Posted on 08/31/2006 7:40:22 AM PDT by Quilla
I suspect that you have found recent events in Lebanon rather disconcerting. One of your leaders, Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezballah, is quoted as saying:
We did not think, even one percent, that the capture would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude. You ask me, if I had known on July 11 that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not, for humanitarian, moral, social, security, military and political reasons. Neither I, Hezballah, prisoners in Israeli jails nor the families of the prisoners would accept it.
Your traditional strategy, of using terrorist tactics while counting on your enemies to adhere to the rules of diplomacy and formal warfare, doesnt seem to be working any more.
What you have really done, by past decades of terrorism, is open a Pandoras Box of horrors that may ultimately harm you and your people more than anyone else. This toughening of the tactics of Western powers is merely an example of Magruders Law that:
Combat inevitably sinks to the lowest common denominator of the combatants. If you like to wrestle in the mud and your opponent likes to gouge out eyes, then sooner or later you will both be eye-gouging in the mud.
Civilization is essentially a compact of non-violence, a mutual agreement that certain measures will not be used by any party under any circumstances. Pieces of paper like the Geneva conventions are merely reiterations of that agreement.
But whenever this covenant is broken by one party for a sufficiently long period, it is inevitable that their opponents, and eventually everybody else, will break it too. The end result is Magruders Law, which applies whenever terrorism is countered by escalation. In essence, the terrorist teaches his enemies to use his own tactics against himself.
When the Germans started to use poison gas in WWI, it was regarded by the English and French with numb horror as something unthinkably cruel. But within months, they were using poison gas against the Germans, with improvements of their own. By the end of the war, gas warfare had claimed over a million casualties, many of them German.
At the start of WWII, England fought in a gentlemanly fashion, not hitting until they were first hit and scrupulously confining themselves to military targets. Then Hitler flagrantly violated that covenant by bombing civilian neighborhoods in London and other British cities, with the sole objective of terrorizing the British people. It took a few years but when the Allies had the power to retaliate they used it, bombing German cities with a rather half-hearted regard for whether targets were military or civilian and needlessly annihilating Dresden in what many think was a payback for Coventry. In the end, over ten percent of Germanys people died in the war.
Japan pulled off the ultimate terrorist attack at Pearl Harbor, killing over 2,400 people. Our immediate response was what would nowadays be called proportionateDoolttles daylight raid on Tokyo. But our anger festered over the years and was fed by news of later atrocities such as the Bataan death march. The end result was Hiroshima and Nagasaki and nearly a million dead Japanese.. I know that all sorts of pragmatic arguments were advanced, even cogent ones, but I contend that if Pearl Harbor had not occurred, we probably would not have used our atomic weapons.
Magruders Law may not apply during a short combat. It sometimes takes years or even a generation. During the Viet Nam War, when American troops were exposed for the first time to dirty no-holds-barred guerrilla warfare, the first signs of retaliation under stress appeared only near the end, in incidents such as the My Lai massacre, which may have been inspired by the Viet Congs prior massacre of Montagnard refugees at Dak Son.
And already in Iraq, there have been isolated ugly incidents that indicate that the patience of the US forces may be wearing thin. Although you may think that this will be to your advantage, you are mistaken. You dont want escalation when dealing with an enemy with our resources, resolution, and (as cited above) our penchant for delayed but massive disproportionate retaliation.
You seem to have forgotten that the basic purpose of terrorism is to terrorize, to make your enemy cower, panic, and flee. Thus, successful terrorism is always a conspicuous exception to Magruders Law. On the other hand, when terrorism does not frighten the enemy but makes him more angry, the consequent escalation may be more than the terrorist bargained for and may work to his downfallespecially if his resources are inferior to those of his enemy.
But you have gone even further. First, by persisting in attempts to terrorize the Israeli people, who after sixty years of such tactics are uniquely resistant to them, you have succeeded only in goading them to increased aggressiveness. Second, by embarking upon policies such as the use of human shields, you are actually terrorizing your own people by exposing them to ever increasing danger and thereby weakening their resolve.
