Ed, I appreciate your thoughts and comments.
>> When I hear people talk about how we should just go in and "win," <<
Like you, I'm not of the opinion that we should just go in there and win. I'm of the opinion that if we get to the point where we must deploy troops and fight, then we should make the commitment to go all out and win. Anything less is disrespectful to those who lost their lives doing what we sent them there to do.
But let's look at the bigger picture as you presented. Were the Kamikaze pilots of Japan martyrs?
Did we win and change the ideas of Imperial Japan in spite of this?
Were the SS of the Third Reich martyrs?
Did we win and change the ideas of Nazi Germany?
How did we do that?
We eliminated the leaders at the top! We made a commitment to win, to do whatever was necessary to see that neither country was a threat to us again.
It was then that we were able to change the ideas, to help the Japanese and German people. It was after eliminating their leaders that we went in and helped rebuild their countries, let them live their lives and helped them to support the type of government they wished to have. In essence, we made allies out of enemies but only after taking out the people at the top.
Throughout history this process has been repeated over and over again.
If you're going to make the choice to fight, you fight to win. If someone slaps you, you punch them back. If someone punches you, you pummel them to the ground. When they see that you aren't going to be intimidated and you're willing to do what is necessary to win, it is then that you'll open their mind to new ideas in how to get along. As a simple street kid who used to live in a project, this form of communication and getting along has survived for years. Your best friends were always the ones who tried to intimidate you and you wouldn't let them. After a few serious battles it became clear it was better to be friends than to be enemies.
Crime? War? Simply semantics from my point of view. You entered my neighborhood and took some lives. As with Germany and Japan, unconditional surrender should be the only course of action and part of that surrender should be taking out the leadership. Then we can sit down and discuss ideas.
dabum |
