GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM, ARE WE TRULY FIGHTING THIS WAR ?
The arrest of would be terrorists who were just days from executing a massive attack on the anniversary of September 11 at Ramstein Air Force Base and Frankfort Airport in Germany brings up an interesting question concerning the Global War on Terrorism that we are engaged in and whether our overall strategy is complete and truly effective.
This question that is being posed, by no means is meant to detract from the necessity of and successes of current operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq, but to consider in light of this thwarted attack and several others that have recently been discovered, as to whether our strategy in executing the war encompasses enough.
Iraq and Afghanistan from a Global view are but two theatres in a war that obviously encompasses the entire world. Newt Gingrich has made mentioned that he believes that this war is WWIII because of the fact that as in previous World Wars the battlefields are not confined to one region of the world and involve more that two or three countries which would equate to a regional war.
Additionally since the general opposition to the war comes from the fact that the Bush administration and our allies have either not fully informed the world of the Global out reach of our enemy or do not themselves fully realize how much of the entire world this enemy has infiltrated and instead become so encompassed in the two major battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan that the lesser battlefields have been somewhat ignored or not accepted as part of this Global war ?
Either way it is obvious that the world does not understand nor accept that we are in a war that involves every nation and every Continent with the possible exception of Antarctica. There have been attacks in North America both in The United States and Canada. Europe has been attacked several times with many of the recently thwarted attacks finding their objective or origin in Europe.
Africa has seen many attacks, The Middle East has been a hot bed even if you remove what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. There have been attacks in Russia, the Far East in the Philippines and Indonesia. Australia has been attacked. No one anywhere is immune to attacks and each has one common denominator. The attacks while claimed by groups with different names and places of origin all have been carried out by Islamic radicals who follow the same motivation and creed, to kill the Infidel and dominate the World in the name of Mohammad.
Yet despite this fact the entire World including The United States has been focused only on Afghanistan and Iraq with some mention of Pakistan. All of the negative against the war has also centered around these particular battlefields and the ongoing conflict in each as well as the death toll resulting from these theatres.
Using WWII as an example. If FDR and Churchill had focused only on the beating that the Allies took at the hands of Erwin Rommel in North Africa, or the loss of Allied life at Normandy on D - Day. Or in the Pacific Theatre if the great loss of American lives at Iwo Jima or in the campaign to take back the Philippines had been the focus of WWII rather than the moral and international implications that a Nazi or Imperial Japan victory would have had on the world, support for the cause during WWII would have been similar to that of today's conflict.
Both FDR and Churchill realized that the only way to garner support from their own countries and to gain support from allied countries both by the citizens and the military in participation was to emphasize the ramifications of what a victory by the enemy would bring to the World. The domination of Nazi Fascism and slavery by Imperial Japan.
Both leaders not only understood the territorial, financial and national ramifications of an enemy victory but also the moral and psychological ramifications that it would have to the citizens of every nation who did not adhere to the beliefs of Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan.
Today's leaders in the Global War on Terrorism while understanding these same ramifications, especially President Bush, have failed to unite the people of this nation and the world in the understanding of what a victory by Islamic radicals would entail to the world. Nothing less than the Global domination of a radical form of religion that would enslave all mankind, denigrate women and children and destroy all of the progress that man has made in the last 500 years.
Additionally the leaders have concentrated the known efforts on but two of many battlefields of this war and failed to create an understanding in this nation as well as the rest of the world the worldwide aspects of radical Islam and the movement of the enemy throughout the world not just in the Middle East and specifically Iraq and Afghanistan.
Political correctness has played into the hands of the enemy as no one wants to , "upset, " Muslims by stating the fact that while all Muslims are not terrorists, ALL TERRORISTS ARE MUSLIM! If this had been the case in WWII, PC would have eliminated words such as Nips, Gerry's, Japs, Hun and other such phrases that emphasised the anger at the enemy and in their own way rallied people behind defeating the enemy.
