spidergoat: So you'd have us give our troops inferior weapons, use antiquated tech, and basically give up our advantage of military superiority to Al'Qaeda? Radicand: Exactly. changa: A great majority seem to support Osama bin Laden. "Imperial Hubris" goes into this. So we should not raise our children in a manner that will make them good citizens? To not value the core values of the American Republic? History seems to refute you. War is as human as sex and eating. It is in our blood.
I'm not against having a military force, or arming them with the best weapons money can buy, but, it will be small scale guerilla war, not conventional war that is in our future. Anyway, the need for war as a last resort is not refuted. The policy recommended by PNAC is something different.
spidergoat: Guerilla warfare is least capable of coping with heavy armour and air support. To fight guerillas with other guerillas is just to get into costly infantry warfare. History has demonstrated war being the quickest, easiest, and if done properly, the most long-lasting way to enact change in the world. When America's interests are routinely threatened abroad by rogue regimes, dealing with them peacefully rarely leads to anything but them having time to arm themselves better to attack us.
Oh, I agree wholeheartedly. But "recent history" has shown us that if we fight with "rules and pussy-foot around", then it's all for naught! A war should be fought with all of the available weapons and it should be ruthless and without compassion or sympathy. But when lilly-livered politicians and idiotic protestors are permitted to tell the military how to fight, then all is lost! War? As I see it, the only people who know how to fight a war these days is the terrorists. ....without compassion and without sympathy! The rest of the world just stands by wringing their hands in horror and crying. Baron Max
I was thinking of the Constitution in general. Appealing to the Constitution: "I have this set of beliefs that I just kind of happened on, but they were good enough for my pappy and his kin, so they are good enough for me. And I'm pretty durn certain there is something in the Constitution that pretty well says exactly the same thing." Defending the Constitution: "for the benefit of all the citizens of a nation it is vital that the business of government and its interactions with the people be conducted in a sober, well established manner. To do so a well crafted Consitution must be in place, and should be adapated only under extreme circumstsances, after very careful thought and debate and with the concurrence of a broad swathe of the citizens."
"We need more navy seal/green beret- type commando forces, and fewer bombers and aircraft carriers." Wrong. We need to get out. Everything we do there, including killing surgically, will be deeply resented. It's time to go home. Now.
"a broad swathe of the citizens" You mean not 51% of the Electoral College? A Patriot Act? A majority of American Citizens read, understood, and signed off on that...right?
Just when we needed an Eisenhower, all we got was this pathetic Shrubbery. You spineless Apologists for Bush Lite are more ridiculous than knights who say "Ne-!" O, con. I fahrt in your general direction. Come back and fight, you cowards.
It was just an expression of frustration at how we coulda done better in these times. Imagine how different things would be with an Ike, and not a gang of corporate thugs coaching an imbecile heir. Prince James, I really am impressed at the ridicule you will face in the cause of defending the policies of this Bush Administration. This has been a historically disastrous Presidency, yet it seems you may live out your days offering excuses for your Grand Red Party even though the PNAC Reich was a non-starter due to lack of world enthusiasm. We swaggered out into the world as would-be conquerors and have been shortly rebuffed. Now there will be intense economic disruptions, and the USA will depend on international goodwill to stem the rising tide of economic recession. This will happen soon, and you and your fellow Bush apoligists will have their work cut out for them. Last night, I encountered a disabled Iraq veteran for the first time. I know that meeting more young men like him is n experience that will change this country. Prince James, you are one of the few who apply any effort at seriously defending the Bush Administration. Most Bush supporters now seem either incapable of using reason, incapable of employing basic communications, incapable of facing reality, or some combination of these factors. We just don't get many concerted rebuttals from Dubya's apologists anymore. So please don't focus on the "ridiculous", when I am so. Focus on the challenge: Come back and fight, you cowards.
hypewaders: Eisenhower was a relatively okay president, but ending Korea? Stupid. We should have brought back MacArthur and dealt a crippling blow to Communist China, including using nuclear strikes if necessary. "Grand Red Party"? Are you insinuating Communism? Or just refering to the party's colour? "Shortly rebuffed"? Two insanely victorious wars in 4 years is not "rebuffed". "Intense economic disruptions" stemming from what? He's a soldier. Soldiers kill and die. That is their roles. He was injured and such is his lot in life. Okay. I am up for a good political debate. So yes, have at you and such.
After much careful thought I have concluded that, although it is illogical and bordering on the insane, you consider Afganistan and Iraq to be victories. You really need to purchase a new dictionary, or read 1984. Come to think of it, that is unecessary: you have already mastered Newspeak. You have been rebuffed by the entire Islamic world. You have been rebuffed by the citizens of Europe. You have been rebuffed by half of your own population. If you'd been rebuffed to any greater extent you would be living in a rusty pail on the dark side of the moon.
This Rebuttal will clearly take some time. But the writing is now clearly on the walls both new and old in Jerusalem, in Baghdad, and in Washington, where the largest anti-war demonstrations in world history are corralled and unreported. Have we come to resemble the Soviet Union? Yes, and more each day until the counterdemocrats you call leaders are dragged clawing and scratching from office. Yes, the neoconservatives will take many lives and squander trillions before you, Prince_James have abandoned them. But abandon them you will. There is a welcome change coming to America both in spite of and as a result of our present national bout of fascist flu. The resistance is growing, and you sickos are going down.
Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! OK, back to the Pledge. Just as the "Under God" amendment to the pledge did not require Congressional opinion, so too should the Pledge of Allegiance mean nothing deep to patriotic Americans. The Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the ugly, hard lessons of our Nation's history are the smarter alternatives when we wish to stir our hearts with The Truths we hold self-evident- Even as we have failed to live up to them, and even as our government is vigorously engaged in concealing truth. We are living our lifespans in momentous times, and the changes ahead will accelerate in frequency and profundity. We need the wisdom to cast off the silly totems of four nationhood, and rediscover and be among the first to live up to the original American ideals. If we understand and cherish these, the USA will be a great nation for much longer. If we lose our way, the United States will surely go the way of empires, soviets, and fascist who committed the very same folllies as are present American leadership. We have a lot to learn about our past in a short time, if we Americans are going to hope to keep up with events. A nationalist movement is brewing again in Puerto Rico. Iraq is spiraling out of control. Coincidence? No. Wait for multiple simultaneous national crises: They are certainly coming soon, because antagonism for US foreign policy is rising to a level unseen even when we took the Phillipines. How will we know if American prosperity is doomed? If you find yourself in times ahead strangely compelled, against your personal desire, to at least move your lips to mass chantings of the following, however amended, in multiple contexts, then it's really all over for us. "I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag Of the United States of America..."
Just because I can beat up the three year old next door does not make the encounter a heavy weight fight. Let's face it... our Military beat up the 3 year old next door. I love when I hear people talking about "the war" and how victorious we were... yet aren't we still fighting and losing more troops? All that death just to save $.25 at the pump? Oooops... I mean to disarm a nation of WMD's... damn... nope... oh yeah... to free a nation from tyranny... sorry.
Victorious? When there is war, we all lose. I'm sure most people who have actually had to fight in a war would agree. Thus, as Lao Tzu says "A victory march should be like a funeral procession."
