Replies

We are in the nascent stages of World War III. There will be very hard decisions to make down the road.

The most striking, bizarre, and completely miscalculated event was truly 9/11. Had Bin Laden & Co. kept their powder dry until a WMD was deliverable, this country would have seen a devastation like none other. Instead, "they gave us their best shot," as Ollie North pointed out, with hijacked airliners instead. An absolute historic miscalculation, perhaps on the level of Hitler invading Russia in winter.

9/11 forced us to confront this enemy BEFORE a WMD could be detonated on the mainland. In spite of the carnage created by the atrocity of 9/11, in their death, the innocent souls who perished may have prevented something much MUCH worse.

Now we're faced with nuclear proliferation among rogue states. Iran, N. Korea, Pakistan (quasi-rogue), and China have nuclear weapons and/or technology to create those weapons AND/or proliferate them. Libya, Saudi Arabia, and perhaps even Syria (thanks, Saddam) are on their way to harnessing either the weapons or technology of their own.

Israel's military is clearly superior in the Middle East, but that gap is closing quick. Should Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia or Syria deploy even a short-range missile, Israel's military advantage suddenly vanishes, and the game is on.

Meanwhile, N. Korea is clearly prepared to test longer range missiles with the capability of not only reaching Japan (that's already possible), but also U.S. territories in the Pacific rim, and perhaps Alaska. China is licking its chops at an opportunity to play "all your nuclear facilities are belong to us" and do the world a favor by "eliminating" Kim Jong-il and his borders all at the same time before Beijing is in his sites. S. Korea's schizophrenic relationship with the United States ("Imperialist pigs! Wait -- don't go!) has led to a decreasing U.S. presence on the peninsula, and now Japan needs to seriously debate building its own nuclear arsenal.

Enough yet? Back in Pakistan, we've got radical Islamic insurgents (and homegrown types) threatening the coup-born leadership of Pervez Musharaff. India is one major terrorist event away from coming back to the nuclear brink. And we still can't find bin Laden (dead or alive).

Southeast Asia is a virtual sperm bank of terrorism, with the Phillipines and Australia tasked with being inviting targets. We have the Malaysians scapegoating the Jews (unabashedly), Indonesia's a pathetic, diseased land mass, and the level of protection for the President is unprecedented due to the overwhelming threat.

Seems to me unless everyone puts down their shoulder-fired missiles and goes back to the farm, we're in for a long, LONG conflagration...

An absolute historic miscalculation, perhaps on the level of Hitler invading Russia in winter.

Bad history. The invasion began on June 22, 1941, the longest day of the year. Better formulation is as follows:

An absolute historic miscalculation, perhaps on the level of Hitler invading Russia.

The most striking, bizarre, and completely miscalculated event was truly 9/11. Had Bin Laden & Co. kept their powder dry until a WMD was deliverable, this country would have seen a devastation like none other. Instead, "they gave us their best shot," as Ollie North pointed out, with hijacked airliners instead. An absolute historic miscalculation, perhaps on the level of Hitler invading Russia in winter.

Also, Saddam was foolish to invade Kuwait before he had the nuclear option. If he had waited only a couple more years, it would have been MUCH harder for us to deal with him. Thank goodness for their impatience.

An absolute historic miscalculation, perhaps on the level of Hitler invading Russia in winter.

Hitler invaded the USSR on June 22, 1941. Because their advance on Moscow met very stiff resistance, the Germans got to experience the Russian winter.