War comes closer

Washington Times ^ | Wednesday, August 1, 2002 | Tony Blankley

[JohnHuang2]

Wednesday, August 1, 2002

Quote of the Day by tractorman

[Crazymonarch]

August September...too hot to be effective in CBW gear.

[powderhorn]

August September...too hot to be effective in CBW gear.

It HAS to start before the Pakistan elections.

[Mr. Mojo]

The usually well-sourced Stratfor explains that from the 1973 oil embargo, through the defeat of the Russians in Afghanistan, Saddam's 1991 survival, the U.S. defeat in Somalia to September 11, the centuries-old Islamic sense of impotence has been reversed.

Nothing that a few ICBM's can't reverse once more.

[LibWhacker]

. . . the Bush administration is not abandoning its strategy [of war with Iraq] because it sees a successful campaign against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as a prime way to shatter the psychological advantage within the Islamist movement . . .

I'm not sure that's possible, at least not by defeating just one Islamic country such as Iraq. Muslims seem to have it in their heads that Allah will help them overcome any odds, and that an Islamic victory over the entire world is inevitable, imminent and unstoppable.

I'm afraid that in order to shatter that kind of delusion, we're going to have to physically beat them -- all of them, everywhere -- to a bloody pulp.

But I'm not sure we have the will to do that. Get ready for the second coming of the Dark Ages.

[Texasforever]

IMO you are giving them way too much credit.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

It HAS to start before the Pakistan elections.

Since this date is not widely known, when will they be held?

[Mo1]

Muslims seem to have it in their heads that Allah will help them overcome any odds, and that an Islamic victory over the entire world is inevitable, imminent and unstoppable.

Would these be the same folks that surrendered in the thousands during the Gulf war??

Don't get me wrong .. I agree many will need to be smacked down hard .. but I'm thinking a lot of folks will be glad to see Saddam go

[Texasforever]

I honestly believe that Saddam's biggest problem will be scrounging up an "army" that does not remember the Gulf War and never want to face us again. The Muslim "street" is very long on talk and very short on action. It is telling that you never see a middle-aged homicide bomber. They send their children to fight their battles.

[LibWhacker]

I hope you guys are right. It's just that sometimes I get the feeling we're up against some infinitely crazy SOBs. And it doesn't help to see all our "good friends" in Europe and elsewhere running for the exits, LOL.

[Mo1]

Yes it is very telling ..

[Texasforever]

hope you guys are right. It's just that sometimes I get the feeling we're up against some infinitely crazy SOBs. And it doesn't help to see all our "good friends" in Europe and elsewhere running for the exits, LOL.

I guess they will just have to run then. Look I am not looking forward to a war. I have one son in the ranks and another that is bound and determined to join him when he graduates from high school next spring. However; if they have to fight, I want them under a CIC that will not hold back and fight on our terms and our timing instead of a quickly assembled retaliatory strike after a repeat of 911 or even worse.

[TLBSHOW]

Colin Powell is trying to veto the president's war plans with the threat of resignation (and some sort of implicit racial backlash that would ensue).

What is this? Powell threatens now.

[Mo1]

Yes we should be concerned because there are crazy SOB's .. but my guess is .. once Saddam is out of the picture, you'll see a lot of happy people

As for our friends in Europe .. I'm thinking before long they will be jumping on board .. they are always the last to come around .. but they will

And if not .. it won't be the first time we bailed their butts out .. because they are closer to Iraq then we are

[truth_seeker]

"While long-range American strategy must try to overcome legitimate causes of [Islamic] resentments, immediate policy must demonstrate that a terrorist challenge . . . produces catastrophic consequences for the perpetrators, as well as their supporters, tacit or explicit." In other words, we must break the will and pride of all those in the Islamic world who would dare terrorize us and the international system.

Needs to be done. Afghanistan, followed by Iraq would seem to be evidence enough, for rational folks.

Arabs/muslims may or may not be rational. It is their call to make; eg. Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Egypt and yes, Pakistan-just naming the big ones.

[Mo1]

What is this? Powell threatens now.

I don't put a lot of stock in that ... Bush doesn't seem the type that deals with threats

Bush likes team players and if you don't want to be part of the team .. well there's the door

[Texasforever]

What is this? Powell threatens now.

I have predicted this for sometime and even further I believe he will be the 2004 democrat candidate. Powel is the single largest cabinet mistake Bush made. Powell sees himself as a figure of "international stature".

[The Great Satan]

It is noteworthy that the Texas-based Strategic Forecasting Co. (Stratfor.com) published on the same day a report that concluded "the Bush administration is not abandoning its strategy [of war with Iraq] because it sees a successful campaign against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as a prime way to shatter the psychological advantage within the Islamist movement and demonstrates U.S. power."

This is putting the cart before the horse. The Islamists are now cannon fodder for the far more plausible imperial ambitions of the tyrant Hussein. The Islamist movement would be nothing without Saddam Hussein -- a silly joke, a ragtag bunch of losers like Richard Reid and Jose Padilla led by sexually inadequate religious nutjobs like the late Ayatollah Khomeini and the late Osama bin Laden.

Saddam Hussein styles himself as the reincarnation of Nebuchadnezzar and the new Saladin, aspirant to the title of Caliph, and with reason. Only he could have conceived and organized a blow to the Great Satan such as 9/11. You have to give Saddam credit: in purely military terms, it was both the most audacious and most ingenious surprise attack in human history, and that fact is not lost on Saddam's Arab audience.

9/11 came ten years after Saddam screamed out his defiance and his invulnerability even in retreat by setting the largest blaze in human history. And it came twenty years after his nuclear ambitions were scotched by Israel's preemptive strike on the Osirak reactor. The Osirak raid set him down the path of acquiring biological WMD, the very weapons that emboldened him to attack Kuwait in 1991 and the United States in 2001.

Pray to God we can figure out a way to get rid of him before another ten years rolls around.

[SunStar]

I'm afraid that in order to shatter that kind of delusion, we're going to have to physically beat them -- all of them, everywhere -- to a bloody pulp.

Or force them into submission by promoting and/or enforcing regime change in two out of three big players -- Iraq and Iran. Once those guys are out of the game, everyone else, including the Saudis, should fall in line.

[SunStar]

It is their call to make; eg. Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Egypt and yes, Pakistan-just naming the big ones.

All these countries (except for maybe Iran) will buckle once Saddam is gone. They will not believe our resolve otherwise, IMHO.