Posted on 01/18/2007 7:50:55 AM PST by jveritas
The most lasting tragedy of the Vietnam War is that it has legitimized “giving aid and comfort to the enemy”. We are seeing the giving of aid and comfort to the enemy running wild in this war on terror and sadly not only among liberals and their media but also among some conservatives who some of them are right here on this great Free Republic.
When Al Qaeda terrorists, or the terrorist regimes in Iran and Syria, or the Iraqi insurgent terrorists whether they are Sunnis or Shia hear the speeches of defeatism coming from liberals and their media, or unfortunately coming from some conservatives who some of them are right here on Free Republic, will they feel comforted and aided by these speeches? Of course they will be comforted, and they will be embolden to fight more and more, kill more and more, destroy more and more, because they realize that many Americans do not have the will to fight a long and hard war.
Defeatism and providing aid and comfort to the enemy was something that we expected from liberals and their media because their hate to President Bush and the Republican Party is hundred of times more than their hate to the terrorists. However it is really sad that some conservatives and some members on this great forum are doing their share in providing aid and comfort to the enemy through their defeatist attitude.
Do the defeatists want to amend the Constitution so we will have the following? Stop the war and leave if we lose more than one thousand troops, or stop the war and leave if it lasts more than one year, or stop the war and leave if it costs more than 50 billions dollars, whichever comes first. Do they want to do this?
The defeatists who argue that Iraq is not part of the war on terror but rather it is just a civil war between Sunnis and Shia are wrong and naive beyond belief. Iraq is most definitely the central and most important front in the war on terror. It is in Iraq where Al Qaeda and their local Iraqi allies decided to fight the US. It is in Iraq where the islamic terrorists from all over the world are pouring in to fight the Americans. It is in Iraq where the terrorist regimes of Iran and Syria and their local Iraqi allies want to defeat the US so they can have total control of the Middle East. Since the terrorists are all over the world, then the best way to fight them is to attract them to one place to kill them. Whether it was planned or not, Iraq turned out to be the magnet that has been attracting the terrorists from all over the world, and that is the ultimate way to fight the war on terror and to kill as many terrorists as we can.
Every defeatist who is giving aid and comfort to the enemy should ask himself or herself this question: What will happen if we leave Iraq before we achieve complete victory? The First thing that will happen is that the enemy will be embolden beyond belief and the terrorists whether they are Sunnis or Shia, whether they are Al Qaeda, or Iran or Syria, will be given the ultimate victory that will embolden them thousands more time then when they were emboldened when the US left Beirut after the Marines barracks terrorist attack in 1983, or when the US left Somalia in 1993 after the terrorist killed 19 troops, or when no reprisal happened against the terrorists when they attacked many American targets through out the Clinton years. If our passiveness to the past terrorist attacks emboldened them in such a way to attack us on 9/11, think about what they can do to us if we give and leave Iraq and thus handle them the ultimate victory that they have been dreaming about for decades.
The defeatists must understand that if few terrorists sitting in a cave in Afghanistan with a small budget and few volunteers were able to do the 9/11 terrorist attacks, killed 3000 Americans, and caused over one trillion dollars in economic damages, then the terrorists control of Iraq and of the whole Middle East, and its vast oil resources will allow them to conduct terrorist attacks against us that we cannot imagine even in our worst nightmares. By controlling Iraq and the Middle East the terrorists will have hundreds of billions of dollars under their control that they will use it to attack us everywhere in the world and the US and cause unimaginable death, destruction and economic losses that will make 9/11 terrorist attacks look like a picnic in comparison. They will also use the oil weapon to bring the world economy to a disaster that will be many folds worse than that of the 1929 Depression.
Fellow Free Republic members, we are fighting the most important war since WW II. We are not fighting for the Iraqis in Iraq but we are fighting for ourselves, for our freedom and for our way of life. Let us all support our President and our brave troops because they need our support now more than ever.
The key difference between what Sherman did and what you propose is that Sherman and his North did their own dirty work. What you propose "outsources" the dirty work to what you perceive to be a lesser-of-many-evils, who in turn become a powerbase in-and-of their own right, and whom the West will ultimately have to sort out. Another Saddam, in concept, without the Saddam branding.
Unless I've misunderstood your hypothesis.
On the surface, is what you propose safe? Somehow I have significant reservations. I'm not sure it would work too good.
Do I have any better ideas than yours? No -- that's what makes the WOT and the Middle East such a complex problem. It has consumed and is consuming the full-time attention of some very clever people, who themselves haven't got a pat answer. But I will suggest this:
If the Middle East were a Microsoft Windows PC, by this stage the Blue Screen of Death is a constant feature, making stable operation impossible. Despite best attempts to repair, it is in such a mess that it would be better to ctl-alt-del and do a low-level-format and reinstall the operating system from scratch: the backup copies are corrupted and unusable. But first maybe place c:\Israel and other valuable and useful data to secure offsite storage to see if it can be restored once the environment has been stabilized...
