Can We Win This War?

The Ornery American ^ | 09-11-01 | Orson Scott Card

[Humbug]

When we find ourselves in a war we can't win, we must either capitulate or change it to the kind of war we can win.

If we find and destroy the perpetrators, we only make them martyrs and guarantee that others will attack us again. But if we absolutely defeat their goals and punish those who support and protect them, we can put an end to this sort of thing once and for all.

[Humbug]

This is my first time posting an article here...hope i do it right. Anyway it's quite a long article and wasn't sure if i should copy it all here - so just click on the source link to read it in its entirety. BTW the author of it is Orson Scott Card (or at least i assume it is him since it is on his website and it reads very much like his style of writing) who has written a few bestselling books including Ender's Game. Don't always agree with him but he always offer an interesting take on many different subjects.

[TomSmedley]

Anything short of open, declared war with the whole-hearted involvement of the American people will ultimately fail. If we do not have the will to fight to defend ourselves against our relentless and fanatical enemies using the kinds of weapons we can actually use to achieve the kinds of military goals that are within our reach, then we should recognize that we do not have the national will to survive and declare our immediate surrender.

A declaration of war specifies and defines the victory sought. The VietNam war was never declared. The undefined victory was never achieved.

Excellent article.

[meenie]

In any confrontation, you have to consider your strengths and weaknesses because the opponent is going to be considering his. We have built the best military in the world for large scale warfare but don't have a clue on how to manage a guerilla or terrorist operation.

The enemy has figured this out. We still have the possibility of and the probability of biological and chemical attacks. In fact, we have the possibility of more airliner attacks.

When we have pilots from suspect countries training at Daytona Beach, what kind of security do we have? What kind of security do we have when we let millions of people infiltrate our borders? What kind of security do we have when the INS issues thousands of work permits but keep no track of the individuals, or even know whether they are still here? What kind of security do we have when Congress wants to take all weapons away from their citizens and is worried more about entitlements than defense appropriations?

We got caught with our pants down and now need to get our act together and straighten out the mess the nanny state has left us.