not a time for “middle-of-the-road politicians
Unfortunately, because of our misguided foray into Iraq and our unsuccessful attempt to control Afghanistan we have shown the criminal terrorists that we’re a fumbling giant unable to fight them on their own terms. They have declared victory against us and our failures have emboldened them to attack us more brazenly. That we haven’t been attacked yet is not proof of our success to thwart them but simply the fact of their patience and cunning. Many who know much more than me have stated clearly that it isn’t a question of if we’ll be attacked but of when. We are not safer now than before 9/11 regardless of what our president might say and we don’t have a capable intelligence agency, as does England, Germany and others, to infiltrate and foil terrorists’ attempts at perpetrating violence against us.
The billions of dollars spent on the wars to date could have gone a long way in making us truly safer. The ridiculous and heavy handed security at our airports don’t work, we even tell the terrorists the exceptions to the rule of “no liquids” enabling them to circumvent our efforts.
The war against terror should have always been a police action not a military action. The Brits were successful by police work not military warfare. It saddens me to see our soldiers in the heat of Iraq, weighed down with gear, easily picked off by road side bombs and snipers in civilian cloths. The idiocy of our foreign policy will some day be more evident to more Americans. For now we should fight to depose those that have put our country and its soldiers at great risk and hold those who have lied to us accountable for their actions.
We could learn so much from the Israelis both in the way that they fight the terrorists and defend their country and how they have learnt to live with terror on all sides of them. Ultimately we are a weak nation having never experienced what the British had when only a generation ago their cities were bombed or when the terrorist war between the Irish and English threatened millions of random bombings. Remember the Red Brigade’s terrorism in Italy, the heartless bombing of the Bologna Train station? I’m afraid it may take more terror on our soil to wake us up to our vulnerability and finally force us to engage the enemy with intelligence, criminal prosecution and a moratorium on the purchasing of their oil. I can’t understand how Americans can complain about the price of oil and are unwilling to make any sacrifice to help us fight the terrorists.
I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to me to ride around the city on my bike. I feel that I’m doing my part to thwart terrorism by denying them money to buy arms. The other terrorists are the arms manufacturers who, in order to sustain their profits after the end of the cold war, continue to create, market and sell technology, weapons and bombs to third world countries. The Iranians and Syrians didn’t design their weapons; the knowledge to build them didn’t come from the Iranian or Syrian or Iraqi school systems. The sidewinder missiles and cell phone detonators weren’t built in their factories.
The New York police department and our state’s prosecutor went after the gun manufactures and have successfully diminished weapons on the streets. It’s the same concept. It will take years to accomplish but if we don’t start now we’ll never achieve the demilitarization of the ignorant, violent and law-less regimes of the world.
The war in Lebanon is proof that you can’t “kick ass until it’s over” because you’d have to annihilate every human in Lebanon to succeed and that won’t happen. I believe the Israelis know this and the Israelis were happy to cripple the enemy enough to slow them down and limit their ability to throw bombs into Israel. This they succeeded in doing in spite of the ridiculous ranting of victory by the Hezbollah and the speculative opinions by media talking heads.
The enemy is dangerous, crafty, persistent as roaches in a kitchen and as hard to destroy. The next elections will prove that the failures of the administration will shift the voting away from the Republican Party, regardless of who runs against them. I think that many of the probable replacements are not up to the task either.
This is not a time for “middle-of-the-road politicians. It will take a radical with true charisma to push us out of our stupor and lead us toward creating a safer world. Unfortunately I haven’t seen one yet.
The billions of dollars spent on the wars to date could have gone a long way in making us truly safer. The ridiculous and heavy handed security at our airports don’t work, we even tell the terrorists the exceptions to the rule of “no liquids” enabling them to circumvent our efforts.
The war against terror should have always been a police action not a military action. The Brits were successful by police work not military warfare. It saddens me to see our soldiers in the heat of Iraq, weighed down with gear, easily picked off by road side bombs and snipers in civilian cloths. The idiocy of our foreign policy will some day be more evident to more Americans. For now we should fight to depose those that have put our country and its soldiers at great risk and hold those who have lied to us accountable for their actions.
We could learn so much from the Israelis both in the way that they fight the terrorists and defend their country and how they have learnt to live with terror on all sides of them. Ultimately we are a weak nation having never experienced what the British had when only a generation ago their cities were bombed or when the terrorist war between the Irish and English threatened millions of random bombings. Remember the Red Brigade’s terrorism in Italy, the heartless bombing of the Bologna Train station? I’m afraid it may take more terror on our soil to wake us up to our vulnerability and finally force us to engage the enemy with intelligence, criminal prosecution and a moratorium on the purchasing of their oil. I can’t understand how Americans can complain about the price of oil and are unwilling to make any sacrifice to help us fight the terrorists.
I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to me to ride around the city on my bike. I feel that I’m doing my part to thwart terrorism by denying them money to buy arms. The other terrorists are the arms manufacturers who, in order to sustain their profits after the end of the cold war, continue to create, market and sell technology, weapons and bombs to third world countries. The Iranians and Syrians didn’t design their weapons; the knowledge to build them didn’t come from the Iranian or Syrian or Iraqi school systems. The sidewinder missiles and cell phone detonators weren’t built in their factories.
The New York police department and our state’s prosecutor went after the gun manufactures and have successfully diminished weapons on the streets. It’s the same concept. It will take years to accomplish but if we don’t start now we’ll never achieve the demilitarization of the ignorant, violent and law-less regimes of the world.
The war in Lebanon is proof that you can’t “kick ass until it’s over” because you’d have to annihilate every human in Lebanon to succeed and that won’t happen. I believe the Israelis know this and the Israelis were happy to cripple the enemy enough to slow them down and limit their ability to throw bombs into Israel. This they succeeded in doing in spite of the ridiculous ranting of victory by the Hezbollah and the speculative opinions by media talking heads.
The enemy is dangerous, crafty, persistent as roaches in a kitchen and as hard to destroy. The next elections will prove that the failures of the administration will shift the voting away from the Republican Party, regardless of who runs against them. I think that many of the probable replacements are not up to the task either.
This is not a time for “middle-of-the-road politicians. It will take a radical with true charisma to push us out of our stupor and lead us toward creating a safer world. Unfortunately I haven’t seen one yet.
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