PC in WWII would have had the Allies fighting Nazi Germany while trying not to damage German towns and cities. PC would have prevented the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which has been estimated to have saved millions of American and Japanese lives because the Japanese militaristic leadership were prepared to defend the Japanese homeland to the last person regardless of the cost of lives on either side.
Maybe it is time to ratchet up the response to this enemy in a similar way. Recognize that they are worldwide and seek world domination and tell our people this truth even if it means scaring the population into understanding how important it is to win this war and what will become of our citizenry and our nation if it is lost.
Maybe we need to expand the reach from a military perspective involving every nation to seek out an destroy this enemy wherever they are. Maybe we need to enlist the Muslim community around the world that disagrees with this radical form of their religion and rather than being afraid of offending them help organize them into fighting divisions who fight not only for the cause of ending Global Terrorism but in redeeming the radicalization and bastardizing of their beliefs and their religion.
Maybe if we do all of this we will finally and swiftly win this war and no longer consider September 11 as a day when we look to the skies expecting another attack but a day only of memorial to the thousands who lost their lives on that day and a day of celebration of victory over the evil that threatens our country and our world!
Ken Taylor
This question that is being posed, by no means is meant to detract from the necessity of and successes of current operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq, but to consider in light of this thwarted attack and several others that have recently been discovered, as to whether our strategy in executing the war encompasses enough.
Iraq and Afghanistan from a Global view are but two theatres in a war that obviously encompasses the entire world. Newt Gingrich has made mentioned that he believes that this war is WWIII because of the fact that as in previous World Wars the battlefields are not confined to one region of the world and involve more that two or three countries which would equate to a regional war.
Additionally since the general opposition to the war comes from the fact that the Bush administration and our allies have either not fully informed the world of the Global out reach of our enemy or do not themselves fully realize how much of the entire world this enemy has infiltrated and instead become so encompassed in the two major battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan that the lesser battlefields have been somewhat ignored or not accepted as part of this Global war ?
Either way it is obvious that the world does not understand nor accept that we are in a war that involves every nation and every Continent with the possible exception of Antarctica. There have been attacks in North America both in The United States and Canada. Europe has been attacked several times with many of the recently thwarted attacks finding their objective or origin in Europe.
Africa has seen many attacks, The Middle East has been a hot bed even if you remove what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. There have been attacks in Russia, the Far East in the Philippines and Indonesia. Australia has been attacked. No one anywhere is immune to attacks and each has one common denominator. The attacks while claimed by groups with different names and places of origin all have been carried out by Islamic radicals who follow the same motivation and creed, to kill the Infidel and dominate the World in the name of Mohammad.
Yet despite this fact the entire World including The United States has been focused only on Afghanistan and Iraq with some mention of Pakistan. All of the negative against the war has also centered around these particular battlefields and the ongoing conflict in each as well as the death toll resulting from these theatres.
Using WWII as an example. If FDR and Churchill had focused only on the beating that the Allies took at the hands of Erwin Rommel in North Africa, or the loss of Allied life at Normandy on D - Day. Or in the Pacific Theatre if the great loss of American lives at Iwo Jima or in the campaign to take back the Philippines had been the focus of WWII rather than the moral and international implications that a Nazi or Imperial Japan victory would have had on the world, support for the cause during WWII would have been similar to that of today's conflict.
Both FDR and Churchill realized that the only way to garner support from their own countries and to gain support from allied countries both by the citizens and the military in participation was to emphasize the ramifications of what a victory by the enemy would bring to the World. The domination of Nazi Fascism and slavery by Imperial Japan.
Both leaders not only understood the territorial, financial and national ramifications of an enemy victory but also the moral and psychological ramifications that it would have to the citizens of every nation who did not adhere to the beliefs of Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan.
Today's leaders in the Global War on Terrorism while understanding these same ramifications, especially President Bush, have failed to unite the people of this nation and the world in the understanding of what a victory by Islamic radicals would entail to the world. Nothing less than the Global domination of a radical form of religion that would enslave all mankind, denigrate women and children and destroy all of the progress that man has made in the last 500 years.
