I have been in war. When I returned from war I was called a "baby killer" and "immoral."
I did not choose where or when to be born. I did not choose on whose side I fought. I did not want to give up my citizenship rights because the draft would put me in harm's way. And, by fate, I participated in the first war fought on TV.
I learned much from that experience. One, war is brutish and life is cheap...the cost of only a bullet in many cases. Two, a war cannot be won if the state is worried about what others say, whether on blogs or on TV.
Our world politicians talk much about going after ISIS, or al Qaeda, or the Taliban, or Hezbollah.
There is only one way to win this war. Take the war to the states from which these terrorists come. You cannot win fighting roaming figures who move from state to state to plan terror on the peaceful.
If someone travels from Saudi Arabia to bring war to Europe, bomb Saudi Arabia...perhaps Mecca should be first. If someone travels to the USA from Somalia to bring destruction to the Americas, bomb Mogadishu...the heart of the city.
Do not worry about civilian casualties. Do you think the criminals who came to New York and Paris cared whether the casualties were civilians in the World Trade Center or the Bataclan Theatre?
If ISIS wants to reside in Iraq or Syria or Libya, bomb the capitals of these nations. Perhaps then the fire will be lit to force these countries to recognize they are responsible for their borders and their citizenry.
I do not think war is the answer to anything. However, war is either fought with the goal to win, like World War II or the first Gulf War, or it is not war. Set a goal and do not stop until it is met.
Trust me, Europe and the USA, history will put you on the right side. This tactic will also gain the attention of nations wanting to provoke us around the edges, like China and Russia.
Brute force, not targeted killing, will win this war for the survival of the peaceful.
Brute force, not targeted killing, will win this war for the survival of the peaceful.
I couldn't agree more in this case--even though I always thought I was a pacifist. Won't work in this case. I thought burning a prisoner alive was the last straw, but seems not. Sometimes you just have to "man up", take a stand, and defeat the bad guys cuz you are not going to "contain" fanatics. They need to be pulverized. Sadly, a lot of innocents are going to die, too--as they always do in war. But a lot of innocents are dying already. It's time to save as many as we can. That's not only presidential, it's exactly the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Martin. Not going to happen. With some degree of luck, most of the major nations of the world will finally come together (hopefully sooner rather than later) -- including Russia and China -- and form a major "unity force" that will marginalize the crazies that call themselves ISIS or ISIL. It's not going to be easy, but dropping bombs on thousands of innocents is in no way the answer.
ReplyDeleteWorked for WWII. Can't be any worse than what we have now!
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DeleteThe innocents you speak of are as innocent as the Germans who lived next to the gas chambers and "saw nothing, no nothing." If you feed a terrorist, make love to a terrorist, clean the floors for a terrorist, say hello to a known terrorist, fix the car of a terrorist, clean the house of a terrorist, you are a terrorist. You are not innocent. This is the naivete we live with now.
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