Filed under: Observations
The Washington Post has published this story saying that 13 homicides have been reported in Washington DC over the past 14 days.
I wonder if the politicians who are outraged over the amount of time it is taking to secure Iraq are equally outraged by the violence in their own city?
Filed under: Observations
Washington DC is not one of the best cities in the US. If it were not for the fact that I love my job (a non-government private sector job) I would be moving out.
DC is a very liberal city. The Democratic leadership is week on crime (gangs operate in the open just a few blocks from my office) and has outlawed private ownership of guns (by refusing to issue permits), however there are weekly shootouts between the local gangs and police. Homicide case resolution rates in DC are lower than reported because (as a former police officer friend of mine told me) when a gang member is killed, his name is linked as the killer in other crimes and therefore those crimes are labeled as solved.
DC is also a very racist city. My office is in an overwhelmingly black neighborhood. If I had a dollar for every time I was called a racial slur (by a crackhead pissed at me because I wouldn’t give him a dollar or gave him a Wendy’s combo meal instead of the money) I could retire early. A few months ago a former (Irish) manager of mine was in a car accident when he was hit from the side by a black woman who ran a stop sign. When my manager asked witnesses (all of whom were black) to stay around and tell a cop what they saw he was told to "F—- Off". When the police officer did show up, people who were not in the area at the time of the accident told the police office they saw the accident and it was my old managers fault. (like a car could drive sideways and only leave skid marks in the direction away from the initial impact) The office then said the accident was a "no fault" and left without filling out a report. Lucky for my old manager the car was a rental, so he took the cops badge number and the license plate of the woman who hit him and turned it over to the rental company to deal with.
Now breitbart.com reports Nation’s Capital Declares Crime Emergency because of a recent jump in reported robberies and murders.
It is a shame that the Capital city of the United States of America is such a dump.
Filed under: Observations
Yahoo news reports that two people were killed by the local Islamic authority for watching the World Cup. Does not this strike you as a bit insane? I will admit that my knowledge of Islam is limited, but death for watching a Soccer game? This disregard for the value of life is mind blowing.
There truly is evil in the world.
While talking to a co-worker about the War on Terror, he made a statement that is common in the public debate over the war in Iraq. He said, "This is an illegal war."
How does one come to the conclusion that the war in Iraq is illegal?
Article 2, Section 2 of the US Constitution reads:
The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States…
Article 1, Section 8, paragraph 11 says that Congress has the power:
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
On October 10th, 2002 the resolution (H.J. Res. 114) granting President Bush the authority to wage war against Iraq was passed by both the US House (296-113) and Senate (77-23). This resolution authorizes President Bush to "use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to (1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and (2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq."
By all accounts, this war is very much legal. The Executive and Legislative branches of government have followed US Law and are now executing a war in accordance with US Law.
How then do individuals claim that the US is engaged in an illegal war?
When asked about the Iraq war in September 2004 BBC Interview, UN Secretary General, His Excellency (as he is officially titled), Kofi Annan said, "I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter from our point of view, from the charter point of view, it was illegal." He went on to say that the decision to go to take action in Iraq, "should have been made by the Security Council, not unilaterally."
So there we have it, the war in Iraq is determined to be illegal, not because it breaks US laws, enacted by individuals elected to office by public elections, but because the Secretary General of the United Nations claims that it was so. I don’t recall the Constitution granting the UN Secretary General any authority in the use of US military power. In fact, as a US citizen, I have more legal authority in US political affairs than Kofi Annan.
Those who claim the war in Iraq is illegal seem to be uneducated in US Constitutional Law. The US is a sovereign nation and is not subject to UN Charters. We may sign chargers and hold ourselves to them, but that is at our discretion.
