War Myths: What not to believe

National Review ^ | 9/20/01 | Victor Davis Hanson

[norraad]

0h, I'm so scared.

We've been helping them f w/us.

If/when we get serious, they'll be vapor!

[karlamayne]

"too overconfident, too eager for war, and too enamoured of the big guns."

Yes. And you might also add too quick to provide justification for the sins of the last administration.

[WRhine]

Finally a cogent, logical, optimistic assessment of what America faces as we undertake this grueling mission of destroying terrorism as we know it throughout the world. Although America may have to do all the dirty work alone I sincerely hope England stays by our side. We can use her support. BTW, has Canada gone on record for any meaningful support?

[Utah Girl]

Thanks for posting this Jean. I had lunch with my "let's hold hands and sing Kumbaya" friend. She brought up several of these points, now I can rebut them a little more effectively.

[cicero's_son]

Great post.

Bump.

[cicero's_son]

Hmmm.

You're an incrementalist, then? I wouldn't have thought so from some of your previous posts.

I'm very pleased that the President has bided his time before responding, but I'm hoping for a total overwhelming reponse once he is ready.

[WRhine]

Because of this level of genius and cunning, I would submit that these folks are extremely formidable.

I agree but the way to beat these cunning pigs is to kill their leadership in the Middle East (all of them), their intellectual and network infrastructure and whatever assets they have financial, military or otherwise. Through extensive and unrelenting intelligence I believe it is possible to destroy the structures that these terrorists depend on to carry out their murderous missions. This coupled with finishing off Iraq (with Saddam's head on a platter) and overthrowing the leadership of any other country that harbors terrorist will end terrorism, as we know it. At least the Middle East brand which is by far the most prevalent. Finally, all the Aliens here from the Middle East have to be deported. We can’t have our FBI running all around the country side all the time investigating and chasing down Arabs looking for subsidized education and lord knows what else. Let them go back to their country and work to improve their own country’s conditions. Perhaps many of these Arabs will get a better perspective on just how screwed up their countries are and appreciate how great America truly is. Naaaa.

[Fury]

Victor Davis Hanson is a great writer. In this article, he is right on.

[TKEman]

Thank you for posting this. This is a beautifully written article. There simply is no other rational choice other than war. That's all I can say.

[x]

The response should be hard and forceful. That's true. I don't think we ought to get involved in any Vietnam style incrementalism. I just hope we have realizable goals and an end strategy.

Hanson is too in love with the idea of total victory and transforming other societies. National Review is right about the need for force now, but their advice may involve making too many enemies in the hope of ultimate victory.

Still it's a tough call. You don't want to leave your actual enemy crippled and liable to strike again, but you don't want to destroy so much that you make more enemies for the future.

[FreedomPoster]

This one deserves a "next day" bump. I had gotten this one via email, and had already forwarded to my Terrorist War mailing list. Great material for debunking the "blame America" crowd.

[Jean S]

Thanks for the bump.

[timestax]

bttt