The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 3 of 7)

p>Keep the pressure on the Wilsonians. They never negotiate from a position of strength, preferring to throw it away. Remember, Wilson was an academic before he became president. To academics such as he was, it's enough to talk about a solution, never mind whether or not the conversation makes sense. br> -- R. Goodson br> Vero Beach, Florida /p>

I'm pretty much with Jed on this except for one point: he says, "We mean to defeat the radical Islamist ideology (for that is what it is, not a religion) as we defeated the Soviet communist ideology."

The radical Islamist ideology is orthodox Islam. Historically and from their documents. We must get over this fear of offending "moderate" Muslims about their *religion*. Their *religion* clearly and unequivocally teaches unending jihad until the entire world is in subjugation to the *religion*. Just because their religion acts like an ideology doesn't mean it isn't a religion.

p>The problem with this sort of thinking is that it makes people say "Oh, good, I don't have to worry about the religion, it's just a few crazies using it for their own purposes". No, we do in fact have to worry about the religion of Islam. And since it is a religion, it can be defeated or held in check only with the help of another religion, not an ideology. As a purely secular entity I do not think the West can defeat Islam, especially not Europe. The reason why there is hope in America is because there are still remnants of a very robust, muscular Christianity, Catholic and Evangelical. br> -- Lucy Tucker /p>

I think a larger question than the infighting within the conservative movement over the "end game" might be better served if the body politic understood what we can and can not accomplish with the small military force we have. The biggest gains in political terms resulting from our invasion of Iraq came relatively soon after the 21 day campaign to topple Saddam's government. With what amounts to a very small force, made smaller by our "allies" in Turkey, we accomplished what many thought could not be done. When Libya renounced its Iraq-led nuclear program it wasn't from fear of becoming a democracy. Likewise when Syrian forces withdrew out of Lebanon it wasn't from a fear of becoming a democracy. That point should not be lost on those interested in the long-term stability of the Middle East region and our own security.

Many commentators have suggested that we don't have enough forces in Iraq. I would suggest that we wouldn't have enough if the entire U.S. ground force were stationed there given the size of the country and nature of the borders. This nation put the equivalent of 130 combat divisions under arms in WWII on a population base of less that half of what we have now. When we occupied Germany and Japan, it wasn't done with a shoestring force. The enemy was also defeated, unconditionally. We got the results we got with Korean and Vietnam because we threw out the book on warfare and how to win. More importantly we forgot why it is important to "win" in military terms. Imagine what Iraq would look like today if we had launched our seven divisions into Iraq proper after we crushed their forces in Kuwait in the first Gulf War. We had at least three times the combat forces and the ability to actually "shock and awe" our foe. Not today.

While I understand the frustration with our "guns and butter" strategy today and seemly strategic defensive posture I also understand that 48 percent of this country's voters are more interested in their entitlements, homosexuality, legalized murder of the unborn, free health care and giving illegal aliens and criminals the right to vote than lifting a finger to stop fanatics in the middle east from developing nuclear weapons and pitching one into Israel or even at us. For too long the loudest voices have been coming from the minority on the left because the leadership of this Nation has lost its will to deal with both the enemy at home and aboard. Both Democrats and Republicans understood what was at stake after December 7, 1941. Can that honestly be said today?

In my humble opinion this nation has lost its will to do what is necessary in its own defense because we have become "too civilized". There isn't a day that goes by that someone in the media or some politician looking for votes isn't complaining about our forces and their conduct or lack of measurable results. Most of this is pure non-sense and deserving of the strongest rebuke. There is a point where being a "nice guy" is a liability. Lincoln learned this the hard way with his Commanding General choices.

topics:
Health Care, Entitlements, Religion, Islam, Law, Military, Iraq, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, Oil