16/08: Reaction to "What He Said"
Category: America and the World
Posted by: A Waco Farmer
Some thoughts on Okie Gardener's assertions in re Resolution 1701:
1. I agree that this is a win for Hezbollah and Iran and a loss for our team.
2. I agree that we will pay for this debacle in the future.
But, then again, what choice do we have?
1. We are up to our eyeballs with war in Iraq. I am not positive that the American people will see our commitment in Iraq to its promised conclusion, but I am sure that one more straw on the back of this camel will break us. As I have written before, we are over-extended militarily, precariously stretched financially and divided politically. We are one economic panic away from full retreat. We are in no position to threaten Hezbollah—much less Iran. The Mullahs understand this, the Europeans love it and the Arab League sees it.
2. As for Israel, we handed them a month to crush Hezbollah. That was about three weeks longer than I thought we could squeeze them, and enough time to win--if it was going to happen. They were unprepared to make the most of their opportunity. They lose. We lose. But throwing good money after bad never saved a losing hand. Get out and wait for the next deal.
3. This may be Munich (although that seems a forced analogy, especially since we are fighting an "asymmetrical "enemy, which explains Israel's current failure in Lebanon; the new threat is not like the pathetic Arab land armies of the 1960s & 1970s or the fierce fascist "wehrmacht" of the late-1930s). We have not figured out how to defeat the new threat. Until we do, we should be cautious and conservative in making literal war on these amorphous terrorist appendages, even when they are connected to hostile rogue states.
4. And if it is Munich, I speculate that an invasion of Poland will follow. If these guys really are as bad as we think they are, they will eventually overstep their bounds. Until then, a real war in the Middle East will not play in Peoria.
1. I agree that this is a win for Hezbollah and Iran and a loss for our team.
2. I agree that we will pay for this debacle in the future.
But, then again, what choice do we have?
1. We are up to our eyeballs with war in Iraq. I am not positive that the American people will see our commitment in Iraq to its promised conclusion, but I am sure that one more straw on the back of this camel will break us. As I have written before, we are over-extended militarily, precariously stretched financially and divided politically. We are one economic panic away from full retreat. We are in no position to threaten Hezbollah—much less Iran. The Mullahs understand this, the Europeans love it and the Arab League sees it.
2. As for Israel, we handed them a month to crush Hezbollah. That was about three weeks longer than I thought we could squeeze them, and enough time to win--if it was going to happen. They were unprepared to make the most of their opportunity. They lose. We lose. But throwing good money after bad never saved a losing hand. Get out and wait for the next deal.
3. This may be Munich (although that seems a forced analogy, especially since we are fighting an "asymmetrical "enemy, which explains Israel's current failure in Lebanon; the new threat is not like the pathetic Arab land armies of the 1960s & 1970s or the fierce fascist "wehrmacht" of the late-1930s). We have not figured out how to defeat the new threat. Until we do, we should be cautious and conservative in making literal war on these amorphous terrorist appendages, even when they are connected to hostile rogue states.
4. And if it is Munich, I speculate that an invasion of Poland will follow. If these guys really are as bad as we think they are, they will eventually overstep their bounds. Until then, a real war in the Middle East will not play in Peoria.
an okie gardener wrote: