The Long War: Rethinking American Options in the War on Terror

{people like him should be publically ridiculed, their faces blackened and then driven out of town on a jackass - at a minimum they should be spanked and sent to bed without any pudding ..................}

Yup, no pudding for these types. Didn`t you know they are halwa eaters?

nasah #103 You mean the one where Ann Coulter talks about families of 9/11 victims ``enjoying`` the deaths of their loved ones?

Arjun mian thanks for Diana West paste -- now how about one from Ann Coulter.....:)

A war that isn`t

By Diana West
June 16, 2006

Discussing the war on ``terror`` has been endlessly awkward. Terror — like blitzkrieg, sneak attack or even disinformation — is a tactic not an enemy. But in our politically correct era, we dwell on the tactic, never defining the enemy. Drop 500-pound bombs on his head if we must — and we must — but don`t describe him as an Islamic jihadist in the age-old tradition of Islamic jihadists going back to Muhammad. Such historical precision might be hurtful and insensitive, and we wouldn`t want that.
Indeed, as a matter of American foreign policy, we don`t want that. Better to keep things vague and indirect, much as the Victorians are reputed to have done to avoid giving offense in the drawing room. Once upon a time, ``We the People`` were crass enough to have repelled German blitzkrieg, defied Japanese sneak attack and even to have combated Soviet disinformation. Now, ``We the Peoples`` are enlightened to the point where we send armies out for years to fight generic terror — no matter how specifically Islamist that terror is.
There are many reasons why this matters, not least of which is that without understanding the religious nature of jihad, along with its sister institution of dhimmitude (inferior status of non-Muslims under Islam), there can be no triumph over jihad and no avoiding dhimmitude. There can also be no understanding of the religiously rooted attitudes toward jihad movements among even non-violent Muslims, generally ranging from tacit ambivalence to wild adulation.
In fighting our war on terror, we have simultaneously fought against any such understanding. Maybe the reason goes beyond reflexive political correctness. Maybe we in the West simply don`t want any enemy at all; maybe we simply want to safeguard ourselves against terror. Maybe our elites believe that, in targeting only terror, the enemy will learn to like us, and terror will go away.
This mindset may explain why the United States exhausts itself trying to disclaim a connection between Islam and jihad, opening Islamic centers on U.S. military bases (most recently at Quantico at the behest of a Wahhabi-educated cleric), thus, as Paul Sperry writes at frontpagemag.com, ``facilitating the study of the holy texts the enemy uses, heretically or not, as their manual of war``; treating those same holy texts reverentially by military order at Guantanamo Bay; and even sending in the Marines to donate prayer rugs to an Iraqi mosque (Operation Cool Carpet).
Such tactics suggest we no longer seek a military triumph over Islamist jihad — if we ever did. Had we engaged in such a war, it would be over by now. The president would have directed the military to eradicate, freeze or neutralize jihad threats where they exist — from Iran to Syria and from Gaza to Fallujah. Concurrently, we would have closed our own borders as a post-September 11 security precaution, and implemented an immigration policy designed to avoid repeating the European example of Islamization through massive Muslim immigration, or, as some are calling it, ``reverse colonization.``
But no. Such a war on terror long ago gave way to the Struggle to Make Everyone Think We`re Swell. In this no-win fight, we must watch what we say — as when the government distances itself from an official`s frank characterization of three suicides at Guantanamo Bay as a jihadist ``PR stunt.``And we must watch what we do — as when we repeatedly send our military on dangerous house-to-house missions with restrictive rules of engagement rather than using air power. In a war in which an interrogation could save a city, we rewrite our interrogation rules to make sure that they won`t. ``If this debate were limited to what`s best for interrogation purposes, the decision [about whether to soften interrogation techniques] would be pretty easy,`` a senior Defense Department official told the New York Times. ``But then you have to look at what we lose diplomatically.``
Why? What are we, Lichtenstein? We sure act like it. This newspaper`s Tony Blankley recently noted the defeatism in America`s about-face with jihadist Iran — the looming front in the war. By offering non-military nuclear technology or else threatening non-military sanctions, the Bush administration seems to have acquiesced to what Mr. Blankley describes as ``the only `respectable` position`` among both European and American elites: namely, ``the absolute exclusion of a military option.``
If true, this would mean that the already inadequately titled ``war on terror`` would no longer refer to war at all. And that would leave only...

now that should discourage the liberal illegals.....

