Page 16 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • September 28, 2011 drones were cute. There is an added moral concern. “Smart” drones probably waste fewer innocent lives than some of the dumber or more panic-prone ground-pounders sent into dubious battle with a limited education and the kind of background that displaces aggression against anybody who isn’t a blonde football fan. Flag-waving patriots may hate me for saying so, but we have had a lot of wanton murders in these wars along with the combat deaths on both sides, and these have not made us friends overseas. When two or three of your friends have been killed by booby traps while the strange local people smirked or cheered, and while you are having a bad problem with rage or nerves, machine-gunning some of the locals might be a response from angry young men who love their buddies. However, it is also a war crime. Every army has had this problem. That is the point of terrorism. The terrorist masterminds, probably evil but probably not at all stupid, seek to convince better-armed invaders that the whole population is against them. The invading army then retaliates by random shooting of civilians, or in the worst case by organized shooting of hostages, and the invasion becomes so costly that the invaders eventually have to give up. Military analysts understand this perfectly. In May of 1940, when the Germans invaded France, the French met the notorious Panzers with a comparative handful of superior French tanks so well armored that no German anti-tank gun could punch a hole in them. One French tank named “Eures” knocked out 13 first-string The continuing war German tanks, took 140 hits, and never suffered a hole in its armor. Two others, “Mistral” and “Tunisie,” knocked out where nobody came? What if they gave a war and nobody came? That was 24 light tanks and half-tracks without a loss. Some startled the non-battle cry of Vietnam War protestors. With Soviet- Germans broke and ran at the success of the French Char style communism now largely defunct, it may be an idea B and SOMUA tanks, and about 400 Germans were taken prisoner. whose time has finally come. The British responded by pulling out their air support for The other day, I flicked on the TV hoping for a nice escapist travelogue. Instead, I discovered an old-fashioned the defense of Britain, and the French collapsed. Winston Churchill, before he flew back to England, suggested that debate about ending the war on terrorism. This was a formal debate with two statements from each the French might like to try guerilla warfare. The French of the four debaters and a brief rebuttal at the end. Three out got the message. Their whole population was expendable of the four debaters had backgrounds in national security, to save Britain, a country the French never much liked, and one was a retired four-star general. They were intelli- because guerilla warfare invariably leads to the massacres gent, informed, calm people, each conceding that the other of civilians who may not be culpable. “We were the senior partner, and when we started to side had made a few worthwhile points. At the end of the debate, the people in the audience in the New York Univer- lose, I suppose that the British felt they had the right to sity auditorium were asked to vote. Forty-six percent said it be selfish,” the French General Maurice-Frederic Beauis time to end the war on terrorism, 43 percent said that it is frere, commander of the abandoned French rear guard at not time, and 11 percent said they didn’t know – down from Dunkirk, said. “And they were – very selfish.” When General Beaufrere formally surrendered after the 28 percent who didn’t know before the debate started. The don’t-enders made one telling point. Because the last ditch battle that enabled most of his British allies to United States is involved in a state of declared war against escape, his captors asked him where all the English were. “They’re in England,” Beaufrere said. terrorism, the hit on Bin Laden was an act of retaliation Most people don’t want to fight a guerilla war in their and the Navy Seals who carried it out were not only war heroes, but also within their legal rights. Had there been own country, but in someone else’s interests. The essence no declared war on terrorism, they might have been liable of guerilla warfare is that some guy you didn’t get a good for criminal charges because Bin Laden was a civilian who look at kills your buddy, so you kill a half-dozen people offered no significant resistance and the woman who died who look like him, and if women or kids get in the way – tough. with him was also a civilian. The French saw some of that at Ouradour-sur-Glanes No American in his right mind wants to see these brave and skillful Navy Seals charged with a crime for a genu- and the Russians and the Chinese and the Yugoslavians saw ine heroic act and, for that reason at least, the pretext of a declared war on terrorism is legally useful and important. We need to protect our elite service members from any legal consequences of the missions they are sent out to accomplish. If a formally declared war does that, keep Endorses Madigan and Christie it in force. Dear Editor: The United States has developed pilotless aircraft that It is with a deep sense of caring for the wonderful comare flown by “pilots” who sit in bunkers on the ground munity of Wyckoff that I write this letter of endorsement watching screens with images transmitted by cameras in for Tom Madigan and Doug Christie for the positions of the aircraft. The drones can detect and destroy terrorist township committeemen. I have known both of these men leaders simply by tracking their cell phone conversations and their families, for many years. In both instances, my or through tips from local informers who don’t like them. first encounter with them was in a school setting in their These drones are almost immune to radar, and, best of all, roles as elementary