Chuck, re: "why is it that Americas left never states how they are going to combat world terrorism or be a surviving nation in a world of Alligators and Islamic crazies..."
I don't know who it is that you think of as the "American left. I suspect it's anyone that's a little left of the far right. In any event those that oppose the Bush Administration's foreign policy and anti-terrorism actions HAVE articulated opposing approaches. The difference is that their proposals do not consist of simplistic, one level responses to complex and deeply ingrained issues and, therefor, they don't lend themselves to 60 second time slot promotions.
I'll take a quick shot at it and see if you really want to discuss this or whether you just want to sling arrows.
Those that oppose the Bush preemptive use of military approach to terrorism and outlaw regimes believe that terrorism is not as much a "State sponsored" problem as it is an international problem that knows no borders. Their thinking is that the real support of terrorism comes from local populations throughout the African, Asian, European, and Mideastern continents. They are buttressed in this belief by FACTS that show that much of the recruiting, financing and training of these terrorists occurs in the nations that are allied with us and, in fact, HAS OCCURRED IN THE U.S.A.
The simple thing is to deter State sponsored terrorism. That's because nations, as opposed to ghostly and hidden terrorist organizations, offer targets. Our ability to influence nations, is therefor, great, while our ability to influence radical, imbedded and unidentifiable terrorist cells is minimal.
In order to have a real, as opposed to claimed, effect on real terrorists we HAVE to have information. That information HAS to come from agents that have infiltrated them, technical surveillance, or the voluntary help of the local populations that feed them, shelter them, or hide them. The government calls this "intelligence" but it really means that we need "informers."
Those that oppose the Bush "military force" policies point out that anything that diminishes worldwide support for terrorism, especially in the populations from which they come, is a tremendous advantage to us. Conversely, anything that increases the level of hatred of the U.S. and admiration for the terrorists is a very dangerous thing for our cause.
The creation of expensive and unworkable "star wars" missile defense systems, the overturning of Iraq, a country that hated Islamic fundamentalists and killed more of them than any nation of earth, and the use of superior military force to conquer and then occupy a Muslim nation with lots and lots of innocent casualties for reasons which appear contrived, has done more to undermine the fight on terror and to advance the cause of terrorism than any other action could have. It has also drained manpower, brain power and resources from the real fight on terror. This needs to change.
We need to let the Mideast and the world know that they must solve their own internal problems and that unless we are asked for HELP by those that are willing to help themselves, or unless we are attacked from within another nation, we will butt out. We need to exert real influence on Israel to stop using brute force to combat terrorism because it isn't working and it's not helping Israel or the U.S. We need to strengthen the U.N. and it's military capabilities so that the WORLD can be the judge of when and where intervention is allowed, including when wmd proliferation is the issue.
Along with that, we need to make it absolutely clear that any state sponsored, or state aided or state-indifferent attack on the United States WILL always result in a forceful military response from our nation. We, and the world, understand the concept of self defense; it's just the concept of killing off your percieved enemies because the may, someday, act, that's repugnant to almost all civilized peoples.
So, simply put, disengage from Iraq, make it clear that the doctrine of preemption requires a much higher threshold than under the Bush bullies, empower the U.N. and treat terrorism as the worldwide threat that the world knows it is, spend our precious manpower and resources on intelligence and processes that uncover and attack terrorists, rebuild our reputation as a nation that is generous, restrained and works for the good of all peoples, mend relations with other nations, use our economic power as a carrot, and set out and follow international rules of law that recognize that the rights and interests of others have as much weight as our own interests and rights.
It's not rocket science once you accept the FACT that terrorists are not crushed with superior military force and that there is no quick fix. |