Re: # 95

hilarious.....the last I heard of Cheney he was negotiating to move GITMO to Harper Valley Ontario.....to accomodate 19 more inmates......

Re: # 91

zeemax,

......... let`s get it straight !........my identity is based on my love for nihari, kite-flying and london lager - a culture of life ................. it has nothing to do with masadi`s love of the culture of death - for god`s sake, the man is one stick of dynamite short of blowing himself up !................ i am just a regular guy who had the misfortune to be born a muslim - if i had been born in papua new gunea i would have been perfectly happy running around naked with a bone through my nose and hunting down missionaries - yummy !

....... stop encouraging masadi ........... people like him should be publically ridiculed, their faces blackened and then driven out of town on a jackass - at a minimum they should be spanked and sent to bed without any pudding .................. the reason they keep on popping up is because some good but misguided people (like you) actually listen to their rhetorical nonsense .......

Re: # 95

......... that was funny ! .........

(Enter the Players)

Masadi (M): jaane kyaa toone kahee
Tahmed32 (T): jaane kyaa maine sunee
Chowk (C): baat kuchh ban hee gayee

Uncle Sam (US): sanasanaahat see huyee
Mushy (M): tharatharaahat see huyee
Democracy-inclined people: jaag uthhe khwaab kaee
World (W): baat kuchh ban hee gayee

French leaders: nain zook zook ke uthhe,
Present Iraqi leaders: paanw ruk ruk ke uthhe
Future Iraqi leaders: aa gayee chaal nayee
W: baat kuchh ban hee gayee

Pakistani business (trying to attract the world): julf kaandhe pe mudee,
W (holding nose): ek khushaboo see udee
ISI (egg in face): khul gaye raaj kaee
W: baat kuchh ban hee gayee

(Exit the Players)

masadi: you write ``What you are doing is repeating your old post (for the third time now) without answering even one claim that I have raised in my posts.``

I keep repeating my point since you keep avoiding it and hiding behind strong words (i.e., calling me a liar) and weak and irrelevant arguments (i.e. the ``moral superiority`` of brits vs muslims - as if you are God appointed you to judge) and ``scholarly references``.

So let me repeat the point you keep ignoring a fourth time. And I repeat it since it is of central relevance today since it puts in perspective the hollowness of your ``west is evil, islam is great`` views. ...

actually, I wont bother repeating it - just go back and re-read what I wrote and address that issue in an honest manner.

Manitoba Herald, Canada

The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration. The actions of President Bush are prompting the exodus among left-leaning citizens who fear they`ll soon be required to hunt, pray, and agree with Bill O`Reilly.

Canadian border farmers say it`s not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, animal-rights activists and Unitarians crossing their fields at night.

``I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn,`` said Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota. The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry. ``He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn`t have any, he left. Didn`t even get a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?``

In an effort to stop the illegal aliens, Greenfield erected higher fences, but the liberals scaled them. So he tried installing speakers that blare Rush Limbaugh across the fields. ``Not real effective,`` he said. ``The liberals still got through, and Rush annoyed the cows so much they wouldn`t give milk.``

Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them into Volvo station wagons, drive them across the border and leave them to fend for themselves.

``A lot of these people are not prepared for rugged conditions,`` an Ontario border patrolman said. ``I found one carload without a drop of drinking water. ``They did have a nice little Napa Valley cabernet, though.``

When liberals are caught, they`re sent back across the border, often wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about the Bush administration establishing re-education camps in which liberals will be forced to drink domestic beer and watch NASCAR races.

In recent days, liberals have turned to sometimes-ingenious ways of crossing the border. Some have taken to posing as senior citizens on bus trips to buy cheap Canadian prescription drugs. After catching a half-dozen young vegans disguised in powdered wigs, Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the supposed senior-citizen passengers on Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney hits to prove they were alive in the `50s.

``If they can`t identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we get suspicious about their age,`` an official said.

Canadian citizens have complained that the illegal immigrants are creating an organic-broccoli shortage and renting all the good Susan Sarandon movies. ``I feel sorry for American liberals, but the Canadian economy just can`t support them,`` an Ottawa resident said. ``How many art-history majors does one country need?``

In an effort to ease tensions between the United States and Canada, Vice President Dick Cheney met with the Canadian ambassador and pledged that the administration would take steps to reassure liberals, a source close to Cheney said. We`re going to have some Peter, Paul & Mary concerts. And we might put some endangered species on postage stamps. The President is determined to reach out,`` he said.