Posted on 03/31/2007 9:58:35 PM PDT by jdm
Edited on 04/01/2007 10:19:50 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
If 911 showed us anything is that as the Islamic world gains greater weaponry they will 'lend them out' to their suicide murderers to be use against US, most likely here on our soil.
The War of Ideas: Jihadism against Democracy (Hardcover)
by Walid Phares
http://www.amazon.com/War-Ideas-Jihadism-against-Democracy/dp/1403976392
Walid Phares has long been among the most knowledgeable and incisive scholars of the Middle East--its peoples, its cultures, its religions, and its radical movements."
--U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman
"This book is a 'must read' for those who want to understand the jihad radical Islamists are waging against democracies. Walid Phares has a gift for being able to identify the root causes of the war and what the West and the free world must do to prevail."
--Oliver North, host of FOX News's "War Stories"
"The work of Professor Walid Phares is a beacon that helps us to see and understand the extent of the Jihadist threat the World is facing. Nobody who reads his analysis will have any doubt left about the existential peril posed by the radical Islamists and Jihadi terrorists to democracies. A must read."
--Jose Maria Aznar, Former Prime Minister of Spain
"Dr. Phares's knowledge of the War of Ideas and the complex conflicts of the Greater Middle East is exceptional. His ability to communicate intellectually among various cultures is noted regionally and internationally."
--Dr. Barham Salih, Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq
___________________________________________
What we are dealing with in this war is a civil war inside the Islamic world.
>>>You are falling into the trap of ignorance that
You are falling into the trap of ignorance that Vietnam-type rules of engagement ("Oh you can't shoot that person" (as seen on CNN or YOUTUBE.COM) or "Oh, we can't put a dictator in charge of these raucus ethnic groups") just won't work. Change the rules of engagement and we might have a chance. Otherwise, partition is the only rational solution.
You subscribe the Iraq-is-a-magnet school of thought. It's not that bad, but we can not afford it. It could last decades. Did you ever think that Syria and Iran appreciate that model too?
And Bush's mid-course "Bringing democracy to the Middle East" is a stupid reason to remain in Iraq. Maintaining remote permanent bases in Iraq is acceptable though. So is calling all legitimate nuclear threats from crazy dictators. In my opinion, flexibility to changing threats is key: Iran, N. Korea, South America, the U.S. southern border.
What's the name of that Air Force Colonel's concept about being inside their decison loop? Right now we have our boots stuck in the mud and Iran is having a field day.
What Krauthammer didn't say is a major reason behind the RATs push for Afghanistan is that they are still thinking law enforcement operation. "Catch OBL and all our troubles would be over. Why haven't you caught him yet? Why don't we send all our troops walking the top of the earth looking for him?" They haven't got a clue.
Bttt
They are all wrong. The real war is between communists in drag (the democratic party and their running dogs), and Americans, for contol of the United States Of America. At this stage of the war, the communists are winning. They have captured the major media outlets, the public schools and universites, the legal profession, the courts, about 50% of the states legislatures, the unions, and the federal house and senate.
They saw how well it worked with the Soviets. They may want that model to be replayed.
save
Someone should tell Krauthammer about the illegal drug wealth in Afghanistan -- and its proximity to Pakistan a nuclear power that can be taken over in a heartbeat.
Both Iraq and Afghanistan are important because the terrorists will set up shop in whichever country we leave.
The democrats want us out of Iraq because they are just using their usual incrementalism. Get out of Iraq first then Afghanistan then disband the military altogether so the Republicans can't use it again as a political tool.
Af
bump
They are not stupid. Whatever else Pelosi is, she is far from stupid. She knows very well that catching Bin Laden would have no operational effect. You give them way, way too much credit for sincerity and underestimate their cleverness. They are not clueless. Everything they say or do is measured for it's political effect. They are playing a political game absolutely ruthlessly with only one goal in mind - political power, and are winning at it.
I agree.
The War on Terror has moved on from the people that carried out 9/11. That was but one battle in the long war.
When we had sunk all the aircraft carriers that carried out Pearl Harbor did we stop fighting ?
Iraq is where it is at. We can keep Afghanistan in a state of stone age subsistance where they will never be a threat again.
Then Iran, then Syria. They will all taste freedom delivered by unstoppable military might.
So why in the Hell aren't republicans using this all over the airwaves buy air time on every major network and air it over and over again so the American public finally realizes this.What is wrong with the GOP party? Do they like to lose?
