[Anotherpundit]

Most powerful, strident essay I've yet seen. Thought all should see. Written by Orson Scott Card, the author of the book Ender's Game, which some of you may have read.

[Apogee]

Really loved ender's game (read it first as a novella)- but have read occasional things from him with which I disagreed.
I definitely agree with your assessment.

[steveegg]

Amen.

[John Farson]

I checked the link. Where is Orson Scott Card mentioned???

[RLK]

Islam is a nation of about 1,000,000,000 people united in a massive group psychosis against the remainder of the world. It has always been so.

[Liberty_Or_Die]

Excellent Post. *I totally agree, all out war must be declared. *If we just take out one or two cells, new terrorist cells will join. *We must destroy the will and the ability to attack U.S. *I have thought of this line of thought, it makes sinse, we must first conquer and then occupy any nation that harbors terrorists. We must be aware that this will cost us dearly, we must recognize the cost and then commit to action. *It is the President's job to unite us. We must have a Declaration of War, Today, from Congress.

[vox1138]

Remember when Bubba shamelessly acted throughout eight disgraceful years and had to have every institution in this country undermined just so he could keep his job? We are challenged not only by the hostile intentions of a deadly foreign enemy but also by a weakness from within by some of our own. Hopefully, we have recovered most of our common sense that was lost in the politically demoralizing 90's. We are not challenged only from outside our borders. We have our own people, a number of whom have trouble telling right from wrong, and many Americans might not be sure if we have the moral authority to be a world leader now. I think we are still going through Clinton withdrawal, and I'm not sure if the effects of that embarrassment have been totally removed from the national psyche.

[Ronin]

OSC is one of the best sci-fi writers and serious sci-fi thinkers of this age. I think his observations here deserve careful consideration.

Alas, I do not see the U.S. Army falling all over itself to adopt his strategy or the President and Congress inviting him to Washington to tell them how to fight the war.

[Mark17]

Can We Win This War?

I don't think we can afford to lose it.

[Semaphore Heathcliffe]

Ask the Russians what they think of our chances. They weren't exactly fielding boy scouts during the ten years they had their asses handed to them. There are no good answers here. Nukes are...nukes, which I've been programmed to immediately consider as unthinkable. Ground war in Asia is one of two things you don't get involved in, as anyone who saw Princess Bride could tell. I can't recall what the other thing is. I'd almost rather glass Kabhul than throw away any NATO lives in those mountains.

[Rome2000]

He's a sci-fi writer right?

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

Can We Win This War?

So far, these past years, it is all just tough talk, talk , talk. You can't win a war if you don't fight it. IT'S STILL TALK, TALK, TALK.

The only retaliation I have seen the past few days is an assault on freedom in the United States.

[Greybird]

[...] we're going to have sharp limitations on our travel anyway, in the effort to make further such hijackings and bombings impossible. [...] Isn't it better to suffer those limitations as part of an effort to destroy our enemies' ability to make war against us, so we have a hope of returning to normal when the struggle is over?

No. What anyone who has studied history -- that should have included Card -- has to conclude is that such "limitations" are NEVER removed in full "when the struggle is over." Either an excuse is made for their necessity, or the "struggle" is simply redefined, and is never made to be over, period.

It should also be stipulated from the start that any use of conscription -- trying to attack terrorism by instituting slavery -- is utterly unacceptable. If not having a draft prevents getting enough willing participants in such actions, then we should re-evaluate whether the actions are justified at all. (We won't ask these questions before the fact. Doing that presumes Congress possesses common sense.)

What comes out above all as an obscenity, of course, is Card's contention that giving up our props for the State of Israel constitutes "surrender." It does no such thing. If Israel cannot defend itself by now, it never will. American troops will bleed gladly to defend Los Angeles, Miami, or ... New York. They, and we, will not endure such slaughter to hold on to the Dome of the Rock.

[Lion's Cub]

Actually, I think it's very short-sighted. Occupation would be a nightmare and very ineffective. BTW, I guess he figures the UN or NWO would be providing all the troops necessary to occupy these countries?

[Anotherpundit]

bump.