Replies

If we cast off our inhibitions, and fought all-out, we could make short work of our enemies.

Bingo.

We have not done this because we have correctly assessed our enemies as a bunch of losers who are unlikely to succeed.

This is where I disagree. I think two major factors have shaped the way we now fight. First, there's the hideous iron grip of political correctness on every facet of our society, including our leaders and the way they choose to defend us. A penultimate and relevant example: We changed the name of our war--originally called Infinite Justice--to avoid offending our enemies, and this was almost immediately after 9/11.

Second--and this one is obviously exacerbated by the aforementioned PC issue--is the fact that our leaders have bought into the notion that our wonderful technology has changed the nature of war, that we can now kill only the worst of the bad guys and still attain victory. That's a lie. Should we target civilians? Of course not. It's reasonable to avoid the loss of innocent civilian life. But we take it way too far now. As a result, for example, the Iraqi population has zero fear of us. If we leveled a couple towns (after giving one notice for all to vacate) where these thugs are hanging out, things would change. The population would turn on those who brought destruction down upon them. As it is now, that factor is totally off the board.

I fear this mindset is eventually gonna directly cause the death of a staggering number of Americans, and I sadly conclude that only such a cataclysm will jolt our leaders out of the fantasy world in which they currently operate.