IF this was 1942, the Democrats would be pursuing a Japan First strategy instead of fighting the most dangerous enemy. Just more gutless bluster from the Do Nothng Democrats.
As been explained to the stupid Democrat Leadership a few billion times, here is what we are doing in Iraq.
Based on the political situation in the region left over from the 1991 Gulf War plus the domestic political consensus built up in BOTH parties since 1991 as well as fundamental military strategic laws, there was NO viable strategic choice for the US but to take out Iraq after finishing the initial operations in Afghanistan.
To start with Saddam's Iraq was our most immediate threat. We could NOT commit significant military forces to another battle with Saddam hovering undefeated on our flank nor could we leave significant forces watching Saddam. The political containment of Iraq was breaking down. That what Oil for Food was all about. Oil for Food was an attempt by Iraq to break out of it's diplomatic isolation and slip the shackles the UN Sanctions put on it's military. There there was the US Strategic position to consider.
The War on Islamic Fascism is different sort of war. in facing this Asymmetrical threat, we have a hidden foe, spread out across a geographically diverse area, with covert sources of supply. Since we cannot go everywhere they hide out, in fact often cannot even locate them until the engage us, we need to draw them out of hiding into a kill zone.
Iraq is that kill zone. That is the true brilliance of the Iraq strategy. We draw the terrorists out of their world wide hiding places onto a battlefield they have to fight on for political reasons (The "Holy" soil of the Arabian peninsula) where they have to pit their weakest ability (Conventional Military combat power) against our greatest strength (ability to call down unbelievable amounts of firepower) where they will primarily have to fight other forces (the Iraqi Security forces) in a battlefield that is mostly neutral in terms of guerrilla warfare. (Iraqi-mostly open terrain as opposed to guerrilla friendly areas like the mountains of Afghanistan or the jungles of SE Asia).
Did any of the critics of liberating Iraq ever look at a map? Iraq, for which we had the political, legal and moral justifications to attack, is the strategic high ground of the Middle East. A Geographic barrier that severs ground communication between Iran and Syria apart as well as providing another front of attack in either state or into Saudi Arabia if needed.
There were other reasons to do Iraq but here is the strategic military reason we are in Iraq. We have taken, an maintain the initiative from the Terrorists. They are playing OUR game on ground of OUR choosing.
Problem is Counter Insurgency is SLOW and painful. Often a case of 3 steps forward, two steps back. One has to wonder if the American people have either the emotional maturity, nor the intellect" to understand. It's so much easier to spew made for TV slogans like "No Blood for Oil" or "We support the Troops, bring them home" or dumbest of all "We are creating terrorists" then to actually THINK.
Westerners in general, and the US citizens in particular seem to have trouble grasping the fundamental fact of this foe. These Islamic Fascists have NO desire to co-exist with them. The extremists see all this PC posturing by the Hysteric Left as a sign that we are weak. Since they want us dead, weakness encourages them. There is simply no way to coexist with people who completely believe their "god" will reward them for killing us.
So we can covert to Islam, die or kill them. Iraq is about killing enough of them to make the rest of the Jihadists realize we are serious. They same way killing enough Germans, Italians and Japanese eliminated the ideologies of Nazism, Fascism and Bushido.
Americans need to understand how Bin Laden and his ilk view us. In the Arab world the USA is considered a big wimp. We have run away so many times. Lebanon, the Kurds, the Iraqis in 1991, the Iranians, Somalia, Clinton all thru the 1990s etc etc etc. The Jihadists think we will run again. In fact they are counting on it. That way they can run around screaming "We beat the American just like the Russians, come join us in Jihad" and recruit the next round of "holy warriors". Iraq is also a show place where we show the Muslim world that there are a lines they cannot cross. On 9-11-01 they crossed that line and we can, and will, destroy them for it
If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a small chance of survival. There may even be a worse case: you may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves." Winston Churchill
The real war is against the neonevillechamberlains in our country.
Ok I just have to: Can you say OWNED?
But you do not decide where to fight on the basis of history; you decide on the basis of strategic realities of the ground.
That's the kind of statement that needs to be rammed into the faces of these Democrats! Why can't the President come out and make STRONG statements that reveal the way things really stand?
I remember
And how much longer ago did President Bush say it? Uh-huh. That's what I thought. Credit where credit is due.
You really know how to hurt a guy
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