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I've seen this same idea put in different ways in a half-dozen different articles. It's the new "conventional wisdom", and it's all bunk. It credits virtue and wisdom and courage to the Arab and Persians where none exists. The author tells us that our cause is lost, that we cannot defeat Islam. He is wrong. America (and Israel) have not made "war" on Islam, but upon "terrorism". We have merely made "peace" on Islam, using both the tools of war and the largess of American citizens.

The "Islamic Way of War" is to treat women and children like chattel, embed fighters and missiles alongside the beds of someone else's Muslim children, to lie, cheat, and steal to get Western war technology, and to use the West's own moral convictions to defeat the West.

Islam, including both the Arabs and Persians, has not known war. Cities have not been razed with the residents slaughtered when Arabs were defeated. The Islamic terrorist survives to fight another day because the west, and in particular America, denies his existence. This is a "war on terror", not a war on the enemy, whom are all Muslim, and who are supported by nearly all Muslims. To succeed against the enemy, first you must DEFINE THE ENEMY, and the enemy is not some abstract term like "terrorism".

The "Islamic Way of War" is nothing less than the primitive, barbaric way of war that predates the modern age. Kill the enemy to every last man, give no quarter in surrender, kill or rape their women, enslave their women and children, reduce their cities to absolute rubble, salt their fields so no one will live there for a hundred years, and take the spoils home to mama and the kids. This WAS war, prior to American influence in the 20th century.

The American (and Israeli) way of war is to give quarter to the enemy, not only after surrender but during the battle, to REBUILD the enemy during the war, to provide the enemy sustenance while in prison, and even offer parole, and to avoid civilian casualties at all cost, even the cost of the death of your own troops and possible the loss of the battle, and then to undergo thirty years of introspection over your own "war crimes" after the war is ended, NEVER acknowledging the virtue of your armed services in their prosecution of the war, or the nobility of your country's goals in entering the war.

The examples Bacevich cites of Muslim victories over the "Western way of war" is in every case, examples of where the West lacked the will to prosecute the war. He cites examples where the West chose something less than "war" out of mercy for the enemy's civilians. War is an evil thing. War should be avoided whenever possible. However, when your enemy demands war from you, threaten's the safety of your home and hearth, and even your very existence, you must go to war, and war on the enemy until the enemy cannot war anymore. And do not be deceived, in the age of modern technology, these primitive "ragheads" intend to aquire the means to bring war to your very home.

This thing, this "unrestricted warfare", has never been done in the Middle East, the proof of which is that Arab and Persian cities still stand, and their peoples prosper. If Islam demands war from America and Israel, we must either oblige them or surrender. We can not win the war by caring more about their civilians than we do our own, or by caring more about Arab/Persian civilians than the ENEMY cares about THEIR own. If Israel killed both Hezbollah fighters AND their civilians in mass, as she suffered Hezbollah's rockets upon her own homes and civilians, the Arabs and Persians would not run to the streets with arms to help their "comrades" in Lebanon. They would think to themselves "..hey.. these guys are SERIOUS; they could kill ME too...". Iran will not chose annihilation in behalf of Lebanon. Neither would any Arab country.

When the Arab and Persian "street" knows war, they will not continue to wage war upon America or Israel, nor support leaders who do.

By the way, half way into this article, I wondered about this author, i.e. “who the h-ll is this guy?”. He’s an academic, of course, who knows nothing of war or the real world beyond his Ivy covered walls.

SFS

1 posted on 08/26/2006 11:12:42 AM PDT by Steel and Fire and Stone
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone
It's utter tripe and I rip his book good in my new book, "America's Victories: Why the U.S. Wins Wars and Will Win the War on Terror."

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1595230211/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_1/102-2828400-0104139?%5Fencoding=UTF8

A synopsis of the book also appears in the September issue of "American Legion" magazine: http://www.legion.org/?section=publications&subsection=pubs_mag_index&content=pub_mag_history

2 posted on 08/26/2006 11:16:16 AM PDT by LS
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone

AMEN.


3 posted on 08/26/2006 11:19:38 AM PDT by DC Bound
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone

Good rant. And, right, of course.


4 posted on 08/26/2006 11:22:36 AM PDT by SuzyQue (Remember to think.)
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone

Andrew J. Bacevich has just committed himself to Dhimmitude...


6 posted on 08/26/2006 11:28:01 AM PDT by johnny7 (“And what's Fonzie like? Come on Yolanda... what's Fonzie like?!”)
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone
the message is clear: methods that once could be counted on to deliver swift decision no longer work.

methods that once could be counted on to deliver swift decision no longer work   haven't been tried for a few generations.
7 posted on 08/26/2006 11:28:09 AM PDT by caveat emptor
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone
the sun has set on the age of unquestioned Western military dominance

Well this is a warrantless conclusion.