Additionally the leaders have concentrated the known efforts on but two of many battlefields of this war and failed to create an understanding in this nation as well as the rest of the world the worldwide aspects of radical Islam and the movement of the enemy throughout the world not just in the Middle East and specifically Iraq and Afghanistan.
Political correctness has played into the hands of the enemy as no one wants to , "upset, " Muslims by stating the fact that while all Muslims are not terrorists, ALL TERRORISTS ARE MUSLIM! If this had been the case in WWII, PC would have eliminated words such as Nips, Gerry's, Japs, Hun and other such phrases that emphasised the anger at the enemy and in their own way rallied people behind defeating the enemy.
PC in WWII would have had the Allies fighting Nazi Germany while trying not to damage German towns and cities. PC would have prevented the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which has been estimated to have saved millions of American and Japanese lives because the Japanese militaristic leadership were prepared to defend the Japanese homeland to the last person regardless of the cost of lives on either side.
Maybe it is time to ratchet up the response to this enemy in a similar way. Recognize that they are worldwide and seek world domination and tell our people this truth even if it means scaring the population into understanding how important it is to win this war and what will become of our citizenry and our nation if it is lost.
Maybe we need to expand the reach from a military perspective involving every nation to seek out an destroy this enemy wherever they are. Maybe we need to enlist the Muslim community around the world that disagrees with this radical form of their religion and rather than being afraid of offending them help organize them into fighting divisions who fight not only for the cause of ending Global Terrorism but in redeeming the radicalization and bastardizing of their beliefs and their religion.
Maybe if we do all of this we will finally and swiftly win this war and no longer consider September 11 as a day when we look to the skies expecting another attack but a day only of memorial to the thousands who lost their lives on that day and a day of celebration of victory over the evil that threatens our country and our world!
Ken Taylor
posted by The Liberal Lie The Conservative Truth | 10:31 AM
9 Comments:
Great Post Ken,
This is being downplayed as well from what I am seeing on the news.
This has particular importance to me since Ramstein is where my son was stationed during his TDY when he was in the Army.
Whew what a close call.
Kudos to Germany!!
This is indeed Global, and the far left want's to take the phrase "Global War On Terror" out of the equasion altogether.
When will they learn?
Great post. I just read a fascinating article this morning on our appeasement and it's consequences.
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?61650d64-6bd7-4844-85eb-9533b83fa1b4
"Whatever one's views on the [Iraq] war," writes a New York Times columnist, "thoughtful Americans need to consider ... the bitter anger that it has provoked among Muslims around the world." In response to the Abu Ghraib scandal several years ago, Ted Kennedy lamented, "We have become the most hated nation in the world, as a result of this disastrous policy in the prisons." Muslim anger over America's support of Israel, we are told, is a major cause of anti-American terrorism.
So-called Muslim opinion is not the unanimous and just consensus that its seekers pretend. It is the irrational and unjust opinion of the world's worst Muslims: Islamists and their legions of "moderate" supporters and sympathizers. These people oppose us not because of any legitimate grievances against America, but because they are steeped in a fundamentalist interpretation of their religion -- one that views America's freedom, prosperity, and pursuit of worldly pleasures as the height of depravity. They do not seek respect for the rights of the individual (Muslim or non-Muslim), they seek a world in which the rights of all are sacrificed to the dictates of Islam."
I agree with Marie and Jenn, a terrific post!! It most likely won't, but should make the left realize that this is a global war on terror. It isn't just us anymore.
"Today's leaders in the Global War on Terrorism while understanding these same ramifications, especially President Bush, have failed to unite the people of this nation and the world in the understanding of what a victory by Islamic radicals would entail to the world. Nothing less than the Global domination of a radical form of religion that would enslave all mankind, denigrate women and children and destroy all of the progress that man has made in the last 500 years."
Excellent paragraph and spot on. (For some reason, I have been using the phrase "spot on" a lot lately...LOL) I couldn't have said it better myself.
Is it going to take another 9-11 for people realize the huge threat they are? I certainly hope not!!
