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[NOTE: I am not making a judgement about the justness of the Iraq war or the greater war on terrorism; opinions on that are already everywhere. Please try to keep posts limited to the topic below (at least for the first couple!) Thanks!]
The thing that really gets me worried about the war in Iraq is the potential evil that it holds for the future.
Lets go back a step. Does anyone else remember all of the news reporting they did after Sept 11th to explain who Osama Bin Laden and his top lieutenants were? One thing that they kept repeating over and over was that they established themselves and gained credibility fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. Fighting Soviets made Osama and his men heroes to the radical Muslim people.
I draw a lot of comparisons to the Iraq war and the Soviet invasion of the Afghans (and no, I don't think they're the same, so save the flame).
*Superpower in a fairly weak (globally speaking) Muslim country
*Muslim country dominated militarily in a matter of months (i.e. cities and strategic points all quickly captured)
*A protracted insurgency that proves to be very unpopular "back home" in the Superpower's country. In Afghanistan it led to withdrawl. It is a strong possiblity that Iraq could have the same effect on the US.
How many future Bin Laden's are we creating, making their name building IEDs or sniping US soldiers, that we won't hear about until there is another Sept 11th style attack in 10-30 years?
*A protracted insurgency that proves to be very unpopular "back home" in the Superpower's country. In Afghanistan it led to withdrawl. It is a strong possiblity that Iraq could have the same effect on the US.
The major difficulty with fighting a war against an insurgency is that the terrorists use tactics that are almost impossible to stop. Frequently the terrorist or insurgent is just an average citizen who sets a bomb, or picks up a rifle and kills a soldier. Then he just walks away and he looks like anyone else that happens to be on the street. And by the time troops arrive they have no idea who did what. It's a tactic that has been used in Africa for a very long time and it's very effective. And it's a tactic that can be carried on successfully for generations by a very small percentage of the population. Meanwhile, the occupying nation spends huge amounts of money and pays a heavy price in causalities.
But the real danger is if the war goes on too long it becomes a generational conflict. Children seeing occupying troops grow up learning how to kill. And for a nation like the United States, one that has open borders, sooner or later this type of tactic could be brought to our own shores in the same way Northern Ireland brought terror to England. Furthermore, the conflict appears only to have a down side to Americans following the war. They see the wounded and deaths accumulate while there appears to be no end in sight to the conflict.
It is a colonial war and like it or not, we cannot win; even its supporters don't have the will to pay the price either personally by going there or paying for it so it is not "off budget."
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I just finished reading Lee Iacocca's new book and I think he summed it up pretty well, he made a statement to the effect that: If you're the leader of the free world your ideas need to be bigger than your guns.
I don't think that's been the case and we'll all be paying the price for it.
I think you are absolutely correct. But I'm not sure we are causing future generations to try harder, I think it's a natural occurance.
Look at the VA shootings. One guy came out and said, "Is that all he did? I can do better."
Unfortunately, it's like a forest fire. We can try and clean up brush and protect ourselves. But we know it's going to happen again. Lightning strike here or there. But we darn sure have to take care of the current forest fire as best we can and possibly learn a little more about how to take care of the next one.
If we won tomorrow, great. But I know there'd be another hot spot soon. Maybe the same reason, maybe a different one. But it will happen.
I'm not sure what I would do..but I do know that payback would be hell for whoever supports them...And if you ask Israel, I'm sure they would tell you that you can't subdue terrorism..
Governments are invariably placed under enormous pressure to react forcibly and fast in the wake of a terrorist attack. This response is not likely to be most conducive to long-term success against terrorists. -- Louise Richardson
The catalogue of things that don't work very well against a terrorist enemy is a long one. Ms. Richardson's book, What Terrorists Want, would be an interesting read for those who are more interested in some of the things that might and have worked...
[NOTE: I am not making a judgement about the justness of the Iraq war or the greater war on terrorism; opinions on that are already everywhere. Please try to keep posts limited to the topic below (at least for the first couple!) Thanks!]
The thing that really gets me worried about the war in Iraq is the potential evil that it holds for the future.
Lets go back a step. Does anyone else remember all of the news reporting they did after Sept 11th to explain who Osama Bin Laden and his top lieutenants were? One thing that they kept repeating over and over was that they established themselves and gained credibility fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. Fighting Soviets made Osama and his men heroes to the radical Muslim people.
I draw a lot of comparisons to the Iraq war and the Soviet invasion of the Afghans (and no, I don't think they're the same, so save the flame).
*Superpower in a fairly weak (globally speaking) Muslim country
*Muslim country dominated militarily in a matter of months (i.e. cities and strategic points all quickly captured)
*A protracted insurgency that proves to be very unpopular "back home" in the Superpower's country. In Afghanistan it led to withdrawl. It is a strong possiblity that Iraq could have the same effect on the US.
How many future Bin Laden's are we creating, making their name building IEDs or sniping US soldiers, that we won't hear about until there is another Sept 11th style attack in 10-30 years?
Big difference in the Soviet INVASION of Afghanistan and the Americans defending the freedom for the people of oppressive dictators.
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) Thanks!]
