9/9/06

A Gallery Of Rogues
TRI-O's
oddities, observations, and opinions
by Herb Kandel



Rogue waves are enormous waves that undulate and swell on the ocean, they are also called freak or monster waves. A seven-story one emerged off the coast of Georgia on April 16, 2005. According to the New York Times “It crashed into the bow, sent deck chairs flying, smashed windows, raced as high as the 10th deck, flooded 62 cabins, injured 4 passengers and sowed widespread fear and panic.” One passenger compared the ship being like a “cork in a bathtub”. Kind of reminds one of the 1974 movie “The Poseidon Adventure”

This got me wondering about different rogue species - objects of nature, imagination, and others. There was the hybrid plant creation of a Venus flytrap which develops a nasty craving for human blood in “Little Shop of Horrors”. And in “The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” no one was safe from the rolling red spheres. When he traded the milk cow for the magic beans Jack never thought that those rogue beans would provide the means for him to climb to the heavens to meet the Giant which almost cost him his life. The placid St. Bernard, Cujo, became a monster when Stephen King turned him into a rabid rogue dog. Even the universe has a rogue, on Star Trek Enterprise the crew visited a rogue planet and discovered an alien ship on board (astronomers have even ousted Pluto from the planet category…… how roguish of that asteroid posing as a planet!).

Ways were found to cope with most rogues; the wave (ride it out) , the tomato (eat it before it eats you), and the dog (vaccinate him), but how do we act in response to rogue nations?

The word ROGUE is defined as “An unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person; a scoundrel or rascal“. Iran’s violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to which they are a signatory, setting Aug. 31 as the deadline for suspending nuclear enrichment clearly makes them one. They are emboldened by three factors 1. That Russia and China will want a diplomatic approach and not sanctions (recall the “Peace in our time” negotiation charade with Hitler before WW2 ?) 2. That the U.S. has too much on its plate in Iraq and Afghanistan 3. That the perception is that Hezbollah bested Israel.

According to the New York Times “On Friday, a midlevel cleric, Ahmad Khatami, said during a Friday Prayer ceremony that the West ought to be cautious in the way it addressed Iran ‘You cannot use the language of force against this nation,’ Mr. Khatami said in a speech broadcast around the nation from central Tehran. ‘Do not test us as you have tested us before‘” . This is the same as brazenly putting a chip on your shoulder and daring someone to knock it off.

They say all they want to do is to have the ability to independently make nuclear fuel and use it to generate electricity. Right!! They are sitting on one of the worlds largest seas of oil capable of such generation. Why go for the nuclear? Q. Why is it reported that the area surrounding the nuclear facilities is being populated with civilians? A. To discourage strikes there in order to avoid world outrage against collateral deaths and casualties.

Mr. Ahmadinejad , Iran’s president, said that Iran was not a threat for any country, even Israel. Right again!! After they stated that Israel should be wiped off the map.

This war waged by terrorists is not new it started in 1979 when Iranian radical students seized the U.S. embassy, taking 66 hostages. From 1982-1991 in Lebanon 30 US and other Western hostages were kidnapped ( remember Terry Anderson?) In 1983 in Beirut a truck bomb killed 241 marines. In 1984 an explosion outside the U.S. embassy killed 24. During 1985 there was an airline hijacking, restaurant bombings, a ship attack, and airport bombings.1986 Athens and West Berlin experienced bomb attacks. In 1988 the Pan-Am Lockerbie flight explosion killed all 259 aboard. In the basement garage of the New York World Trade Center in 1993 a car bomb killed six and injured over 1,000. During 1995 and 1996 Saudi Arabia had two car bombings at U.S. military headquarters, killing 24 U.S. military servicemen and injuring hundreds. U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were truck bomb victims in 1998 killing 224 injuring about 4,500. In 2000 U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole was heavily damaged when a small boat blew up alongside it, 17 sailors killed. Then on 9/11/01 2 commercial jets hijackers smashed into twin towers of the World Trade Center; 2 more hijacked jets were crashed into the Pentagon and in rural Pa. Total dead and missing numbered 2,9921.

Terrorist acts continue to this day and in the final analysis there may be no compromise with a fanatic sect who prize “martyr” death over life, and it may be left to Israel alone to seriously consider a preemptive strike similar to the 1981 one that destroyed Iraq's reactor when that rogue nation threatened potential nuclear world destruction..