn into this generation’s Cassandra…destined to speak the truth and have no one believe him.
Let’s keep an eye out for this boy.
Puritan1648 on December 9, 2006 at 12:31 PM
Santorum/Watts ‘08
Tim Burton on December 10, 2006 at 12:19 AM
Nice simplification of Clausewitz. That may work when you have two Christian nations intending to fight, it doesn’t work when you have a religion spread over 23% of the human population that requires their killing of infidels. We may act like it is politics, but it isn’t. It’s about survival and civilization.
We did in WWII, granted it wasn’t as widespread. But without violating my promise to Allah, it requires mass force to oppress the evil of the region (read into what group I’m referring to as you will.) and the Christianization of the people.
Tim Burton on December 10, 2006 at 12:28 AM
We defeated armies and navies in WWII. Al Qaida has neither. Hitler and Hirohito were attempting to conquer landmasses. Al Qaida is trying to foment chaos. This is asymetric warfare in both its methods and its goals.
We (the US) have three huge problems with defeating Al Qaida:
1) We’ve never fought this kind of war before. It’s going to take a while for DoD, the State Dept, and the rest of the administration to figure things out. And they’ll make plenty of mistakes along the way.
2) We do not understand Muslim culture. We project Western value on them.
3) The American public wants a quick, clean fix. Islamo-facism didn’t spring up overnight. It is a centuries-old problem. And they know we are impatient.
I don’t think the US, even if we fully mobilized could muster a force that massive. Even if we could, I don’t think we should. Even if we should, someone would have to convince the American people that we should and that we should accept the inevitable casualties.
After 9/11, Bush told the people to lead their lives normally, go on a cruise, shop a lot . . . . This may have been his greatest mistake. He missed the opportunity to get the American people engaged. He should have told the US people to gird their loins and prepare for a long, confusing struggle; to prepare for bad news and bad times; to make personal sacrifices to win this war. Instead he ensured the “me” generation was uninvolved.
If people aren’t engaged in a lot of meaningful work, they do two things: gossip and complain. You wanna know why support for the war has eroded?
cmay on December 10, 2006 at 8:29 AM
cmay, Al Qeada is trying to conquer territory, not just foment chaos. They’re trying to create an idealized Caliphae with the ultimate goal of Islamic domination of the planet. Look at how fast they’ve moved into Somalia.
Al Qeada and the jihadist movement in general is kinda like the Airbus of Islamic governements. The jihadis will attack who they want, but they get their funding and resources from Islamic governments like Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Those countries get to have their enemies hurt, and yet they can deny responsibility and prevent retaliation on themselves. So they get their cake and eat it too. To stop terrorism the terror sponsoring states have to go. Then you have to go after the ancilliary sources of funding they get, like the west’s reliance on muslim oil. Then you have to go after the philosophy of Islam, because everywhere Islam has been imposed, misery, poverty, and conflict are sure to follow.
Finally we need to makes these countries start to appease us. We’ve talked softly long enough. Its time to start swinging the big stick.
Iblis on December 10, 2006 at 1:34 PM
Iblis,
Al Qaida is not trying to conquer territory. They are trying to drive US/Western influence out of the Middle East by making the governments and people in the region hostile to us. If they can’t do that, they foment chaos and we leave because no politician can sustain the domestic political price of nation building.
Al Qaida doesn’t have a military force, per se. It is a loosely knit group with a common interest and figurehead. Despite some conjecture that Bin Laden wants a Caliphate from Thailand to the UK, it is more accurate to say that the Islamo-facist movement is based on removing Western influence from Muslim lands and reestablishing Muslim rule through any land that was ever Islamic (including Southern Europe). This is different than having a single Caliphate, which Al Qaida has not even called for (Ahmedinijad has implied that he is working for this, though).
I don’t necessarily disagree with your remedy. I don’t think we’ve tried very hard to do this. But the UN and EU have resisted any meaningful action and Bush is reluctant to widen military action.
Bottom line: the US lacks the political will to win. We can argue about the ultimate goal of UBL and Al Qaida, how to deal with state sponsors of terrorism, and the right ratio of diploamacy to military threat. But I still contend (and you may agree) that we have yet to demonstrate the will to will.
cmay on December 10, 2006 at 3:11 PM
I live in PA and I am proud to have claimed Senator Santorum as one of my senators. I voted for him and I am still proud of him after I read this speech. Some day PA will regret voting him out.
bookwurm322 on December 10, 2006 at 8:58 PM