And there are signs that you may try to employ this suicidal procedure against the United States. I am particularly alarmed by the recent news that Iran has been trying to acquire cesium, for the obvious purpose of instigating some sort of radioisotope terrorist atrocity. Bear in mind that you are planning such an attack against the biggest nuclear power in the world and the only one that has actually used nuclear weapons against an enemy. The only thing that restrained us during the Cold War, aside from fear of reprisal, was a mutually agreed upon taboo. If an Islamic power violates that taboo and uses nuclear weapons against the US, what form do you think our retaliation will take? And how proportionate do you think it will be?
Is that what you really want? Does the prospect of your wives and children becoming martyrs of Jihad fill you with joy? If so, then I suppose I have nothing more to say. But if you are expecting the U.S. to continue to exercise Judeo-Christian restraint and compassion in response to your attacks, then according your own accusations, you are wrong. If what you have been saying about our degeneracy is true; then we are no longer a morally restrained Judeo-Christian nation. If most of us are, as you claim, hedonistic materialists, then we are just as capable of vengeance and cruelty as you are.
I do not mean this as a threat, but as an urgent warning. I am trying to make you realize that youand your familiesare at the edge of a slope, a steep muddy slope that slides down irreversibly into an unthinkably horrible pit in which the people of Islam may ultimately perish.
Outstanding piece!
Unfortunately, the "gentle" form of this message never seems to get through. I suspect that even if the intended recipient of the message read it, it would not sink in. Religious fundamentalism is so self assured and insular that reasoned words like these fall on deaf ears.
Correct. The Dems, and a large percentage of the public, will demand proof and by the time we get that, the "heat of the moment" will be gone. The UN and our "allies" will abandon us and, for a few years anyway, we'll be the only free country on earth...until the darkness of sharia descends on us too...
I agree that it will probably have to come to this to cause the U.S. to wage a proper war. But isn't it a shame.....when a few well placed bunker-buster bombs directed at macmoud's house, several of the mullas houses, and all known nuclear sites would probably go a long way in defusing the situation.
Article: "...bombing German cities with a rather half-hearted regard for whether targets were military or civilian and needlessly annihilating Dresden in what many think was a payback for Coventry." There were something like 125 military production plants of all sizes in Dresden, and the workers of those plants of course lived there. With their families. Somewhat similar to the terrorist cells embedded within the "civilian" populations in various muzzie-controlled cities. Firestorms sucked all the air out from shelters, etc. (think bunkers under buildings where God knows what nightmare scenarios are being dreamed up). It's way past time to roll.
"I strongly disagree. If the Islamofascists smuggled a nuclear device into a major US city and killed hundreds of thousands of Americans - I have no doubt that mushroom clouds would be sprouting all over the Muslim world."
Yep. Any of our spineless politicians who stand in the way will be squashed flat.
Ping!
"This toughening of the tactics of Western powers ..." What planet is this author living on?... He actually wants us to believe that the reaction to the terrorist kidnappers of Hizboallah was tough? Hah! Has this author been watching the treacherous appeasement monkeys in AMerica and their butties in France? Amazing ...
I cannot actually believe the author is not saying this tongue in cheek: "Does the prospect of your wives and children becoming martyrs of Jihad fill you with joy?" If this is not satire, what is wrong with the eyes and ears of this author? Can he not see that the isalmofascists actually DO want to sacrifice their women and children, to bring about subjugation of the West? Women and children are property to islamofascist fanatics. They are to become 'gifts' to the demon allah, to purchase righteousness for the islamofascist. But America should be able to understand this, since we have the example of democrat politicians making this sacrifice of unborn children for decades now as their preferred means of empowering democrats at the ballot box.
bttt
I hope you are wrong also, but I am beginning to wonder about things now.
We cannot seem to appeal to the Americanism of the left, they don't seem to care or see the train bearing down the tracks on all of us.
Sedition is open and traitors get away with behavior that should have them at the very least in jail.
PC is killing us, the borders are wide open. People use the freedom that our ancestors fought so hard for to tear down the very institutions that allow them the freedom to do so, and never get the irony.
American History is not being taught, but amended anti-American history is being taught.
Where is the strong and positive leadership we need? I am pro-Bush mostly, but I see the need for a rebirth of the American nation, and I am afraid that we will all perish before anyone stands up to the left & the media.
Tell me if you think I am on the wrong path here.
I'm afraid you are right. If things don't change and change soon it may be too late. The danger facing us is worse than the Nazi threat of WWII.
