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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (672)	9/21/2001 10:37:02 AM
From: CountofMoneyCristo	Respond to of 281500

Amen. We need a combination of tactical operations and widespread strategic leverage to be brought to bear. A decade of weak, vacillating, spiritless foreign policy is one reason this powder keg was able to emerge. Terrorists thrive on creating fear. This, they understand very well. They do not expect that those they attempt to intimidate will rise up and wage a war of terror on them. That is exactly what is necessary, and why the administration has made it clear our resolve to go to the source and root out the garbage.

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (672)	9/21/2001 11:04:29 AM
From: philab	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

The strongest asset the President has towards the International community in this situation, as you say in your post, is his irrationality.I agree 100% with you. Even though he has handled the situation so far as a "rational" leader, no one around the world is quite sure what his next move will be and how irrational it could be. That is how he can score points and win. European news commentators are on the lookout for the President's next surprising comment. They still haven't got over his ignorance at the time of the Pakistani PM's name.

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (672)	9/21/2001 11:37:43 AM
From: Win Smith	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

This is why Reagan was so effective, imo, in convincing the Iranians that they should end the hostage crisis as soon as he took office. He was a "cowboy" who didn't react on pragmatism, but on the force of principle, no matter how irrational, or the level at which it could create global instability.. Reagan and the hostage crisis is pretty debatable. They were put on the plane on inauguration day, it could just as well have been to embarrass Jimmy Carter. There's also the possibility that the release was due to efforts somewhat akin to Henry Kissinger's efforts in Paris in 1968. Who knows, but the Ayatollah and Co. didn't seem much concerned with subtle nuances at that point. Then, just to make things better, the U.S. sided with Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war. Of course, that was all out of embarrassment with Iran/Contra, the cake and the key, all that stuff. A very good rationale for lining up with Saddam in a war he started. And look where that got us. The history of US policy in the region is pretty messy. I don't think simplistic analysis helps much.