8 years of Clinton convinces the rest of the world that we're an easy push over.

9 posted on 08/26/2006 11:34:06 AM PDT by x_plus_one (No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American Public)
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone
I bet I could defeat Islam in a single day, and it would be easy.

First thing I'd do is coat every bullet, bomb, and missile in pigs blood. And make damn sure every drive by media outlet in the world watched.
Second I'd tell those sick bastards that if the step out of line just little bit Mecca would be a place you could not visit for 10,000 years.
11 posted on 08/26/2006 11:36:47 AM PDT by glaseatr (Proud Father of a Marine, Uncle of SGT Adam Estep A. 2/5 Cav. KIA Thurs April 29, 2004 Baghdad Iraq)
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone
When the Arab and Persian "street" knows war, they will not continue to wage war upon America or Israel, nor support leaders who do.

Yours are excellent observations to which I would offer - the Islamists are the proxies for the Communists, the ones playing pretend Capitalists in Russia and China. They have so penetrated our society over the last 80+ years that they now have a strong influence on our policies, foreign and domestic.

It is their carping and political correctness that makes us try to fight a ruthless enemy without hurting anyone while allowing them to commit the most heinous atrocities.

The real war is here in the political and cultural trenches. We need to stop feeling guilty about being freedom loving, moralistic people and get on with the rat killing.

13 posted on 08/26/2006 11:38:01 AM PDT by Mind-numbed Robot (Not all that needs to be done, needs to be done by the government.)
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone
But we also need to be smart, and getting smart means ending our infatuation with war and rediscovering the possibilities of politics.

Typical moonbat academia and Dem left approach to deterring maniacs in this world who want to see us dead.

Carter's politics with Iran and Clinton's politics with North Korea are two huge examples that refute Bacevich's premise.

15 posted on 08/26/2006 11:38:57 AM PDT by jazusamo (DIANA IREY for Congress, PA 12th District: Retire murtha.)
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone
This is utter crap, really, in fact, its so bad, I feel sorry for the author, I mean, he certainly opened his mouth and left no doubt.

If/When the west decides it REALLY wants to destroy their backass foes, it WILL be done, quickly and EASILY. It will be horrific, and the west will spend decades hating itself for it, but it can be done. What the west lacks isn't the proper tools of war, its the stomach to completely vanquish its enemies, and all her people.

16 posted on 08/26/2006 11:41:37 AM PDT by Paradox (The "smarter" the individual, the greater his power of self-deception.)
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone

This guy has a funny definition of winning a war. Apparently it includes having your home and territory occupied for as long as the invader wants it. Your government elected on his terms and the majority of your own countrymen opposed to your actions which leads to your over reliance on foreign terrorists, which leads to more animosity from your neighbors.

Basically, you are powerless to do anything besides plant bombs that kill a small number of the enemy and huge numbers of your fellow citizens.

How can you lose?


17 posted on 08/26/2006 11:41:45 AM PDT by Comstock1 (If it's a miracle, Colour Sergeant, it's a short chamber Boxer Henry point 45 caliber miracle.)
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone
Stalin said it best. (Paraphrased) "When people become a problem, remove the people and you remove the problem."

If this action causes some people who are not the problem to be inadvertently "removed" then that will come under the heading of not being able to make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. A simpler way to put it is "Oh well"
22 posted on 08/26/2006 11:53:23 AM PDT by Eagles Talon IV
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone

***In Iraq, the world’s only superpower finds itself mired in a conflict that it cannot win.****

Sure we can win, but we have to adopt new tactics.

1.Fight them where the supplies are coming in. In Iran and Syria.
2. Stop this PC crap and take no prisoners.
3. Stop locking up American soldiers, turn them loose and let them do their jobs.
4. Fight them where they are. If they hide in a Mosque, destroy it, dont send in troops just blow the
damned thing down.
5. If there are cities that are insurgent strongholds, dont waste men, carpet bomb it.
6. Guard the borders, anything that isnt coming down the main road is destroyed. no questions asked.
7. people caught planting IED's are dead meat on the spot./


