This Laguna Liberal Agrees with Newt
By Denny Freidenrich
My political DNA leans left, so when I agree with former Speaker Newt Gingrich, I have to pinch myself. More about that later.
I have been a serious student of politics since 1972. That’s when I worked on Capitol Hill for Rep. Don Edwards (D-San Jose). In his day, Mr. Edwards was a charter member of the Magnificent Seven. In 1965, he and six House colleagues were the first to vote against appropriations (i.e., funding) for the Vietnam War.
Being a bona fide baby boomer, war has been a topic that’s occupied much of my adult life. The terrorist attacks that have happened in the U.S. and around the world are no exception. Before I go on, let me be clear: This political liberal favors diplomacy over deploying troops; however, sometimes you have to admit talk can only take you so far. Especially when one side completely rejects what we consider words of reason.
I’m no stranger when it comes to words. Having written commentaries and letters to the editor for more than 40 years, I’m closing in on 1,000 published pieces coast to coast. Since the terrorist attacks on 9/11, I have written more than a dozen pieces about war and peace. Here are a few:
A month after planes flew into the World Trade Center twin towers and the Pentagon, I wrote this in Time Magazine: I would not have gone to Vietnam if drafted. Our national interests were not at stake then. But, would I fight now? You bet.
In 2003, Los Angeles Times columnist Dana Parsons wrote this about a question I posed: Denny Freidenrich says the question came to him in the shower. He owns a consulting business, but he began wondering if he was also a soldier. A soldier, that is, in the war on terrorism declared by President Bush.
More specifically, Freidenrich wondered whether his wife and three kids would collect life insurance were he to die, for example, from smallpox spread by a bioterrorist attack. In past conventional wars, the families of soldiers killed in battle didn’t collect traditional life insurance.
Should it be any different, Freidenrich mused, in a war on terror?
With a lot of talk in recent months about the ongoing threat of bioterrorism — highlighted by President Bush getting a vaccination — the question isn’t far-fetched.
It must have been a long shower, because Freidenrich had yet another question. If insurance companies were required to pay off, could the industry survive if massive bioterrorism deaths occurred?
After hearing the news about 20 Marines, virtually all of them from Brook Park, Ohio, being killed in one day, I wrote this for my hometown Palo Alto Weekly in 2005: Much has been publicly debated about the war in Iraq: how we invaded that nation on high moral ground or a false “weapons of mass destruction” argument; how we liberated the region from a tyrant or made it more unstable; how troops died for a worthy cause or were killed in vain.
But I was deeply impressed by the Ohio schoolteacher’s poignant reaction to the 20 deaths from the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment: “How much more are we expected to give? We are patriotic people. We love our country. But how many lives are enough?”
I can remember hearing these same words being expressed decades ago during the Vietnam War fiasco — where more than 58,000 young men died before their time. And for what? Today, Americans surf and vacation there.
Bringing our troops home is not about being a Democrat or Republican, a liberal or conservative, disloyal or patriotic, a supporter or opponent of the president’s tax cuts, the Central American Free Trade Agreement, Social Security reform or federal funding for stem cell research. Hasn’t Iraq become, plain and simple, the ultimate right-to-life issue?
In 2015, The Hill ran my Congress Blog, “Yes the Viet Cong and ISIS are similar.” Here’s an excerpt: Talk about deja vu all over again. The names Viet Cong and ISIS may be different, but their military tactics are similar. Ditto America’s response to both.
The U.S. failed in Southeast Asia in the 1960s and 1970s. I hate to ask, especially so close to Memorial Day, but what makes anyone think today’s plan in Iraq is going to end any differently than it did in Vietnam?
Four months ago, the Long Beach Press-Telegram published my commentary, “Toxic spill points up terrorism danger.” I introduced my topic by saying, Last September, The Hill published my blog titled “ISIS could hit political, entertainment hubs in U.S.” Here’s what I said about the terrorists attacking America:
“Dirty bombs probably would be (their) weapon of choice. However, there is another scenario to consider. What if the Colorado River is poisoned? It carries water across seven states to 40 million people daily. If ISIS could pull that off, it would be an international, geopolitical game-changer.
“Imagine the panic that would set in if just 5 percent — 2 million — of the people in California, where I live, all of a sudden became violently ill or worse? Local physicians, hospitals and morgues would be quickly overwhelmed by the sick and the dead.”
Which brings me to Newt. During an appearance on “The Sean Hannity Show” last Friday, he said, “The danger from Islamic supremacists grows every year. We are at risk of losing an American city. What happened in California is an act of war on America. We have to drop the notion these are random terrorist attacks.”
At first, I dismissed Gingrich’s comments; but, the more I thought about what he said, the more I agreed. I think we have just about come to the end of the diplomacy road with terrorists. Their goals and ours are totally at odds with each other. At this point, the idea of sitting down to negotiate a cease fire seems virtually impossible. If all of this is true, then where do we go from here?
I’m at a loss for words right now, but I still can add and subtract. There are 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide. The vast majority of whom are peaceful. If only 1 percent truly are radicalized, then we are up against 16 million men, women and children who will stop at nothing to destroy us.
Those are hard words to swallow, especially for this left-leaning, sixty-something father of three. I want my kids to live a long, prosperous and happy life; unfortunately, our enemies don’t. If he still was alive, I wonder what my old boss, Mr. Edwards, would say?
Denny Freidenrich first moved to Laguna Beach in 1970. A lifelong Democrat, he helped raise more than $1 million for Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign in 2008.
