Until the reasons and motivations for the terrorists' behavior have been substantively reduced, the violence will continue no matter how much you punish them.
This is not usually true although at times the punishment has to be so great that it is very difficult to dish out. The Palestinians caused violence in Jordan and other Arab countries and they were mostly stopped by the brutal use of force.
They were stopped because they lived in refugee camps in the middle of those countries. Stopping them was a no brainer. In addition, after the uprisings were quelled, they were shipped back to Palestine.
Its true in Palestine, its true in N. Ireland, it was true in Vietnam, its true in Afghanistan, it was true in Lebanon.
I've already mentioned the Palestinians but will add that Israel has been far less brutal then the Arabs and that is one reason the violence continues.
I see.....you think that if Israel kills more people, the violence will stop. If it weren't for the fact that a lot of innocent people will die, I would love Israel to do just that.....in order to show you that you are wrong. People will fight to their death when they are fighting for their freedom.
It isn't complete yet in Northern Ireland and if the IRA had been allowed free rain then they would have had no incentive to settle for anything other then total victory.
Its been going on for almost 50 years and you don't think there is a message to be had from the lack of progress? What's worse......the longer it goes on, the less trust on either side. That means when concessions are made both sides mistrust them.
In Vietnam it ended when one side gave up. That isn't a settlement by understanding reasons and motivations, it was in the end a settlement by brute force when the North invaded the south and imposed its will with conventional military forces.
We gave up because we were losing. The underdog won. We had less at stake.
In Afghanistan the terrorists behavior has been reduced by massive application of force.
They have? You haven't heard about the resurgent Taliban?
Its very true. Few make the pretense anymore that we have won
We have won the war. "Winning the peace" has not happened, in fact its possible it may not happen but you basically said it was impossible that it will happen and that is what I said was not true.
The goal was to topple Iraq and put the country firmly on the road to democracy. What we didn't count on was that deposing Saddam would not topple Saddam. Instead, we have created a situation similar to the one with Israel and the Palestinians. For the US military, its the worst possible scenario: fighting a war against guerilla terrorists, instead of a standing army, on enemy terroritory in a horrific climate! Its the worst of all worlds.
ted |
