Have read your posts on this thread and we substantially agree. Although my approach is to occupy an area until the evolution of the desired results: a stable self-government with as many democratic principals as appropriate (as in Japan and Germany). Yes, that requires the defeat of Sharia law but perhaps not necessarily Islam itself.
Let me add two thoughts: we did indeed hesitate to bomb Monte Casino and the bombing did not help us avoid a bloody assault or really help us very much (cost/benefit/time) to finally dislodge the Germans, with some arguing the bombing did not help at all.
Suppose we “nuke the hell” out of Afghanistan, will that bring about a declaration of peace? If so, by whom, how enforceable and for how long?
Will the non-uniformed brethren in areas not nuked seek reprisal in ways that challenge our domestic defense capability and materially change the fabric of our lifestyle (haven’t they seemed to already)?
When Washington talked about “foreign entanglements” was it possible to reach the U.S. from Europe in mere hours, or even to presently be here? If nation X had a force on the ground attacking the our capital, would Washington have not fired on its shipping and its ports?
Not trying to be argumentative, just trying to sort out the issues.
In wars dating back to the dawn of time the army with higher ground has the advantage.
My point about bombing Monte Casino was that the military leaders of that time were not concerned about Public Opinion in Italy.
Because of that bombing yes, it gave the Germans more coverage but their situation would have been no different had we not bombed the Monastery. They had the high ground. New Zealand and Indian regiments were absolutely decimated trying to scale the mountain.
The only thing that won that battle was strength in numbers. My argument for that was that we did not hesitate to destroy a Holy Site. Our military leaders have ordered our troops NEVER to fire on a Mosque in any circumstances. So what does the enemy do? They go and hide in Mosques, and if there is a good spot for a sniper they will simply pick off our troops one by one.
If this policy continues we will be in this war not years but decades, and each generation born will be taught to hate the "crusaders".
Unfortunately, war changed precisely because of the matter in which we ended World War II. The military and politicians became fearful of mutually assured destruction. This is why Korea was a lost cause, Vietnam was a lost cause, because the military brass believed that either China or the USSR would counter with nuclear weapons.
And as you said because of our strategies in Iraq and Afghanistan we've shown the Pakistanis, Iranians and North Koreans that we won't use our most powerful and technologically advantaged weapon systems against them because the brass fears public opinion of the enemy's citizens and that of the BBC, CNN, Reuters and the other MSM outlets.
Obama pushed the "Arab Spring" resulting in Sharia in each of the countries where the leaders fell. And don't forget the Muslim Brotherhood is tied with Iran at the hip. This isn't "Transformers" where we can send robots to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities. With Zero giving up on Nasa and other countries quickly developing their own methods of entering space it won't be long before Iran has missiles capable of hitting any city in the US. And do you think a peace nick community organizer like Obama would strike back?
He'd probably apologize while the rest of the major cities in the US are nuked.
Finally, look at the stupidity of Israel in negotiating the release of 1000 murders for 1 soldier. Now terrorists are putting $100,000 bounties for the kidnap of Israeli soldiers, this is precisely why you don't negotiate with terrorists, you kill them.
It comes down to this age old fight between the hawks and the doves and the doves currently hold power. Other than Rick Santorum I don't see any of the current GOP candidates as hawks. I don't see them as doves either, I see them as status quo politicians.
And guess what? With our current "strategy" I guarantee we will have this same discussion in a few weeks, maybe a few months and folks like the guy who said I am an Ann Coulter fan will call me names, others will say we must win the "hearts and minds", ect...
I'll bookmark this thread as evidence of that. Today is October 29, 2011, I'll make sure I link this next time a dozen of our soldiers are wiped out and each time it happens I'll link this thread to show those of you who actually think you can change the minds of absolute fanatics as completely clueless of history.
I hate using this quote because it is overly used but I'm tired and need to get lunch but, "Those who do not know their history are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana.