Posted on 08/10/2006 8:58:48 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
Love is a Battlefield
IDF soldier received heart shaped cookie somewhere near the Lebanon border...
I don't know how it is in ME countries, but in the Philippines, as I've mentioned before, there is an armed guard at the entrance to McDonalds. Your bag gets searched when you go into the mall.
You're one of the founding members of the Live Thread!
Busy is good, though.
We can't solve all the problems, just talk about 'em.
It was aimed at all of us. For how long did we hear that we went into Iraq without any allies? When Spain dropped out it was further evidence of our unilateral policy, at least to the press. The fewer allies we have, the less confident we as a people become and the more the press uses our policy as the problem.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1682289/posts?page=1
This is the new thread 8/12
Your ancestors arrived a full century before mine ..
They were the "Pennsylvania Dutch" and arrived in 1732 to Philadelphia.
I know security is tight like that in Egypt, or at least it was back in 2000, but it sure isn't here.
That's how I see it too.
I asked for two reasons, one to make sure I wasn't missing something.
20 planes is nothing compared to two towers, the run on the markets would be less than a tenth of what 9/11 accomplished, aircraft bombings are almost passe these days to the great masses.
The cell phones bother me too, especially the numbers of them.
That was only one support cell, how many others are out there?
To be perfectly honest, if they choose to bring it out in the open over here, it's fine by me. Let's say there's ten "cells", 10,000 sleepers, and all of them open up on us on the 22nd, or piecemeal.
Let's say they get ten half awake civilians each before the NRA types fall on them and sentd them to Allah. Make it a hundred victims each. That's one million US citizens dead, due to Islamic terrorists.
Right off the bat, we start bombing Tehran until they break and run.
Right off the bat, every single Muslim in the US, in the UK, in a LOT of places feels the itch that comes from a red dot on your back or forehead.
Right off the bat, radical Islam is contained to the ME, weeded out of our western societies, fairly or not, they give up incredible advantage making a move like that and in the end, one million friendlies hurt or even killed may be getting off lightly, considering the alternatives.
As soon as America can't go to work, America arms itself, and then the Islamists better make fast tracks home.
It took a full division of NG to put down the Rodney King riots, and that was just one city. There isn't enough army to stop what will happen to every Muslim in the US of they come at us like that.
I know, it's the economy, stupid but...
Shortly after 9/11 I drove home most of the way across the US, and realized something.
Islam cannot win here.
This country is too big.
Too many cars, too many factories, too many cities and towns, too many wheat fields and wells and bridges and roads and trucks and planes and computers, it took 200 years to build all of this and even one million raving jihadists couldn't tear it all down in less time than that.
They can't say that. We could erase the mideast in one hour.
Forever.
Yes, the markets take a hit, but the bedrock foundations under the market hype is value, and there's just too much value here to erase.
We take a step back, maybe 10 years, maye 100 years, but Islam...ends...and we remain, along with most of what we've built up.
That's the bottom line. Even the Libs were ready to start shooting on 9/12, most of them at the jihadists. If a clash of civilizations must come to pass, there isn't the first doubt in my mind who wins it, and it most definitely will not be those who think earth needs to return to the year 700 AD.
Period.
I don't blame Condi for Olmert's weakness.
I blame Condi for the same thing Dub did when she got home.
Anytime.
I vote "tip" too.
Our money, mine all went to pay for Liberal BS.
1000 cell phones.
Three buyers.
Times how many cells?
AQ's Chairman of the Board is in or around Miramshah, Pakistan.
AQ's CEO is in Lavizan, Iran.
Or was, until about a week ago.
I've always wondered why there haven't been more smaller attacks, quantity over quality, suicide bombings, random shootings, etc...
I mean, I'd think if you got say 2 guys in each of the top 25 cities in the US and they all went off on the same day at the same time in malls, schools, post offices, movie theaters etc...
I have to admit I'm shocked that 5 years on none of that stuff has taken place
I was just thinking of the mindset of the head guys...
I certainly hope so as well. It is still too soon to make a definitive assessment. However, I fear that in this case the perception and the reality may be the same. I've been pondering this for a while and I believe there is another historical analogy which is also illustrative of the emerging strategic reality: the breakout and flanking landing by American forces at Inchon during the Korean War.
We have spent considerable time and resources over the last several years establishing a strategic encirclement and isolation of Iran - our forces are now stationed in Afghanstan to the East, Iraq to the South and West, and several of the various "Stans" to the North. This has been the Bush Administration's tacit strategy that "dare not speak it's name", although it is obvious to anyone who looks at a map.
Although they have been unable and/or unwilling to articulate this long-term strategy due to the constraints of politics and political correctness, they have been remarkably successful in this effort. Unfortunately, the Iranians are not blind or stupid, and they have not been idle in their efforts to counter this strategy.
It is possible that the developments in Lebanon represent Irans' breakout attempt from our attempted encirclement and isolation. In reading these discussions it seems that almost all of us are convinced that the pending cease-fire cannot possibly hold because the "Hezzies" just won't be able to restrain themselves from killing more Jews at the first opportunity, and thus Israel will have ample justification to remobilize and "finish the job". In these dark times this scenario provides us some much-needed hope. Perhaps it will come to pass, but perhaps not.
I'm getting a little long-winded here, so let me cut to the chase. The possible danger I see is this. We all tend to carelessly conflate Hezbollah with Hamas, Al Quaida, he PLA, etc. and the various other relatively undisciplined fanatics we so easily lump under the inclusive terrorist rubric. Hezbollah is qualitatively different, however. They ARE terrorists, but they are also essentially an extension of the Iranian military. They are far more disciplined than the other terrorist groups, with a more conventionally structured chain of command, which leads directly back to Iran.
What if Hezbollah decides it has accomplished it's goals sufficiently for the moment, and that it is now time to consolidate? They have inflicted a humiliating propaganda defeat on the Israelis, they have achieved de facto diplomatic legitimacy on the world stage, and they have won the public relations battle for the hearts and minds of most of the "world community".
What if they simply honor the truce (hudna) for now, hold-off on the attacks on Israel and use this opportunity to consolidate their gains. International aid and money will then pour into Lebanon, and they can use the opportunity to complete their infiltration and takeover of the Lebanese government. We have seen how sophisticated their media capabilities are, and the Israelis can certainly attest that they possess a degree of iron discipline unmatched by the other groups.
If Iran gives the order, Hezbollah is quite capable of taking off the militant warrior mask, for a while at least, and donning the mask of humanitarianism and faux Lebanese nationalism. They could refocus the world's attention on their civic and community "good works" and the media and the world community would "eat it up".
If they adopt this strategy, and as long as they refrain from attacking Israel directly, they can proceed merrily along their way in establishing a new Islamic Republic of Lebanon, quietly rebuilding their weaponry, infrastructure, and most importantly, expanding on the tremendous propaganda boost and clout they have gained with Muslims worldwide. And, Israel and the US won't be able to do a thing about it.
This is all sheer speculation, of course, and time will tell. However, I believe the Iranians are playing a long game, a new version of the Great Game, and that all of their actions are carefully calculated (including those of the supposed madman Amadinejad). We underestimate them at our peril.
What did W blame her for?
I missed that
Just you and me, bud.
Do we head over to the new thread or hang here and plan the next hundred years?
This is a VERY REAL possibility.
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