...then put in place a firewall, pop-up stopper and virus checker to make sure this situation never happened again. And always have a backup copy "just in case" for next time.
As with Windows, so with the Middle East.
Jeez, you're a drama queen.
We have a devisive situation in Iraq because we failed to do just that.
We failed to have " a monopoly on aggression" after our strategic victory. We failed to concentrate the mind of all Iraqi's bent on violence on staying alive against our retribution.
They took the opportunity to settle old scores, but most importantly to foist new power structures of their own.
None of those failures would have been averted by a war on a religion -- and a global war at that.
Breemer failed to apply administrative expertise and allow the military to be the military.
Great post. This past election was a bodyblow, but we have to reinvigorate ourselves and resume the fight. Just down the street here in MA, Christmas lights included a large Vietnam era type peace sign on the side of a house...my blood pressure boiled every time I drove by. Sanctimonious idiots. No doubt they voted for Lavalle Whatshisname, the new dem. governor, (slick black DC lawyer, slicker than Obama, rode into office on Dukakis machine money), whose campaign slogan was 'Together we can!'...Can what? Screw you? Tax you to death? (Exactly. He immediately rescinded Romney's tax cuts and put back the tolls on the Mass turnpike.
What will it take before PC dem fools realize we can't get Muslim fiends to sit down and bargain for peace so everybody's happy. I had a conversation with a Jewish friend who, other than saying Israel had a right to defend herself, really thought the US could get Muslims to the table and parley some kind of an arrangement. 'All we need to do is sit down and talk'. He's nuts. But presumably, if dems get their way and we cut and run from the Middle East and we're forced to fight the war on terror right here in the homeland...with suicide bombers, car bombs, etc., and thousands more murdered...he'll decide this country has a right to defend herself.
A bumper sticker on a VW van: 'War isn't the Answer'. Clearly no one gets up in the morning thirsting for war, but at some point even the biggest fool realizes there are some things in life worth defending. And America, western values and freedoms fit the bill. Democrats and the MSM are getting US soldiers killed, and now that they control congress, it'll get worse. God help us. This is why we have to brace ourselves for the worst and discuss the issues, share ideas...we can't give up. There's a real monster in the closet and the dems want to let him out.
Amen.
Thank you.
The war on terror is won when Islamofascists of any stripe are so afraid of the consequences of a car bomb, that they decide to take up knitting. Unfortunately, the US wants to be perceived as a nice guy. This is nonsense. As the world's lone super power, like it or not, we have to carry out the responsibilities that come with the job instead of listening to UN third world thugs, etc.. Maybe we'll get lucky before April and Iran will wake up to a bunch of smoking bomb craters where they once had nuke facilities. (It's extremely important that WE do this, not Israel.)
Don't get me started on the border issue!
That's it in a nutshell.(Loved your reply.) Highway of death redux...'level entire cities, break the will of the people'...and stop Iran from funneling terrorists and weaponry into Iraq.
Absolutely.
Have you been in the woods incommunicado for the last couple of years? or just over at DU?
With all due respect, I was not only referring to Iraq in my statement. Thanks
Your post is a beautiful example of cluelessness as to the nature of the conflict and the enemy we face and the populace we "protect."
It's obvious you read the papers and a lot of FR, but you don't know the lay of the land in Iraq. Not completely your fault since the really pertinent info is more or less glossed over as being "defeatism" or is just plain classified for OPSEC purposes, but, in the end, we are facing a tough, entrenched enemy (and I'm not just talking entrenched as dug-in to fighting positions, but positions of power as well), and VERY weak guidance from higher. You wouldn't believe some of the crap I see and where it comes from.
But you go ahead and hold on to your WWII delusions. So many others like to compare this police action to WWII, you may as well jump on that bandwagon, too.
You nailed it, Steel Wolf, as usual. It's good to see someone who's actually been here inject a little reality. I know I'd fit into the "defeatist" definition offered here. No doubt in my mind. And I'm out fighting in this gaggle constantly!
To claim them as "defeatists" "giving aid and comfort to the enemy" would necessarily require for them to be [by civilizational loyalty, as well as by citizenship] Westerners. While their citizenship status is their private info, and none of our business to inquire into, one could argue that civilizationally they are anything but.
Hit FSE's "In Forum" link to get even more of a boots-on-the-ground warrior's perspective. For me, one FSE post cancels out 100 keyboard warrior posts any day.
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