Posted on 10/17/2005 3:07:47 PM PDT by jeremiah
Irvine, CA--Congratulations Mr. President! It only took you four years to name the enemy as Islamo-Fascism. Now the question is: Will this important identification make any difference in how you conduct the war?
Apparently not, because you don't understand the meaning of your own words. If you did, you would acknowledge that Iraq was the wrong target, that other nations, most notably Iran, were and are the wellsprings that nourish and arm Islamic totalitarianism. You would acknowledge that to acheive victory, you must crush the totalitarians and discredit their ideology in the minds of the populace. To do the latter, people in the Middle East, must see that we visit merciless destruction on nations whose civilian population sympathizes with, or tolerates totalitarian Islam. Embrace of totalitarian Islam must, in their minds, be causally linked to their own suffering and destruction. This after all, is how we defeated the Nazism and fascism of Germany and Japan in WW II. We destroyed their militaries and wreaked such devastation on their nations, that the populace no longer dared support those ideologies.
If you understood your words, Mr. President, you would acknowledge the fact that there is no possibility of a political solution in Iraq or the Middle East, until the political aspirations of Islam are defeated. In other words, as long as the insurgency continues, as long as al-Qaeda's leaders roam free, as long as we permit an Iraqi constitution that grants political power to Islam, as long as the Islamic regime in Iran is allowed to exist--no American will be safe.
"...as long as we permit an Iraqi constitution that grants political power to Islam, as long as the Islamic regime in Iran is allowed to exist..."
Sorry, lost me there. We simply have no right to dictate what kinds of governments other countries can have or what provisions their constitutions have. That is up to the people of those nations. Freedom is the ability to make bad choices sometimes.
hmmm...then what was that "Axis of Evil" thing all about???
Last time I looked, Iran was surrounded
I not only hope your wrong, I think the ME thugocracies will soon crumble like a house of cards.
How come this Fascism has so much left-wing support in this country? Looks like Communism get a pass.
"...you would acknowledge that Iraq was the wrong target..."
Iraq was the right target (the heart of the Arab world) and even the Dems agreed that that was where we needed to be to stop the terrorism...terrorism that Clinton ignored.
Besides, the ACLU is doing more harm to this country than any other particular group!
Iraq was the right target. Syria would have been easier logistically (naval and air assault from the Mediterranean) but far more difficult politically. We could not even get the co-operation of Turkey, and the counterstrike would not have been directed at the US, but Israel. Iran has a far more organized military, much harder terrain in which to engage, and the underlying unrest in the country is not nearly as great as it was in Iraq in 2003. This way, we have relative control of both Afghanistan and Iraq, which bracket Iran from both sides, and have an internal base to leapfrog from the carriers on the Mediterranean to Baghdad, then over to Kabul, should we find it practical and beneficial to carry the air war to either or both Syria and Iran. Plus we have an established launching base for ground assault.
Tactically, Iraq is the keystone of this axis, and anything that makes the Islamofascists nervous makes for very good psychological warfare. Keeps their attention focused AWAY from most targets in Western civilization, and also insures the taxing of their resources, while we may keep a much closer eye on their activities.
Sure we do - if those governments threaten American citizens, as Afghanistan did and Iraq did through their sponsorship of terror. In order to hold to your position you have to be against our involvement in WWII, which forced democracy on Germany, Japan, Italy, etc.
Sure we do! Did we take a poll of Iraqis before we decided to take out the Saddam government? Did we put Paul Bremer up for a popular vote?
Freedom is for those who can handle it... It's our guns and our $$ holding Iraq together now, it should damn well be our say-so... unless the Iraqis can demonstrate that they can manage themselves.
This whole constitution was not the right thing to do, but we let the Iraqis have an election, and have boxed ourselves into tolerating a nascent government that will ultimately be hostile to us.
"The Libertarian Party waffles over the "only in self defense" mantra - which is ridiculously rigid for an era where pre- emption could stave off the death of thousands of Americans."
exactly. left them a few years ago, but still had a place in my heart for them... until the anti-war idiots started coming out of the woodwork, including their prez candidate in 2004. i'll never go back after some of the s%$t he said last year.
Well, I'm glad these Ayn Randers are such deep thinkers.
This after all, is how we defeated the Nazism and fascism of Germany and Japan in WW II. We destroyed their militaries and wreaked such devastation on their nations, that the populace no longer dared support those ideologies.
Yep, destroyed their militaries in their home nations, after in the case of Germany we destroyed their military in the nations of Tunisia, France, Holland, Belgium, etc and in the case of Japan on the isles of Guadalcanal, Guam, Saipan, Tarawa, Iwo Jima..... we should do a do over in WWII and just have gone straight for action in Germany and Japan with the Ayn Randers leading the charge off the boats.
To be honest, as much as I dislike Islam as a religion I would rather see it someday reformed and peaceful than to eradicate hundreds of millions from the face of this earth.
I strongly disagree with this writer's opinion.
We are conducting the correct campaign against a nation who was totally incorrigible. I hope with Iran we can continue to encourage internal dissent and a change of regime from within. That was never going to happen with Iraq.
Classic spittle-flecked prose. Let's leave the jihad to the other side.
Amateurs talk tactics, professionals study logistics. How exactly was one to invade Iran? Through the tiny window offered by Kuwait? Over the mountains of Afghanistan? At least Saddam had to worry about attacks from Turkey and Jordan, even if the bulk of the force came through Kuwait.
That is exactly the reason that the poll numbers are down on Bush, they see a weak usage of US power. They may not follow the events closely, but their instincts tell them, the fix is on.
The only reason that islam is as big as it is is because it is spread by violence and murder. I contend that most people who claim to be muslums would leave islam if the threat of violence and death were removed.
The world has not been safe, or never will be until islam is defeated, discredited and shown to be the murderous, 6th century, enslaving cult that it really is.
We know for sure that our President does not understand, for after islam has killed several thousand Americans outright, and no telling how many covertly, he has chosen to wage a politically correct police action on "the terrorists". Total war on islam was what was required, but did not happen. We can wonder what it will take to cause the U.S. leaders to wage a proper war...maybe a nuclear attack here in the U.S. killing hundreds of thousands, maybe a million?
Eliminating Saddam and freeing the Iraqis is a pretty significant first step toward freeing Iran from the Islamofascists. It's the start of what could be a sort of reverse domino effect.
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