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

To: skinowski who wrote (117202)	10/19/2003 6:07:33 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

I am convinced that if we fail to acknowledge being at war, our enemy will engage in war-like behavior until we do. Bingo!! I hate the fact that we have to be at war. Even more, I hate that this war, by economic necessity must be a limited war, or what is referred to as a "Low Intensity Conflict (LIC)".. It's the toughest kind of war to fight because we're attempting to use the minimal amount of force necessary to achieve a desired result. Had we been living in 1941 and some Islamic militants performed such a 9/11 style attack on the Empire State building, supported by Saudi clerics and select royalty, we wouldn't be seeing any reluctance to invade that Kingdom and installing a moderate and "cooperative" regime on the Arabian peninsula. But we're a more economically interconnected world now.. A world that has suffered tremendous economic shocks over the past 6 years (LTCM, collapse of Asia Tigers, Y2K fears, Globalization), and it would be irresponsible to completely "overturn the apple cart" by fully mobilizing the US economy and military and putting them on a war footing... I think that moderate Muslims hope to benefit from the revolutionary energy carried by their extremist fringe, while expecting to be able to control them always. They are wrong. They will pay a heavy price, like the Germans paid for the Nazis Well spoken and spot on... Which is why I opine that we're in the equivalent of pre-WWII Germany and that it's imperative that we not only counter these extremist forces, but to provide viable alternatives economically, politically and socially. A very tall order.... and as I was telling an acquaintance today, if Bush manages to pull it off with any degree of success, it will probably be seen in the history books as one of the major paradigm shifts which drastically impact the future force of history. Hawk

To: skinowski who wrote (117202)	10/19/2003 10:45:22 PM
From: Dayuhan	Respond to of 281500

I am also convinced that at this point our opposition's strategic target is capturing political power in Muslim countries. We are means to that end. If they succeed, Muslims will pay a much heavier price than we will. If moderate Muslims are any smart, they should understand that and support us. Our actions and rhetoric make it politically impossible for moderate Muslims to support us. They are answerable to their constituents, and public perceptions of the US in even moderate Muslim countries have plummeted.