23 posted on 08/26/2006 11:56:34 AM PDT by sgtbono2002 (The fourth estate is a fifth column.)
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone
If you stop and think. Just one minute, you will find that they are still using the hit and run tactics given to them by Lawrence. The only addition to these tactics are the propaganda that was adopted from the Nazi's of WWII.
In order to combat the terrs, what we must learn to do is to use our asymmetrical tactics against them. Sure bunker busting bombs are great when you've cornered them. But we have to be quick mobile and hit them when they least expect it. Just as they are doing to us. The Stryker brigades are proving the tactics as we speak. Since deployed in Baghdad they have have been able to reduce attacks and they have picked up over 200 insurgents. The next thing is to get into Sadr City. Take on the Mahadi militia and al-Sadr himself. That is the only way to end the insurgency.
26 posted on 08/26/2006 12:06:24 PM PDT by Doc91678 (Doc91678)
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone
Perhaps, then, we should fight war on terms,. I can guarantee that they won't like it when we start to fight a "colonial" style war.
27 posted on 08/26/2006 12:10:51 PM PDT by chesley (Republicans don't deserve to win, but America does not deserve the Dhimmicrats.)
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone
"I wondered about this author, i.e. “who the h-ll is this guy?”. He’s an academic, of course, who knows nothing of war or the real world beyond his Ivy covered walls."

I wondered the same thing, so I "Googled" his biography and found him to be a USMA grad. The fact that Andrew J. Bacevich is not only a professor of history and international relations but he was also an officer in the United States Army explains why he so miserably missed the obvious in this writing. The good professor is just too civilized to understand exactly what the Civilized World is facing in the barbaric Middle East.

When countries such as the United States and Israel become too civilized to do whatever is required to win and survive in a conflict with savage barbarians, the civilized armies will surely be defeated. It does no good for a civilized country to have the ability to, if necessary, kill every man, woman, and child of the enemy, if the civilized country does not have the will to use its weapons. As soon as barbarians sense their civilized enemy does not have the will to kill them all, they will use this weakness to their advantage, and that is exactly what is happening in both Lebanon and in Iraq.

Believe me, if these Middle Eastern barbarians believed Israel and the United States would simply kill them all without hesitation if they didn’t behave, we would have no more problems with these savages. As it is now, we just don’t speak to them in a manner their uncivilized minds can comprehend.

We did not hesitate to speak to Germany and Japan in a language they could comprehend in 1945, and we will get nowhere with Islamists until we start speaking to them in a language they understand.

29 posted on 08/26/2006 12:12:12 PM PDT by DJ Taylor (Once again our country is at war, and once again the Democrats have sided with our enemy.)
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone
By the way, half way into this article, I wondered about this author, i.e. “who the h-ll is this guy?”. He’s an academic, of course, who knows nothing of war or the real world beyond his Ivy covered walls.

From his bio in Wikipedia:

Bacevich graduated from West Point in 1969 and served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War from the summer of 1970 to the summer of 1971. Afterwards he held posts in Germany, the United States, and the Persian Gulf up to his retirement from the service with the rank of Colonel in the early 1990s.

Some of the things Bacevich has written and places he's published lately are pretty atypical for a retired career officer, but he knows more about war than I or a lot of other people do.

31 posted on 08/26/2006 12:15:08 PM PDT by x
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone
The answer to that question is dismayingly simple: the sun has set on the age of unquestioned Western military dominance.

There is a simple reason for this. We have a more critical war on the home front - the war against suicidal liberals. It's really come down to that. Vietnam was not lost to the North Vietnamese, but to American liberalism. The Iraq war is the same. And the Israelis were done in by American and European liberalweenies.

Our job is to marginalize those idiots enough to where sufficient malice can be brought to bear against those banking on liberals from preventing such being done. Then and only then can this war be won.

42 posted on 08/26/2006 1:13:02 PM PDT by dirtboy (This tagline has been photoshopped)
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone

We and Israel will continually "lose" to Muslim fighters so long as we continue to employ WWII-and-since technology, meaning air power, tanks, and troops. It it obsolete, and as ineffective as British Red Coats. We should utilize drones to saturate target areas with disabling gas, employ robot "sort kill" battledrones, and only conduct human troops attacks with advancing ultrasonic transducers to induce vomiting and disorientation of the target enemy. All of these technologies exist. In most cases we know where the enemy is and there is no rush to send humans into harm's way to defeat them under set timeframes. We need to use disabling gas/sound precursors and robot/drone weaponry to disable, sort and sterilize selected target regions.


44 posted on 08/26/2006 1:18:24 PM PDT by montag813
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To: Steel and Fire and Stone

Is it really surprising that Pat Buchanan - isolationist and anti-Semite - proclaims our defeat and rejoices in a set-back for Israel? I'm waiting for his pronouncement of our defeat in the war against international terrorism -- I'm sure it's coming soon in his paleo-propaganda publication.


46 posted on 08/26/2006 1:35:11 PM PDT by T.L.Sink
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