Posted on 12/14/2007 5:49:39 AM PST by IrishMike
Washington is an echo chamber. One pundit, one senator, one reporter proclaim a snazzy “truth” and almost immediately it reverberates as gospel. Conventional wisdom about Iraq is rarely questioned. A notion seems to find validity not on its logic or through empirical evidence, but simply by the degree to which it is repeated and felt to resonate.
Take the following often repeated statements.
“There is no military solution to Iraq.” Well, obviously it is true in the sense that in this postmodern age we were not going to see another Curtis LeMay flatten a Fallujah or Ramadi.
But the miraculous political achievement of postwar Japan or Europe was the dividend of a military solution: the destruction of wartime fascism and the prevention of its reemergence by vigilant military policing.
Likewise, there will only be peace in a constitutional Iraq when citizens believe that they can safely participate in government, express themselves somewhat freely, prosper economically, and feel safe from internal and external threats.
In order to do this, an army and a national police force that purports to prevent thugs, militias, and terrorists from killing those with whom they disagree, is required. In war-torn Iraq, such forces will only emerge as confident and capable when they know that the U.S. is stronger than their enemies and can offer them a window of security to train and strengthen.
So a political solution is only possible if there is security — and security is only likely if someone first kills, defeats, or routs the enemy.
(Excerpt) Read more at article.nationalreview.com ...
There you have the reason for today's Democrats refusal to wage war against the enemy....they're fascist brothers!
Why would flattening parts of Mecca and Qom be bad again?
And here I thought it was the whole “We’re not worthy, all other cultures are more deserving, we need to submit to them” mentality....
...we're talking Muslims here right?. What they "feel" really depends on what they are told to do, and by who... If the Teddy Bear suddenly spoke and told them to load up on IED's and go sit next to a reindeer and wait for a big guy in a red suit who's on a PC diet to show up....they'd do it
VDH Ping
I continue to replay a quick scene that was broadcast from Iraq, immediately after the fall of Baghdad. An embedded reporter and his video team were trying to get reactions from some of the local citizens; many quite wary of the advancing forces, obviously. One wizzened old guy was quite emotional when he asked of the reporter, “But, who will rule us, now?” A very telling scene, and one that continues even now, I’d suspect.
Unless and until these people can feel that their continued lives are more attractive than the call of death, there will never be peace in this part of the world.
Let me know if you want in or out.
Links: FR Index of his articles: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=victordavishanson
His website: http://victorhanson.com/
NRO archive: http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson-archive.asp
Pajamasmedia: http://victordavishanson.pajamasmedia.com/
From what I have been reading lately, it seems safer to walk the streets of Iraq than some cities here in the U.S.
I bet Donald Rumsfeld and Victor Davis Hanson have some interesting conversations at the Hoover Institution.
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