Maximum insescurity
Does anybody else see the futility in raising the terror alerts after the London bombings? It seems to me like tying the knot tighter once the cat's already out of the bag. Don't you think the terrorists would lie low for awhile, or at least move on to a new target we haven't thought to secure yet? Can't you see them watching CNN somewhere, slapping their backs and laughing at us scrambling in the aftermath like someone ducking after being shot in the head.
Let's face it: terrorists act, and all we can do is react. Like Superman. The super villans hatch their plans and all he can do is show up. Except we're not so super, so we don't always get there in time. If the stock market is any indication, we seem to be comfortable with this state of insecurity. Or maybe all the violence on t.v has innured us to it. Seen one burning twisted wreckage of an insurgent attack, seen them all.
I'm not saying we should let our guard down, but I think we're watching the door while the bad guys come in through the window. I think we had a decent chance of delivering a not-quite-deadly-but-certainly-crippling blow to terrorism back in 2001, when our victimhood endeared us to the rest of the world. If we had finished what we started in Afghanistan and sealed the borders we might have kept many of those head Al Qaida honchos from getting away. And if we had stopped there, retaining the world's sympathy as a wronged country striking back in self defense, the world might be a little less hospitable place for terrorists. Instead, we ran off Chicken-Little-like to Iraq, providing them will all the American-aggressors-killing-Muslim-civilians footage they need to rally the troops and making them a shiny new training ground for the new recruits.
I know jack about foreign policy, so please correct me if I'm wrong. Seriously, can someone tell me how the war in Iraq has made us safer as our fearless leader promised? I'll donate a dollar to the Republican party for every reasonable argument.
posted by judybat at 9:30 AM
3 Comments:
Yes, well, I know a thing or two about foreign policy, and I can guarantee you that there are no reasonable arguments that can be made to support that point. If you find any that seem to make sense, let me know and I'll be happy to shoot it down for you. Your dollars are safe, I promise.
You've pretty much hit ir right on the head. If we had concentrated ont he job at hand and done it thoroughly (instead of playing politics amogn the Afghan factions), we might (but only might) have put the AQ&T leadership in the holes in the ground they richly deserve. But even if we hadn't, we would have had some gruding sympathy from Arab and Muslim moderates who hated and feared the Afghan talibs, and we would not have brought down upon our heads all that we have by invading a sovereign nation (however evil its rulers) for no good reason other than that we could, while continuing to work with and cater to other evil rulers (who, for some inexplicable reason are "OK"). Even simple people can see through that kind of self-serving hypocrisy, let alone after its been larded with doses of the extremist propaganda.
You dollars will be safe for buying the Boy the occasional ice cream from the Trucks of Summer (if they have those in the health- and safety-conscious NW).
Oh, we've got the ice cream man here, you betcha. But here's a question: if even simple people can see throught the hypocrisy, why is Bush still in power? Why doesn't he get to be held accountable?
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