The Awful Truth
How do we get out of the Trap?
Becoming "like them," meaning we act more ruthlessly, is something we Americans have very little stomach for. That's one of the reasons we are (were) respected around the world, because we don't (didn't) act that way. When we do, like in Abu Gharib, it comes back to haunt us in a way that it does not haunt our enemies.
So what to do?
First off, don't invade anything else, just stop now before we end up with "ten fleas under ten fingers." (a warning by Mao to Kissinger, and you can bet the Chinese will remember how overstretched we are when they start the next round of saber-rattling over Taiwan.)
Second, hunt down and kill our enemies in Iraq.
This is the hard truth. We will either leave Iraq a total mess, in shameful retreat, emboldening our enemies further and losing all influence in the region for the next 50-100 years, or we will somehow find the will as a nation to act barbarously.
That is what war is, barbarism.
You can't have a clean war, you can't just invade someplace and be out by Christmas. If we are going to "win" we have to make some changes in our policies, changes that I don't think we are able to make, and I hope we remember this the next time some nitwit tries to lead us into another "optional" war.
1. Get a much bigger army. You may need to draft people.
2. don't take prisoners. After all, in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are fighting an illegal militia under the rules of the Geneva Convention, and they have no rights under the convention. They may be shot instead of put in POW camps, so shoot them, and make sure everybody on the ground knows that is what you intend to do.
3. Violate all rules of civilized combat, because there are no such rules in the real world.
5. When possible, blame any atrocities we commit on the enemy.
6. Install a dictator more ruthless than Saddam, prop him up with money and guns, declare victory, and get the F**K out.
This should be remembered for a thousand years, it should be etched in stone on every damned war memorial ever built:
Once you have broken the peace, you must throw away all pretentions of civility. War is war, peace is peace. Anyone who knows the difference would never choose war.
This is why we hanged all those Germans in 1945. It wasn't just the death-camps, they probably could have got away with that, but they broke the peace, and that is a terrible crime, mass murder a thousand times over.
It is a crime that can only be justified by victory.
Becoming "like them," meaning we act more ruthlessly, is something we Americans have very little stomach for. That's one of the reasons we are (were) respected around the world, because we don't (didn't) act that way. When we do, like in Abu Gharib, it comes back to haunt us in a way that it does not haunt our enemies.
So what to do?
First off, don't invade anything else, just stop now before we end up with "ten fleas under ten fingers." (a warning by Mao to Kissinger, and you can bet the Chinese will remember how overstretched we are when they start the next round of saber-rattling over Taiwan.)
Second, hunt down and kill our enemies in Iraq.
This is the hard truth. We will either leave Iraq a total mess, in shameful retreat, emboldening our enemies further and losing all influence in the region for the next 50-100 years, or we will somehow find the will as a nation to act barbarously.
That is what war is, barbarism.
You can't have a clean war, you can't just invade someplace and be out by Christmas. If we are going to "win" we have to make some changes in our policies, changes that I don't think we are able to make, and I hope we remember this the next time some nitwit tries to lead us into another "optional" war.
1. Get a much bigger army. You may need to draft people.
2. don't take prisoners. After all, in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are fighting an illegal militia under the rules of the Geneva Convention, and they have no rights under the convention. They may be shot instead of put in POW camps, so shoot them, and make sure everybody on the ground knows that is what you intend to do.
3. Violate all rules of civilized combat, because there are no such rules in the real world.
3a. excersise "collective punishment" If our people are attacked, level the city they were attacked from. This will only have to be done a few times, but it must be done without mercy. (see Ulysses S. Grant)4. Make sure nobody films it. i.e. shoot anybody with a camera - unless they are making propaganda for your side.
5. When possible, blame any atrocities we commit on the enemy.
6. Install a dictator more ruthless than Saddam, prop him up with money and guns, declare victory, and get the F**K out.
This should be remembered for a thousand years, it should be etched in stone on every damned war memorial ever built:
Once you have broken the peace, you must throw away all pretentions of civility. War is war, peace is peace. Anyone who knows the difference would never choose war.
This is why we hanged all those Germans in 1945. It wasn't just the death-camps, they probably could have got away with that, but they broke the peace, and that is a terrible crime, mass murder a thousand times over.
It is a crime that can only be justified by victory.
posted by JC at 8:10 PM
4 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
I put this post up 2 minutes ago and already two ads? come on!
I thought I ought to add...
I would rather the USA lose the war, and lose the region than become what I have described.
So your position is to wait for a mushroom cloud before we attack?
We ar NOT THE SAME AS NAZI GERMANY. You libs are always trying to blame America for everything. you are so stupid.
Saddam Hussain was a criminal, he started it, we finished it.
You paint a very clear picture of what I described in my replay to your previous post. We either become the heinous beast you describe (yes I did catch the satirical note a la Swift's "A Modest Proposal") or we get the hell out. As a conservative I wish we could see this war to a win but men I served and traind with are coming back in boxes and we are not gaining ground. Without the collective stomach for the level of cruelty we would need to finish this war, we must pull out.
In battle you must be swift and vicious. Our boys are trained to be so but restrained (and rightfully so) by the rules of engagement. In combat with a conventional enemy, the rules of engagement serve us well and keep us from becoming animals. Here we get beaten down for incidents of cruel levity at Abu Gharib while our enemy cuts the heads off of civilians with a knife so dull they must slowly saw it off. We do not,and should not, have that level of cruelty in us.
We need two have a two step pullout. One, use our spies to find and kill the clerics leading this movement. Then let Iraq's own forces clean up around the edges while we exit stage left. Use the men and women we bring home to defend our own borders while letting them be with their loved ones. America did not become a nation until it stood on its own against a common evil. We must allow the Iraqis to do the same. Give those willing to fight the evil guns and let them stamp out the evil within.
Post a Comment
<< Home