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Admit It: The Surge Worked (Peter Beinart)
Washington Post ^ | January 18, 2009 | Peter Beinart

Posted on 01/17/2009 7:18:37 PM PST by neverdem

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To: Tublecane

We know the Europeans do not want to use military force at anytime or any place because they lack the capability, and they don’t want us to use it, because they that makes them irrelevant. They have this concept of “soft power,” which would give the State department the lead role even in situations where only credible force permits any result at all. Face it: our elites, both in America and Europe, completely misread what happened in Iran when militant Islam acquired a power base, because what everyone has done is to rely on a flawed view of Islam.


21 posted on 01/18/2009 7:59:52 PM PST by RobbyS (ECCE homo)
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To: RobbyS

“They have this concept of ‘soft power’”

Do you think they ever stop to ponder what’s behing “soft power”? I mean, I know it’s all about diplomacy, sanctions, and arbitration short of actual physical coercion. But they do realize that no one listens to diplomats because they’re persuasive. Geopolitics is not rational. They listen because they’re afraid of something behind the talk. Namely, force.

It’s as if the Western world has forgotten that government is nothing more than organized force.


22 posted on 01/18/2009 8:24:17 PM PST by Tublecane
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To: Tublecane
It’s as if the Western world has forgotten that government is nothing more than organized force.

And that includes the bunch who call themselves "realists."

23 posted on 01/18/2009 8:42:14 PM PST by RobbyS (ECCE homo)
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To: neverdem
Liberal self-confidence is sky-high...

Recipe for disaster. If I didn't live here, it would be funny.

24 posted on 01/18/2009 8:50:39 PM PST by The_Media_never_lie
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