Wednesday, April 07, 2004
I wanted to offer some brief analysis of recent events in Iraq from my perspective as a soldier, hobbyist in world affairs and Middle East History major.
Dissent is encouraged. Ignorance is not.
Thanks for stopping by,
Ry
*******************
I'm using two articles from the Wall Street Journal op-ed pages as platforms for my analysis.
First, this one from yesterday:
http://opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004915
"As Bernard Lewis teaches, Middle Eastern leaders
interpret American restraint as weakness."
Read that quote a few times and think about it. I've
told some of you before that we have to show a
willingness to use ultimate power in order to have any
credibility in that part of the world. Diplomacy does
not matter if there isn't the threat of real and dire
consequences for the corrupt, despotic and barbarous
leaders of that region. This includes the clerics who
incite riots and legitimize terrorism. This includes
the leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Saddam
Fedayeen. This includes mayors and police chiefs.
And it includes heads of state.
Until the leaders know they will suffer consequences for
encouraging (tacitly and overtly) the violence that we all think is a natural part of the Middle East, they will have no incentive to change. All men are econmists when their lives are on the line. 'What is the risk to me of encouraging suicide bombers?' 'What is the risk to me of encouraging riots and instability?' 'What is the reward?' The risk to regional leaders needs to be real, swift and deadly. When it is, the calculus will change in favor of peace and away from chaos.
*****
Then, this from Monday by Mark Bowden. Bowden is the journalist who wrote "Black Hawk Down" which became a movie and told the story of the Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia. We lost 18 great Americans that day in a struggle to feed and stabilize a war-torn nation. After that bloody day, the Clinton administration made the worst possible decision: to turn-tail and run. Show weakness and fear in the face of atrocity and the bold and barbarous become bolder and more cruel. Set your jaw and show the grim determination to win the right way and your enemies will wither. This is a basic fact of human nature born out throughout history.
URL for article followed by an excerpt:
http://opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004911
"Many Americans despise the effort under way in Iraq. They opposed overthrowing Saddam Hussein by force, and disbelieved the rationale offered by President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair. There may well be a heavy political price to pay for the mistakes and exaggerations...Saddam is gone and Iraq, thanks to U.S. intervention, is struggling toward a new kind of future. Its successful transformation into a peaceful, democratic state is in everyone's interest except Saddam's extended family and the Islamo-fascists. It's time for opponents of the war to get real. Pictures like those we saw from Fallujah last week should horrify us, but they should also anger us and strengthen our resolve. The response should not be to back away from the task, but to redouble our efforts.
Which means recognizing that the gory carnival on the streets of Fallujah is not evidence of the mission's futility, nor is it something to chalk up to foreign barbarity. It was deliberate and it must be answered deliberately. The lynching of African-Americans would have ended decades earlier if authorities had rounded up and punished those participating in crimes like the one in Marion. Somalia would be a vastly different place today if the U.S. and U.N. had not backed away in horror from the shocking display in Mogadishu."
Dissent is encouraged. Ignorance is not.
Thanks for stopping by,
Ry
*******************
I'm using two articles from the Wall Street Journal op-ed pages as platforms for my analysis.
First, this one from yesterday:
http://opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004915
"As Bernard Lewis teaches, Middle Eastern leaders
interpret American restraint as weakness."
Read that quote a few times and think about it. I've
told some of you before that we have to show a
willingness to use ultimate power in order to have any
credibility in that part of the world. Diplomacy does
not matter if there isn't the threat of real and dire
consequences for the corrupt, despotic and barbarous
leaders of that region. This includes the clerics who
incite riots and legitimize terrorism. This includes
the leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Saddam
Fedayeen. This includes mayors and police chiefs.
And it includes heads of state.
Until the leaders know they will suffer consequences for
encouraging (tacitly and overtly) the violence that we all think is a natural part of the Middle East, they will have no incentive to change. All men are econmists when their lives are on the line. 'What is the risk to me of encouraging suicide bombers?' 'What is the risk to me of encouraging riots and instability?' 'What is the reward?' The risk to regional leaders needs to be real, swift and deadly. When it is, the calculus will change in favor of peace and away from chaos.
*****
Then, this from Monday by Mark Bowden. Bowden is the journalist who wrote "Black Hawk Down" which became a movie and told the story of the Battle of Mogadishu, Somalia. We lost 18 great Americans that day in a struggle to feed and stabilize a war-torn nation. After that bloody day, the Clinton administration made the worst possible decision: to turn-tail and run. Show weakness and fear in the face of atrocity and the bold and barbarous become bolder and more cruel. Set your jaw and show the grim determination to win the right way and your enemies will wither. This is a basic fact of human nature born out throughout history.
URL for article followed by an excerpt:
http://opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004911
"Many Americans despise the effort under way in Iraq. They opposed overthrowing Saddam Hussein by force, and disbelieved the rationale offered by President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair. There may well be a heavy political price to pay for the mistakes and exaggerations...Saddam is gone and Iraq, thanks to U.S. intervention, is struggling toward a new kind of future. Its successful transformation into a peaceful, democratic state is in everyone's interest except Saddam's extended family and the Islamo-fascists. It's time for opponents of the war to get real. Pictures like those we saw from Fallujah last week should horrify us, but they should also anger us and strengthen our resolve. The response should not be to back away from the task, but to redouble our efforts.
Which means recognizing that the gory carnival on the streets of Fallujah is not evidence of the mission's futility, nor is it something to chalk up to foreign barbarity. It was deliberate and it must be answered deliberately. The lynching of African-Americans would have ended decades earlier if authorities had rounded up and punished those participating in crimes like the one in Marion. Somalia would be a vastly different place today if the U.S. and U.N. had not backed away in horror from the shocking display in Mogadishu."
Monday, February 09, 2004
http://opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110004673--Best of the Web article about Clark's equivocation on Kosovo.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004666--Article on Kerry's fitness for higher office.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110004667--Op-Ed on the Iraqi oil for support scandal.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004666--Article on Kerry's fitness for higher office.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110004667--Op-Ed on the Iraqi oil for support scandal.
Just getting started. Nothing to report. Carry on as normal.