school parents. Both of these men were allow surveillance and optional destruction of selected tar- committed to being actively involved in their children’s gets without risking the lives of pilots or manned aircraft. education, as well as their social, emotional, and spiritual Since the terrorists being killed by these drones are development. nominal civilians, even though they are conspiring to kill As the years progressed, I have witnessed their love of other civilians, we need to confer the same legal immu- the community manifesting itself through their participanity on the service personnel controlling the drones that tion in a wide range of activities which have benefitted we confer on the Navy Seals who killed Bin Laden. That the township. Both gentlemen have a great deal of expecontext, also, makes a declared war on terrorism necessary rience on the township level, serving on the Master Plan and important. I understand that some 50-plus philoso- Committee, being especially sensitive to the recreational phers fear that these drones may make killing too easy, too use and preservation of open space as they assessed every sanitized, and too much like a vicious video game. It’s a parcel of available land in town. Their membership on the worthwhile concern that kids play too many vicious video Parks and Recreation Committee, the fire department, the games, but if the critics had to sit in a foxhole waiting for zoning board, and the Environmental Committee’s Green some villain to slide in and slit their throats, or spent their Team are just a few additional examples of their devotion days defusing bombs, I suspect they would quickly decide to Wyckoff. a lot of it. Whether we win or lose, however, we can’t afford that kind of image for American in a changing world. The drones that avoid a major military presence probably save a lot more lives on both sides than they take. Our guys aren’t there to be targeted by fanatics and lunatics and unemployed would-be patriots on the other side, and they aren’t there to commit war crimes. The sooner we eliminate any major presence of U.S. troops in any country outside of our own, the sooner we stop losing Americans and enraging foreigners who may eventually hate us even more than they fear us. Mexican dictator Victoriano Huerta was once favored by the United States under William Howard Taft because he protected American business interests in Mexico. Huerta was substantially abandoned by Woodrow William because Huerta murdered too many innocent people, including the previous president of Mexico, Francisco Madero, a moderate liberal who was not anti-American. Pancho Villa was, at this time, popular in the United States, and did such a good job of fighting Huerta that Huerta asked Germany for guns in return for petroleum. World War I had not started, so the Western Hemisphere was not threatened by a simple business deal, though Huerta was admittedly not a nice man. When the U.S. got word of a German ship bringing weapons to Mexico, 3,000 U.S. Marines landed in Vera Cruz, stopped the shipment, and killed several hundred Mexicans in the process. In retaliation, Pancho Villa invaded Columbus, New Mexico, killed 17 Americans and lost about 100 Mexicans. Villa became wildly popular in Mexico and widely hated in the United States. The U.S. Army moved in to hunt him down, but he always escaped because the common people in Mexico loved him and agreed with him. Mexico became increasingly pro-German and anti-American at a time when most Americans wanted to stay out of World War I. When Arthur Zimmermann, the German foreign minister, desperately offered Mexico a conditional alliance – valid only if the United States had first declared war on Germany – the United States in fact declared war on Germany. We got into a war that was none of our business, and a great many Mexicans have hated the United States ever since. The 21st century terrorists have declared war on US, with the two attacks on the World Trade Center, one on the Pentagon, and other attacks in Britain and Spain. Giving the deed a name and declaring war on terrorism so murderers can be eliminated by high-tech weapons is a corollary of the illegal attacks on U.S. soil. Maintaining a massive military presence in the Middle East to absorb and inflict casualties is not a war on terrorism: It’s an act of politic jobbery that will ultimately be construed around the world as self-destructive imperialism. Let every terrorist who seeks to kill Americans in their own country know that any aircraft he sees overhead could be carrying a sure-to-hit rocket with his name on it. Let people all over the Middle East know that we’re not aiming at a military takeover of their countries. They need to know that we are not neocolonialists, and that if they behave themselves, we’ll go away and not bother them anymore. That could be the victorious war where nobody came. Letters to the Editor As a senior citizen, I admire the financial commitment of Mr. Madigan and Mr. Christie to remain conservative in their spending, keep taxes low for all families, especially seniors and those on a fixed income. The sum of hours contributed by Mr. Christie and Mr. Madigan toward the betterment of Wyckoff is difficult to calculate. They have always given of themselves to maintain the many traditions and practices that have kept Wyckoff the special town it is. It is without hesitation that I endorse their candidacy for township committee and I urge citizens of Wyckoff to vote for these two fine men on Nov. 8. Nancy B. Drabik, Mayor Emeritus Wyckoff Dear Editor: I am writing to encourage my fellow Wyckoff residents to support the dedicated and talented team of Tom Madigan and Doug Christie for township committee on Nov. 8. As a long time volunteer and current chairperson of the Wyckoff Recreation Department and board member of the Wyckoff Parks and Recreation Foundation, I have had (continued on page 19) Kudos for Madigan and Christie