After reading Kagro X's wonderful frontpage article "GOP: If we debate the surge, we lose.", I decided to do a little digging on my own. Pete Hoekstra is unfortunately my Congressman and I thought that I might expand the portrait of Hoekstra that Kagro X started with his diary.
In this diary I have put together a collection of links for every instance of Hoekstra's "radical Islamist" terror list. I also am including a bit of Hoekstra's history of delusions and lies. I have added contact information for every Newspaper in Michigan's 2nd Congressional District at the end of this diary. Just in case anyone feels like writing a letter to the editors, about Hoekstra's insanity.
I have transcribed Hoekstra's letter below, for those of you that do not want to open a pdf file. The original pdf letter can be found here. (I don't believe that I am breaking any copyright laws by transcribing this letter, because the letter is available to download from Steny Hoyer's house.gov website. If I am wrong about this, please let me know and I will remove the transcription of the letter.)
**The only modifications that I have made to this letter and list are the addition of links to more information pertaining to the dates and books in question.
Iraq Resolution Debate
Their Terms or Ours?
February 13, 2007
Dear Colleague:
We are writing to urge you not to debate the Democratic resolution on their terms, but rather on ours.
Democrats want to force us to focus on defending the surge, making the case that it will work and explaining why the President's new Iraq policy is different from prior efforts and therefor justified.
We urge you to instead broaden the debate to the threat posed to Americans, the world, and all "unbelievers" by radical Islamists. We would further urge you to join us in educating the American people about the views of radical Islamists and the consequences of not defeating radical Islam in Iraq.
The debate should not be about the surge or its details. This debate should not even be about the Iraq war to date, mistakes that have been made, or whether we can, or cannot, win militarily. If we let the Democrats force us into a debate on the surge or the current situation in Iraq, we lose.
Rather, the debate must be about the global threat of the radical Islamist movement. No radical Islamist leader, including Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahari, and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has ever claimed that the goal of radical Islam is Iraq alone or if they succeed in Iraq this war against us would end. In fact, Robert Kagen recently wrote a piece for the Washington Post entitled "Grand Delusion" noting many politicians' desire to wish the war away. He notes that those who call for an end to the war don't want to talk about the fact that the war in Iraq and in the region will not end, but will only grow more dangerous if and when we walk away.
Thanks to the liberal mainstream media, Americans fully understand the consequences of continuing our efforts in Iraq - both in American lives and dollars. The American people do not understand the consequences of abandoning that effort or the extreme views, goals, and intentions of the radical Islamist movement that is fueling the war in Iraq and the attacks on westerners and unbelievers throughout the world.
The attached map and list of some of the attacks worldwide since 2002 illustrates the global nature of this threat.
Join us in asking our Democratic colleagues the essential question: If we do not defeat radical Islam in Iraq, then where will we do so?
We will send further information in the coming days. However, should your staff require further details, please have them contact Eric V. Schlecht at 5-3361 to get these insightful books: "Knowing the Enemy" by Mary Habeck and "America Alone" by Mark Steyn.
Sincerely,
John Shadegg Pete Hoekstra
Member of Congress Member of Congress
Now tell me, am I the only one that read this letter and thought, "This madman seems to think that we should NEVER leave Iraq"? Not only does it seem that he believes that we should never leave Iraq, he doesn't even seem to think that we can win! I suppose that we have no choice BUT to stay in Iraq forever though, everyone knows that they'll follow our solders home and kill us all in our beds if we leave. According to my Congressman-the genius, we only have two choices in regards to Iraq: let them kill our solders there, or have them kill EVERYONE here.
Let me see if I have this straight... My Congressman is actually recommending a book titled "America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It" as "insightful" reading to other members of Congress? Although I have not read the book, according to the "From the Inside Flap" section of Amazon, the title pretty much says it all. If I am not mistaken, this is apparently an apocalypse, end-of-the-world-is-on-its-way, type of book. The New York Post has a portion of "America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It" up for your reading pleasure, enjoy!
The following is Hoekstra and Shadegg's handy list of Islamic attacks for their fellow Republics to use as talking points:
Some Major Attacks by Radical Islamists Since 2002
July 11, 2006 - Mumbai, India. Commuter Train Bombed, killing at least 200.
November 9, 2005 - Amman, Jordan. Suicide bombers hit 3 American hotels, killing 57.
