Posted on 09/18/2001 2:10:55 PM PDT by BamaG
Repeat after me: Osama bin Laden is a dead man.
The danger of the manic wave of emotion that the nation has been riding for the last week is that when it ebbs away, we may be particularly susceptible to the depressive voices of doubt and complication: We don't do mountains; we can't track down a "shadowy" network that has none of the traditional infrastructure of a state; we aren't ready for the casualties and time this war will entail.
Indeed, if you follow the logic of various pieces in the press over the last few days, the "nothing option" begins to seem the only reasonable alternative: We can't undertake any large-scale bombing in the Middle East because this would be counterproductive and immoral; we can't take out Saddam specifically because we supposedly already tried that once and it didn't work out; and, finally, even getting bin Laden will be difficult because of his elusiveness and the Afghani terrain.
You can just hear the pundit class talking itself out of any intensive military action. (Maureen Dowd will probably be back on the side of the Euro-appeasers before the month is out.)
All of this is "realism" as an excuse for lack of resolve — since the real hard work requires a moral and intellectual commitment many commentators won't be willing to undertake. It means welcoming the frank application of American military power, acknowledging the superiority of American civilization to the corrupt and backward political culture that has attacked it, and supporting unilateral American action when necessary.
This is what's difficult for that portion of the political elite that is wedded to cultural relativism and a low-grade anti-Americanism. The rest is relatively easy.
And telling ourselves as much is not simply a matter of maintaining patriotic ardor. A nation's attitude matters. What it tells itself about its capabilities has an important influence on what those capabilities will be.
For instance: Between the two world wars, the French were, in a sense, psychologically damaged. After the slaughter of the trenches, they so abhorred the idea of taking the offensive that they crouched behind the Maginot Line and were unwilling to deal Hitler an offensive blow — even when he was at his most vulnerable, during his remilitarization of the Rhineland in 1936.
So, let's remember.
We breached the Atlantic wall in 1944: Osama bin Laden is a dead man.
We — thirty years ago! — put a man on the moon: Osama bin Laden is a dead man.
We vanquished Saddam's army in a 100-hour ground war: Osama bin Laden is a dead man.
It may take some time and dirty tactics and unsavory temporary alliances, but given our might, technology, and determination, it's inevitable — all four of his wives will be widowed. Osama bin Laden is a dead man.
NaW.
(Given how much he's cost us already it will be a bargan...)
Burn in hell, Osama.
YAWN... Big deal. You kill Osama, and another one will take his place. There is no shortage of insane jihadist terrorists in the muslim countries, in case you havn't noticed.
YAWN... Big deal. You kill Osama, and another one will take his place. There is no shortage of insane jihadist terrorists in the muslim countries, in case you havn't noticed.
Then another terrorist will be a dead man. Why don't you understand that terrorism on American soil is the ultimate "vital national interest"?
We have to extermiate all the "NEST", where-ever they are!
With or Without Permission.
Maybe. You can't replace charisma, and not everyone with a hankie on his head has got it.
Notice how nasty Iran was under Komenei, and how quiet it's been (in our terms, anyway) since he died.
Maybe Dowd and the other anti American left wing extremist maggot mediots can go over to interview OBL and write opeds of praise. Then, maybe, they can be holding his hand or whatever piece of his anatomy that Dowd loves in guys like OBL when his lights go out permanently!
The NY Slimes and their world class clymers like Dowd kill Americans with their support of the dark side. They have been doing this since the days of Lenin. When they ignored and spiked the news of the destruction of the Jews in WWII or spiked that terrible news to page 22 of section D. Their support of Fidel has resulted in mass murder and the removal of most good Cubans from Cuba!
Left Wing extremists kill with their agendas!
That is true, but we need to make sure all his friends are too.
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