Posted on 06/24/2005 6:58:33 PM PDT by ritt
"Cesare Borgia was considered cruel; notwithstanding, his cruelty reconciled the Romagna, unified it, and restored it to peace and loyalty. And if this be rightly considered, he will be seen to have been much more merciful than the Florentine people, who, to avoid a reputation for cruelty, permitted Pistoia to be destroyed. Therefore a prince, so long as he keeps his subjects united and loyal, ought not to mind the reproach of cruelty; because with a few examples he will be more merciful than those who, through too much mercy, allow disorders to arise, tions which originate with a prince offend the individual only." --Nicolo Machiavelli
"If the enemy is to be coerced, you must put him in a situation that is even more unpleasant than the from which follow murders or robberies; for these are wont to injure the whole people, whilst those execusacrifice you call on him to make. The hardships of the situation must not be merely transient - at least not in appearance. Otherwise, the enemy would not give in, but would wait for things to improve." -Karl Von Clausewitz
Horsefeathers views Iraq as one battlefront in a global war--World War IV. The War on Terror is a term designed to obscure the ideological nature of the struggle. This war, in its essence, is no different from our 20th century wars against totalitarianism. Having vanquished Nazism and Communism, we are now challenged by a totalitarian, anti-semitic ideology disguised as a religion, Islamo-Fascism. The principles required for victory are no different than in any war: impose our will on our enemies by force of arms. Those enemies, sensing our superior battlefield strength, realize that our vulnerability lies not in our military capability, but elsewhere, in our highly civilized reluctance to use overwhelming force against our foes...
(Excerpt) Read more at doctor-horsefeathers.com ...
Compassionate Machiavellianism BUMP!
"Compassionate Machiavellianism BUMP!"
Yes!
WHAT HE SAID!
To not punish evil is to not care about evil, nor to care about what is good. Indifference is being lukewarm, being one who's soul is completely wasted, doing nothing to awaken the souls of others, spiritual invisibility.
All that I wrote above will be completely forgotten by most who read it. To put it 'plain', my mother once sent an email to Nixon during Vietnam: "Shxt or get off the pot." A short time later, Nixon sent the B-52s.
How all of that applies to today, someone could interpret a hundred different ways. But in many ways, war is like chess: one side has the initiative, and one side has to keep reacting to that initiative. When we first entered Iraq, that was taking iniative. But every month we "stand fast", neither advancing nor retreating, the Islamo-facists have the initiative. I believe that we did, in fact, need to hold in place for a year or so, to lull the emotional forces of our enemies into a sense of false security.
Today, they underestimate us once again. The only way to exploit that mindset is to attack outside of our controlled territory. Perhaps a raid. Perhaps, even the toppling of another regime. And I believe the American people would feel better about the war. The myth that our military is 'bogged down' would be completely shattered, not only in the minds of the American people, but also in the minds of our enemies.
Now is the time to bring maximum fear to our foes. It is time to unleash every conventional weapon in our military arsenal, particularly on their media. Take out their media, crush another of their regimes, and appear-- for the first time in US history, even more powerful than we actually are.
Urg.... not an email: a letter. Uuuf!
bttt
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