October 26, 2005 - Hadera, Israel. Falafal stand bombing kills 7.
July 7, 2005 - London, England. Transit bombings leave 56 dead and 700 injured.
April 7, 2005 - Cairo, Egypt. Bombing at Kahn al Khalili market kills 20.
December 12, 2004 - General Santos, Philippines. Christmas market bombed killing 15.
December 6, 2004 - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Terrorists storm U.S. consulate, killing 5.
September 9, 2004 - Jakarta, Indonesia. Australian embassy bombed, killing 8.
September 3, 2004 - North Ossetia, Russia. School hostage crisis leaves 344 dead.
March 11, 2004 - Madrid, Spain. Train bombings kill 191, injure 1500.
November 15, 2003 - Istanbul, Turkey. Bombings kill 53, wound 750.
October 15, 2003 - Gaza Strip. Bomb targets U.S. envoy, killing 3.
August 5, 2003 - Casablanca, Morocco. Bombers kill 41, injure 100.
May 12, 2003 - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Housing compound for westerners bombed; 34 dead.
October 23, 2002 - Moscow, Russia. Theater hostage crisis leaves 120 dead.
October 12, 2002 - Bali, Indonesia. Nightclub bombings kill 202.
June 14, 2002 - Karachi, Pakistan. U.S. consulate bombed; 12
So there you go... Out of Hoekstra's 17 examples for why we cannot leave Iraq... I could only find one that might have had direct connections to Iraqi terrorists. Some of the attacks may or may not have even had connections to Islamic terrorist groups, according to officials.
On one of the dates in question, the police are not sure if the attacks were the result of terrorists, or a business dispute. The mayor of General Santos seemed to believe that the bombing was a result of two feuding shop keepers. Might have been a case of one crazy shop owner got mad at another shop owner and tossed a grenade into the other's stall.
You might also be interested in the fact that my illustrious Congressman has managed to make the news this Valentine's Day, not once, but twice. Oh yes, one embarrassment is just not enough for my Congressional District. Maybe tomorrow he can make us REALLY proud and go for the hat-trick?
Publishing detailed documents, that constituted a basic guide to building an atom bomb on a publicly viewed government website for partisan purposes, just wasn't enough for him. Oh no, not Pete Hoekstra, not MY Congressman, the hits just keep on comin!
He is also behind a House committee report on Iran's nuclear capabilities, that the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency has openly called ""outrageous and dishonest" and had "erroneous, misleading and unsubstantiated statements." What I take from this intelligence manipulation, is that my Congressman is not satisfied with waging war in Iraq until the end of time, he also wants to add Iran into the mix. You know, spice it up a bit, what the hell right? Lord knows that thousands of American solders and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis lives just isn't enough. It's obvious that the numbers need to be more like hundreds of thousands of Americans and millions of Iraqis. Now that's a REAL man's war, damnit!
In closing, since you don't know me well enough to take my word on it that Hoekstra's crazy, I will add this link to his speech given on the House floor concerning the escalation. If that doesn't convince you that the I have a certifiably insane man representing me, a man that firmly believes that all Islamics are evil and probably need killin and the end of the world is comin'... I don't know what it would take to convince you.
Newspapers in Michigan's 2nd Congressional District:
Allegan County
Kalamazoo Gazette
Editor- kpioch@kalamazoogazette.com
The Grand Rapids Free Press
pulse@grpress.com
Benzie County
Benzie County Record Patriot
recpat@pioneergroup.net
Kent County
The Grand Rapids Free Press
pulse@grpress.com
Lake County
Lake County Star
lcstar@pioneergroup.net
Manistee County
The Manistee News Advocate
dlbarber@pioneergroup.net
Mason County
Ludington Daily News
ldn@ludingtondailynews.com
Editor- sbegnoche@ludingtondailynews.com
Muskegon County
The Muskegon Chronicle
Editor- pkeep@muskegonchronicle.com
Newaygo County
Times Indicator
news@ncats.net
Oceana County
Oceana's Herald-Journal
editor@oceanaheraldjournal.com
Ottawa County
Grand Haven Tribune
Editor- lpainter@grandhaventribune.com
Story ideas, story requests, press releases- bvargo@grandhaventribune.com
Holland Sentinel
Editor- jim.hayden@hollandsentinel.com
Wexford County
Cadillac News
news@cadillacnews.com