Marie, The thing is that all of these attacks or thwarted attacks should feel close to home for each of us since they are planned by our common enemy!
Jenn of the Jungle, That is one of the problems that follows up on what I wrote about how this war has not been , "sold, " to the people as the threat that it is. The left constantly uses the blame America for it and the country and the world buys into it.
Jennifer, Hey spot on is a common phrase used by bloggers. It means you are becoming a pro! LOL
Unfortunatly it will take another 9/11 or worse to wake up the country and the world to this enemy who wants to kill us all!
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Totaly and completely off topic, but...
I just saw my first televised Fred Thompson ad in Texas! YAY!
there's great video about iraq from the debate last night on veracifier's website. [veracifier dot com]
i think mccain is getting a little deluded in his comments about the war. things AREN'T super, and it just seems he'd rather close his eyes to it than own up. who do you think actually could cut muster, though?
but it makes you wonder. fox's coverage AFTER the debates asked 29 republican voters about their level of happiness with the debate... and all were "Disappointed."
"Both FDR and Churchill realized that the only way to garner support from their own countries and to gain support from allied countries both by the citizens and the military in participation was to emphasize the ramifications of what a victory by the enemy would bring to the World. The domination of Nazi Fascism and slavery by Imperial Japan."
Excuse me? Here I was, thinking that the UK entered the war because its allies were attacked by Germany, and that the US entered the war after more than a year of hemming and hawing after it too was directly attacked.
Some sense of history would help. Neither country was able to muster support for pre-emptive strikes, and neither had to rely on scaring their population into agreeing to a war. It was only under direct attack by a foreign nation that both of them resorted to military force.
"Europe has been attacked several times with many of the recently thwarted attacks finding their objective or origin in Europe"
And yet it continues to respond by aggressive police action, not military action. Rather succesfully, one might add, considering that Europe is so much easier to target than the US, being closer and having larger muslim minorities. Moreover, europeans have resisted giving up their freedom out of fear, and continue to fight against extremism without becoming extremist themselves.
"Today's leaders in the Global War on Terrorism while understanding these same ramifications, ... Nothing less than the Global domination of a radical form of religion that would enslave all mankind, denigrate women and children and destroy all of the progress that man has made in the last 500 years."
That is preposterous propaganda. A small band of international nutbag extremists might be able to wield a large influence in dysfuntional failed states with very little development and a strong tribal culture such as Somalia and Afghanistan, but the idea that they would take over the world is simply ridiculous. They're little gang of small-time crooks, that have been able to kill fewer people in the last two decades than US gangs kill in a year. MS-13 is doing more damage to the US than Al-Qaeda every will.
"ALL TERRORISTS ARE MUSLIM!"
Not true. Timothy McVeigh ring a bell? The IRA? ETA? LRA? Terror is the weapon of the feeble and poor. Today's feeble and poor are largely muslim. In countries where there are no muslims, terrorists are christian, atheist, hindu or animist. There is nothing particularly nuttier about Islam than about Christianity. Blaming religion is misguided. It implies that we can only be free from terrorism by eradicating islam, the way we eradicated nazism and the japanese empire. That's simply bullocks.
You can't defeat terrorism - it has been around for centuries. You need to live with it, control it, and refuse to yield to it. The only thing the Bush administration has achieved is making sure that when Osama dies in the next few years, he'll be a happy man, knowing that he goaded the US into an endless war that would cost them hundreds of billions per year (the "war dividend"), using a few dozen operatives with a budget of perhaps a few hundred thousand dollars.
And if you insist on comparing with WWII, let's not forget that we've already been in this "war" longer than we've been in WWII, and we're at least another year or two from wrapping up the two major conflicts we're stuck in. Does that mean that Osama is more powerful, or just smarter than Hirohito and Hitler? Or is takfirism that much more efficient an ideology than nazism? Or is it just that we're completely taking the wrong tack here, and turning a lightweight wingnut into a legendary hero by sheer incompetence from our leaders?
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