FINALLY a ray of light in the darkness of the Bullsh*t that has been spewn. If you're going to fight a war, you either go all the way, or stay at home.
Posted on 10/26/2001 6:16:46 AM PDT by spycatcher
The Immorality of a "Compassionate War" on Terrorism
The United States must wage a ruthless--not a charitable--war against her enemies.
For nearly a month, the American people waited patiently for our government to retaliate against the perpetrators of the September 11 atrocities. Now that the military campaign has finally begun, it is clear what the Bush administration meant by calling this a "compassionate war." In this war, America's rational self-interest is being subordinated to Christian mercy. Such an absurd love-thy-neighbor war will not safeguard us from the threats we face.
On the first day of bombing Afghan military targets, our Air Force was busy delivering charity food packages stamped "This food is a gift from the United States of America." We have already lavished on the Afghans more than 450,000 aid packages. Not only is such alms-giving expensive (the President has pledged $320 million worth of food and medicine), but it also betrays an obscene inversion of morality. Who, in 1941, would have countenanced parachuting in bread and medicines to the people of Hitler's Germany? Our mission then--as it ought to be today--was to vanquish the enemy at all costs. But to the Bush administration, Christian charity toward Afghanis is apparently more important than achieving a swift and just victory.
The policy of dispersing food over hostile terrain--before the enemy has been eliminated--would once have been condemned as treason. Intermingled among the very "innocents" whom President Bush wishes to aid are legions of Taliban militiamen, including 10,000 Al Qaeda terrorists-in-training. Whether the terrorists consume our food, feed it to their livestock, or burn it for warmth, American taxpayers are providing succor to people bent on annihilating us.
Our soldiers, moreover, are risking their lives to provide that succor. Although our large C-17 cargo jets fly well above the Afghans' anti-aircraft batteries, Air Force officials admit that the planes require armed escorts. Indeed, the first-day assault was directed at neutralizing ground weaponry that might have threatened the food drops.
A consequence of this "compassionate war" is that our military is given contradictory instructions--both to fight and not to fight. Although President Bush has averred that our mission is to "smoke out" the terrorist "evil-doers," on Oct. 12 our bombing raids were suspended in deference to a Muslim holy day. As the bombardments resumed, Secretary of State Colin Powell was voicing assurances that America will help rebuild Afghanistan. (Who will help rebuild New York City?)
As the Air Force increased its bombardments, we also dropped 500,000 apologetic leaflets informing the Afghans that we are "here to help." (Powell has already indicated that he wants to end the fighting by November, not because he expects victory, but in deference to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.) Our soldiers are asked to pull their punches, to drop bombs ever so gingerly, lest some "innocents" be harmed. The longer we dither with "surgical" bombing--coupled with apologies--the more we demoralize our soldiers, and the longer we put them in danger.
What motivates this desire to appease the Afghan people? Christian morality considers the weak, not the strong--the needy, not the producers--as morally virtuous. Implicitly, President Bush accepts that America's greatness--our wealth and freedom--is a scarlet letter, an emblem of our "sin" of success. Our attempts to ingratiate ourselves with the Afghans, to impress them with our charity, to win their approval--all bespeak an abject, unwarranted humility. Observe how at every opportunity President Bush declares that "we are friends of the Afghan people"--and note the tone of self-abasement in his voice.
Only a mentality that lives by Christian "hope" could consider a war fought on such self-sacrificial terms to be practical. Even if we uproot terrorist networks in the Middle East, and even if we eliminate bin Laden, new murderers will come to the fore. As is evidenced by the recent riots in Pakistan and in Gaza, anti-Americanism is rife in the Islamic world. Our conduct in this war invites future aggression: our softly-softly approach tells the world--especially our enemies--that America is a pitifully indecisive giant willing to compromise any value--even its own defense. (The Taliban soldiers are reading the signals: it was reported that they are no longer sleeping in their barracks, and have moved into mosques, because there they know they are safe from our bombs.)
No war can be won unless the nation waging it is unequivocally committed to the righteousness and success of its cause. America must make its rational self-interest our paramount consideration. We must stop putting mercy above justice, charity above self-defense, the lives of foreigners above those of Americans. We must fight to win, as quickly as possible, and by any means necessary. Only a war fought on these terms will wipe out the current menace and strike the requisite fear in the hearts of terrorists.
What is not being said, though is that our leaders have a moral obligation to take our interests first -- that is what they were elected to do. If we are risking the loss of millions of lives at home and our entire way of life, and possibly the freedom of future people if our nation goes down, then a fight which kills half the population of Aghanistan is justified if need be. The stakes are that high.
We are simply pussy-footing around. The terrorists guessed right. We don't have the balls to use disproportionate force. It is going to take a nuclear bomb or mass plague in our country to embolden our leaders to use our full capabilities. By then it may be too late.
The fact that our president has never read a history book in his life is becoming all too obvious.
This is the root of the problem...
Exactly 180 degress from the way it should be...
And it is also the reason that we will never win this religious war, and the only true casualty will be the freedom of the American citizen...
The sooner we mess em up the sooner we can help the decent ones left over create a non-agressive country like we did Japan/Germany.
FINALLY a ray of light in the darkness of the Bullsh*t that has been spewn. If you're going to fight a war, you either go all the way, or stay at home.
Fine words but that is all they are.
We are not fighting a conventional war we are fighting a war against Terrorist different rules a different game plan.
If we went all out in Afghanistan what will we achieve, massive casualties ok you may say as long as they are not American, but then bang goes the chance of installing a friendly government right at the cross roads of Central Asia.
People also talk about making them so scared if they fear us they will leave us alone, this is rubbish. To make them fear you, you have to strike and strike hard, this will make them fear you, and more determined to hit back, what you fear you set out to destroy.
Let us say America was occupied by the UN, and let us say you ran a militia group, that was causing problems, if I was to order the complete destruction of a town in that region, and state if there were any more attacks against the occupying force I would choose two towns next and then four after that. Would you say right that’s it we cant win lets quit.
To fight a war against Terrorism it is not enough to eliminate the terrorist, you have to first separate the terrorist from the people, show the people that how the terrorist portrays us is wrong, that we have more to offer, and then you can eliminate him.
Tony
The author misunderstands Christian morality. The statement is not true. Christian morality does not consider someone morally virtuous merely on the fact of the person's need. Christian morality is just as concerned with righteousness and justice as it is with mercy. There is a time for both. Now is the time for the State to wage total war against these evildoers until every last one of them is killed. We must win this victory of righteousness over the wicked who seek to kill us. After that let the Church help the orphans and widows. Just my two cents.
Cordially,
GOTTA WAIT to be PC....Unfortuntely, it's gonna take one or more new significant islamic terrorist acts stateside before we'll see the U.S. 'burning foreign babies'.
PC, PC WE GOTTA BE!!!!!!!!
The meek shall inherit the earth...
Christianity demonizes those value producers that create things of value that makes the lives of human beings better...
Those value producers come in the form of entrepreneurs and business people who use businesses to create values for others in the voluntary pursuit of profit...
The businessman is demonized... The man that produces nothing is glorified...
Regards...
AB
Then we just deal with the next viper's nest until we just have a few loose individuals and small groups to deal with.
OH I forgot... the parents are supposed to provide for their children. Scratch that.
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