LtCol Oliver L. North
is a nationally syndicated columnist and the
honorary chairman of Freedom Alliance. An
educational and charitable foundation, the
Alliance was founded in 1990 by LtCol North,
who now serves as the organization's honorary
chairman. The committee works to promote freedom
and liberty, support the American military
and educate American youth on the military.
Oliver
North Column Archive
The
Freedom Alliance Website
Sound
Off! - Have an opinion about this
column? Visit the Oliver North discussion
forum.
Fox
News: War Stories - Get a glimpse
of this show hosted by LtCol North.
Mission
Compromised - Read about LtCol
North's latest novel.
Ollie
Books - Autographed copies of "War
Stories", "Jericho Sanction",
and "Mission Compromised".
|
|
|
|
|
Your Two Cents
Submit your stories, news items, or a benefits update -- and help Military.com bring the best, most important stories to your fellow servicemembers, veterans, and family members. Contribute here
|
|
|
July 7, 2005
Washington, D.C. - Brian Williams, main character of the
dark, prime time NBC satire called "The Nightly News," is now a
finalist, with Newsweek Magazine and Senator Dick Durbin, for the
title, "Revisionist Historian of The Year." The honor goes to the
creator of the biggest whopper defaming America and/or Americans
for which an apology is required. The judges have to decide whether
the recipient created the fiction out of malevolence or ignorance.
No extra points are awarded for stupidity.
Newsweek had the inside track on the prize until the editors
retracted an unsubstantiated charge that Americans had flushed a
Quran down a toilet at the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo
Bay. Then, a few weeks later, Mr. Durbin claimed the honor by imaginatively
comparing members of America's Armed Forces with those of Adolf
Hitler, Josef Stalin and Cambodia's Pol Pot. He subsequently kind-of
apologized for giving "some people" a "mistaken impression."
Now, Mr. Williams has moved to the fore with a delightful fiction
that America's founding fathers are no different than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
the Islamic radical who was recently selected as the next president
of Iran. On June 31st, following a report that Mr. Ahmadinejad might
have been one of those who sacked our Tehran embassy and seized
52 American hostages in 1979, Mr. Williams said, "what would it
all matter if proven true?...The first several U.S. Presidents were
certainly revolutionaries and might have been called terrorists
at the time."
In order to qualify for the award as "Revisionist Historian of the
Year," the statement made must be patently untrue, but widely accepted
as the truth. In the case of Newsweek's "Quran in the Guantanamo
toilet" claim, the charge was thoroughly refuted by reputable investigators
-- but widely accepted as fact in the Islamic media. Mr. Durbin's
fabrication was mathematically implausible since more than thirty
million people perished in Khmer Rouge, Nazi and Soviet detention,
while none have died at Guantanamo. Nonetheless it continues to
be repeated throughout the Islamic world.
Judging Mr. Williams' creation is a more difficult task, requiring
knowledge of both Mr. Ahmadinejad's words and deeds -- as well as
those of "the first several U.S. Presidents." Since recent polls
show that most of Mr. Williams' viewers cannot even recite the names
of "the first several U.S. Presidents" -- and know even less about
the new Iranian president -- awarding Mr. Williams the prize is
problematic. If he wants the recognition he deserves, Mr. Williams
should spell out some of the following facts:
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , the new president of Iran, has proudly proclaimed
his membership in the Pasdaran -- the Iranian Revolutionary Guards
Corps -- the entity responsible for seizing the U.S. Embassy and
holding American diplomats and Marines hostage for 444 days. He
now claims that he only supported the embassy seizure because that's
what Ayatollah Khomeini wanted. Ahmadinejad insists he did not participate
in it, but at least four of the former hostages place the president-"elect"
among their captors.
Iranian reformers - who were not allowed to run in the presidential
"election" that Mr. Ahmadinejad "won" -- claim that in the 1980s
he was with the "Internal Security" department of the IRGC and had
responsibility for "interrogations, torture and executions." According
to current and former IRGC leaders, during that same time frame
the organization assisted the Hezbollah
terrorist organization in kidnapping Americans in Beirut, killing
241 Marines at the barracks near the Beirut airport and twice blowing
up the American embassy in the Lebanese capital. One of Mr. Ahmadinejad's
most memorable lines: "We did not have a revolution in order to
have a democracy." So far, he's yet to condemn the mass murder in
London.
|
Mr. Williams doesn't specify, but "the first several U.S. Presidents"
must include George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James
Madison, James Monroe and perhaps Andrew Jackson -- the last U.S.
President to have served in the American Revolution.
George Washington commanded the Continental Army - in uniform, not
as a terrorist. The warrant against him by the British crown charged
him with rebellion -- not terrorism. There is no record of Washington
ever being involved in torture, hostage taking or murder but we know
he repatriated British diplomats. One of his most memorable lines:
"It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of
his natural liberty upon the supposition he may abuse it."
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison served in civil and/or
diplomatic capacities during the Revolution. None was involved in
any known acts of terror against the British or their allies. Their
most memorable lines are found in the Record of the Continental
Congress, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of
the United States.
James Monroe served as an officer in the Continental Army and was
wounded in the Battle of Trenton. There is no record of any involvement
in torturing hostages or committing any acts of terrorism. His most
notable lines were contained in the Monroe Doctrine.
John Quincy Adams was a child during the Revolution and committed
no known acts of terrorism. He is best remembered for advocating
the abolition of slavery during the 17 years he served in the House
of Representatives after being President.
Andrew Jackson served in the Continental Army as a teen-aged boy.
His face bore the scar of a British officer's saber cut -- a wound
inflicted after young Jackson refused to clean his captor's boots.
His best lines were in opposing the creation of a government banking
system.
To those who know the facts, the difference between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
and "the first several U.S. Presidents" is stark and profound. That's
what makes Brian Williams' gross distortion so breathtaking in scope
and so appealing to those who hate America and Americans, especially
in the aftermath of what just happened in London. On the bright
side, Williams may have clinched the title: "Revisionist Historian
of the Year."
[Have an opinion on this column? Sound
off here.]
© 2005 Oliver North. All opinions expressed
in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those
of Military.com.
|
