That could work in a video game where you shoot terrorists as they appear from the windows and come down the rooftops, but we need a real strategy that addresses the causes of the conflict and at the same time cuts support for these religious nutcases from their moderate but frustrated public.
No.. that works in real life too... Kill the crazies and some of their family members as well, and the rest will think twice about being a threat...
But first we need a "foothold" for economic and social change in the Middle East. Iraq is IDEAL for this because they are a heavily secular society (side benefit of Saddam's brutal, but secular rule). If any Arab nation has a chance of quickly adopting some semblance of even parliamentary democracy, it will be Iraq and Iran.
And another advantage of replacing Saddam's regime is that the country will need rebuilding (something the US is reknowned for), which should engender a Western friendly government. And such a regime will be necessary for the next stage in the war, dealing with Saudi Arabia.. either through containment, or overthrow... (which I prefer)..
The US defeated and occupied the imperial Japanese after WWII, a society which, only 100 years before, had been a feudalistic system of warlords and divine emperor. We introduced democracy, western economics (including Total Quality Management), western ideas..
I dare say that if we can do that there, we can do the same in the middle east, if we show sufficient resolve.
Hawk |
