tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10512467.post116853907253846614..comments2023-07-15T02:18:38.947-07:00Comments on Contrarian Views: Line in the SandDavid M. Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15720778073616293157noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10512467.post-25736044688859592007-01-16T08:24:00.000-08:002007-01-16T08:24:00.000-08:00Hi Buz,
I am using “Line in the Sand” to refer to...Hi Buz,<br /><br />I am using “Line in the Sand” to refer to a boundary without any real commitment. It is boundary that is easily changed. A “wall” is a much more permanent boundary.David M. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15720778073616293157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10512467.post-88213328292444241132007-01-14T14:47:00.000-08:002007-01-14T14:47:00.000-08:00Hi David -- Nope I don't think France is much of a...Hi David -- Nope I don't think France is much of a threat. But I also don't think this "surge" can solve anything in Iraq or is really meant to. I think it's fortify our position there while we start bombing Iran and maybe blockading them as well. (With the Sunni Saudis jacking up oil production to meet some of the shortfall. <br /><br />Interestingly, the new Central Command CINC is, for the first time, not Army or Marine. He's a naval aviator (Adm. William J. Fallon)Rick and Garyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12651723970981358664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10512467.post-1168624330548542522007-01-12T09:52:00.000-08:002007-01-12T09:52:00.000-08:00Hi Rick,Do you think we could threaten the Iraqis ...Hi Rick,<BR/><BR/>Do you think we could threaten the Iraqis with France if they don’t shape up?David M. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15720778073616293157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10512467.post-1168622842380903912007-01-12T09:27:00.000-08:002007-01-12T09:27:00.000-08:00Hi Buz,I’m not 100% sure either. I wish we could ...Hi Buz,<BR/><BR/>I’m not 100% sure either. <BR/><BR/>I wish we could just dust off our boots and walk away, but I don’t see how we can, now or ever, until Iraq is a free country able to defend itself from the Islamic extremists.<BR/><BR/>Freedom needs a base in the Middle East. Walking away from Iraq now would set history back 50 to 100 years or even longer. It is possible that Radical Islam will be content with controlling the Middle East, but it is most probable that an American withdrawal will embolden the terrorists in a way that endangers other free countries. <BR/><BR/>I know we can’t force people to be free or live in peace who choose not to live in peace. However, the Islamic extremists in Iraq need to be defeated by the American military or the battle will spread to other parts of the world. We need to make it clear to the terrorists that peace or death are the only two options since they are trying to make it clear to us that submission or death are the only two options.David M. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15720778073616293157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10512467.post-1168567417353594932007-01-11T18:03:00.000-08:002007-01-11T18:03:00.000-08:00Hi David -- LOL. Actually, I did think a lot about...Hi David -- LOL. Actually, I did think a lot about the Tribes posting and was going to comment about in-group/ out-group morality and how the 10 Commandments and even Christ's teaching appears to have been intended exclusively for the Jewish tribe (later exported by Paul), but I didn't feel I knew enough about what I was talking about. <BR/><BR/>The Germany/Japan analogy is a really interesting one. There's a good argument that the Middle East is where Europe was at the beginning of WWI. (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200701/ferguson-comment)<BR/> <BR/>One reason the Germans and Japanese were quick to be our friends was the alternative: living under the Russian Communists.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10512467.post-1168559004653617432007-01-11T15:43:00.000-08:002007-01-11T15:43:00.000-08:00Hi Rick,You’ve been avoiding the church talk huh? ...Hi Rick,<BR/><BR/>You’ve been avoiding the church talk huh? : - 0<BR/><BR/>I am not certain you are right about Malaki, but I am sure that at this point in the process, there shouldn’t be any uncertainty about him. <BR/><BR/>I should have also written that we shouldn’t place our hope in Malaki to fix all of the problems. America needs to own the major problems until all of the major problems are resolved, which will probably take decades, not months or even years. <BR/><BR/>The only way we should ever leave Iraq is when we are permanent friends with the majority of Iraqis. We may need to kill a whole lot of the Sunni and Shia militia, and it may take many iterations, to get to that point. <BR/><BR/>It doesn’t seem possible, but who could have predicted Japan and Germany would be two of our closest allies after all of the Germans and Japanese we killed in WWII?David M. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15720778073616293157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10512467.post-1168555553768509932007-01-11T14:45:00.000-08:002007-01-11T14:45:00.000-08:00Hi David -- I think the problem is that 20,000 is ...Hi David -- I think the problem is that 20,000 is all we can muster. My understanding is that the redeployment already means that our ability to react to other situations worldwide is compromised. <BR/><BR/>Gates is now proposing to increase the military by 98,000, so it will be interesting to see if they can meet the higher recruiting goals in the middle of a war and with a tight labor market. <BR/><BR/>In any case, the Malaki government is basically a front for Shiite death squads. That's what the democratic majority in Iraq chose.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com