Replies

And for Horowitz to call himself a Realist is absurdity.

I think the definition of a neocon is someone who thinks that if we just remove an existing dictatorship, Western-style democratic rule will automatically ensue. This goes against our experience in Japan and Germany. Armed resistance came to an end after we killed millions of their military men and civilians* (via strategic bombing). American generals ruled those countries for years. They dictated what Japanese and German schools could put in their textbooks. They rewrote the countries' laws. They broke up existing conglomerates. A lot of coercive colonial-style diktats (i.e. STFU and do what you're told) were laid down in Japan and Germany that we never did in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It's pretty unbelievable that neo-con Republicans are blundering into yet another morass. It's as if we were doing a re-run of the 1979 Iranian revolution. Only now, instead of doing their own fighting, the Khomeinists have Western air forces helping them topple the Shah.

* The civilians screamed defiance when interviewed, but fell into line like sheep after their respective regimes surrendered. Why? The unpleasant truth is that the millions of civilian dead over a period of years from blast and shrapnel wounds had a cumulatively demoralizing effect. At war's end, Axis civilians had had enough.

Remember also regarding WWII: Of our population then of 160 million, and fully 16 million served in uniform, many by conscription.

IOW we got the resources to make SURE the job got done.

Now, we try to use machines, instead of people, and we ARE not getting the job done. And of course we feel so guilty to harm a hair on the head of the innocent civilians.

We are still supposedly looking for bin Laden in Afghanistan nearly ten years later.

The minute the troop levels drop too low, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya will revert to their islamic dictatorship of some kind, and they won’t like the US, at all.

Every dollar and every life from America will have been wasted.

If we aren’t going to do the job, why stir up these hornets nests regarding us?

Why not just stand aside and let muslims focus on killing muslims?

Especially so in Libya, as it is not clearly known that rebel forces are on our side at all. In fact they may be more our enemies than Gadaffy.

"A lot of coercive colonial-style diktats (i.e. STFU and do what you're told) were laid down in Japan and Germany that we never did in Iraq and Afghanistan."

We failed to demand tribute. A leviathian who moves without demanding tribute will soon find their own revolt...