I Want Them Back, the Irbil Five

Commentary Magazine ^ | 07/13/09 | Abe Greenwald

[Jbny]

This is problematic:

Five Iranian officials held in Iraq for more than two years by U.S. forces returned home Sunday after the U.S. released them under pressure from the Iraqi government.

[jwparkerjr]

re: “State thought holding them would unnecessarily provoke Tehran into escalating attacks on American troops. Hindsight’s most important lesson here is that the latter view was proven wrong. The way to fight Iranian meddling was to fight it.”

That's always the case. That's been a standard straw man argument of the Left for years, that we don't dare protect ourselves or make them pay a price for attacking us since it will do nothing more than make them mad and assure more and bigger problems. Don't you wish as a child you could have used that on your parents when you messed up and were facing discipline? Fat chance.

The secret to effective discipline, whether for a recalcitrant child or murderous extremists is a combination of certainty and extracting a price. One without the other diminishes the chances of having to raise the action to a higher level.

We just can't seem to learn this and we've paid a high price in American lives. When a kid mouth's off, or does what a parent said not to do the most effective response comes quickly, almost unexpectedly and makes an impression. In my youth the impression was usually a welt or stinging on my butt that I could not ignore.

We have let Iran mess with us for over 30 years now without paying a price for their actions. Oh sure, we've placed sanctions on them, but the action most likely to modify their behavior is an action that affects not the poor souls who already suffer under the regime, but an action that punishes those in charge.

Until we learn to deal quickly and certainly with our enemies in terms they can appreciate, and really want to avoid, we can plan on insults from them as far as the eye can see.

I know I am being Captain Oh So Obvious here, but apparently it takes a lot of redundancy to make this point.