Unfortunately half of America has been so deluded by the Left they don't see the train bearing down on us. By the time they see it, they (and the rest of us) will be smashed flat. If America doesn't wake up soon the America we've known for 200 years will no longer exist.
True. But look at Europe. There is a huge fascist party with an armed wing, the FN in France. The BNP is rising in Britain. Fascism, Nazism and extremism, both Muslim and on the other side is rising across Europe. If Europe survives Islam will regret it. People are starting to get scared, and when you trap any animal in a corner, even a normally skittish one, it will then fight to the death. A wild cat that will normally run from a dog, will rip its face off if cornered. Remember what the Nazis did. Europeans are capable of horrible things if pushed too far. Islam should tread carefully, because imagine Nazis and their allies, and what the did, but with nuclear weapons. It will be unfortunate, the thing is, if we do not fight it now, people will take extreme measures later.
"It will be unfortunate, the thing is, if we do not fight it now, people will take extreme measures later." Ah, the essence of why we cannot afford the appeasement approach of the democraps ... because they will appease until we have no choice for survival except to nuke them into glass.
The terrorist's allies, the "anti-war" left, keep stating that we cannot kill an Idea (radical islam or terrorism). They seem to ignore that this is exactly what the islamofacists are trying to do to the world. The ideas of freedom, tolerance, inclusion, and human rights are the antithesis of the islamofacist mentality. From the inaction of the "moderate Muslims" and reading of the Koran I am leaning to include almost all of Islam in this assessment.
This excellent author, and BLUELANCER have it right. This WILL BE THE RESULT if the Mooslims don't start purging themselves of their radicals:
-------------------------------------------------
200 years from now, I want their children's children's children's children
to cower and cringe in fear whenever they hear the sounds of jet engines overhead
because their legends tell of fire from the sky.
I want them to hide in dark caves and holes in the earth,
shivering with terror whenever they hear the roar of diesel engines
because the tales of their ancestors talk about metal monsters
crawling over the earth, spitting death and destruction.
I want their mothers to be able to admonish them with
"If you don't behave, the Pale Destroyers will come for you",
and that will be enough to reduce them to quivering obesience.
I want the annihilation to be so complete that their mythology
will tell them of the day of judgment when the stern gods from across the sea
.. the powerful 'Mericans .. destroyed their forefathers' wickedness.
(Original created by BlueLancer ... 13 September 2001)
Can he not see that the isalmofascists actually DO want to sacrifice their women and children, to bring about subjugation of the West?
The Japanese Bushido thought the same way in WWII then there was Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Islamofacists sacrfices at this time are marginal. Lets see how they react when those casualties escalate into wholesale slaughter which is what will happen if these nuts set a nuke off in this country. The response from this country will be positively horrifying. We can do as Truman said "Bring down a rain of ruin the likes the world has never seen."
Does the prospect of your wives and children becoming martyrs of Jihad fill you with joy?
Sadly, his answer might well be yes. They seem to be drawn to the hereafter because Islam certainly doesn't offer much hope for them in the present.
I was watching a program recently on the history channel. They were chronicling an F15 Eagle squadron serving in Iraq. Pretty neat.
I vividly recall one pilot articulating his war philosophy. He was polite, professional, and tempered, but he made it clear that his ultimate purpose was to shoot down planes; to accomplish his mission.
It was comforting to see that old school American resilience.
"It's time we recognized the nature of the conflict. It's total war and we are all involved. Nobody on our side is exempted because of age, gender, or handicap. The Islamofacists have stolen childhood from the world." [FReeper Retief]
"The response from this country will be positively horrifying." That will depend upon which party has the White House and Congress. As they have already shown, democrats will look for any means to blame a Republican administration for ANYTHING, regardless of efficacy. If a democrat sits in the WH and democraps hold Congress when this nuke happens, unless forensics can prove beyond a shadom of doubt that a certain country was responsible for the nuke detonation, you can expect the same namby pamby crap we now know happened under the degenerate clintoon when Americans were slaughtered by islamofascists. America is not the nation it was under Harry Truman, nor has this nation the actual resolve to survive if it means a protracted struggle. And that's what the islamofascist pigs are counting on and the democrqat party is reinforcing with their cries for appeasement and withdrawal from conflict that is killing terrorists 'over there'. In short, I think you're dreaming to believe we will retaliate with our nukes.
PING
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