Perspective
Published September 07, 2003
....in such a postmodern war without clearly defined borders or fronts, the American people must habitually be reminded of our ultimate aims. Militarily we must reestablish both the ability and willingness to punish immediately any cadre or state that kills or plans to kill Americans. Politically we seek, both by arms and diplomacy, to end the present pathology in the Middle East where autocratic governments create venomous hatred toward the United States among their starving and frenzied to deflect their own catastrophic failures onto us. Morally we are trying to convey the message that the United States is a proven and reliable friend of international commerce, a guarantor of freedom of the seas and skies, a protector of nations that support consensual government and human rights - and a terrible and totally unpredictable enemy of any one or state that seeks to kill Americans or their friends or to threaten the norms of civilization itself.
So if we keep all that in mind - the sheer extent of our dire challenges and the successes of our first two years - then we are doing very well in Iraq at the very nexus of this global war. I hope the president can convey this to the American people and the world tonight.
- Perspective
- Published: September 07, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Politics
- Writer: Eric Olsen
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I like that: "Mr. Bombs Away."
That line concerned me a bit too - obviously Germany and Japan at least became allies, but I believe his point was that they independently began down their paths (to destruction) that led to the alliance. It was the same war before it was the same war, in a manner of speaking.
The point being that Iraq and al Qaeda are generated by the same pathologies - they are the same war. I believe this is a much greater and more important truth than the "lower level" details that seem to show no connection. And apparently 70% of Americans see it this way too, consciously or otherwise.
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I think Mr. Bombs Away here needs to revisit the history section at Borders. Japan and Germany SIGNED A TREATY; HECK, I THINK THEY SIGNED TWO; NO, THEY SIGNED THREE--COUNT EM--THREE!: the anti-Comintern pact of '36; the '37 Protocol, and the '40 three power pact. The last was specifically directed at the U.S. That's called A FORMAL ALLIANCE. It doesn't get much more coordinated than that.
Bin laden and Hussein exchanged e-mails, so to speak, and decided they had nothing in common. More and more evidence is emerging, indeed, that bin laden actually tried to overthrow Hussein in the 90s.
Facts! Let's base our analysis on facts, please! Thank you!