Active Users:1150 Time:22/11/2024 07:49:46 PM
Good analysis of the situation. Joel Send a noteboard - 23/11/2009 08:17:01 AM
Holy $@#*, who put these idiots in charge of a war? Oh yeah, that's right. We did. This is complete insanity, a purely political decision, with the only factor taken into consideration being "apologizing" for the Bush administration and "setting things right", with no thought of the consequences. This decision (trying enemy combatants while AT WAR in U.S. criminal courts) is so far beyond stupid that I'm having trouble coming up with the words. This, on top of the endless agonizing about the most politically helpful move on Afghanistan and the threat of "discussions about the seriousness of possible consequences" against Iran, is causing me to severely doubt the ability of this administration to tie their own shoes, let alone execute a war.



That people who think as you do are no longer in charge of our foreign and domestic policy. Thank god for that. Oh by the way, don't lecture other people on foreign policy, considering how much damage your ilk has done to our country and the world in the past 8 years, your really not in a position to be doing that.

***

Now on the subject at hand let me explain to you something about the Jihadist narrative, because If you want to defeat the enemy you're going to have to understand why they think the way they do.

Their narrative is largely about justice or what radical imams and their followers perceive as injustice. In the their version of history, the West has a long history of exploiting the Muslim world. We occupy Muslim lands to steal their resources. We install corrupt lackeys as their rulers. For all our high and mighty talk about fairness and justice, we reserve these luxuries for ourselves. In this warped worldview, we deserve any atrocities that jihadist “warriors” might commit.

Many of the officials and commentators who are so upset about the decision to give Khalid Shaikh Mohammed a civilian trial were also quick to call the Fort Hood killings an act of terrorism. But if the suspect, Maj. Nidal Hasan, is indeed a terrorist — not just a deranged man who snapped — then his awful rampage helps demonstrate the point I’m making. Hasan reportedly considered the U.S. military deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan a war against Islam, at one point arguing that Muslim soldiers should be excused from combat as conscientious objectors. In other words, he apparently bought at least part of the jihadist line.

In this context, putting Mohammed and the others on trial in a civilian proceeding on U.S. soil is not just a duty but an opportunity. It’s a way to show that we do not have one system of justice for ourselves and another for Muslims, that we give defendants their day in court, that we insist they be vigorously defended by competent counsel — that we really do practice what we preach.

Even if a military tribunal would be just as fair — and a military court might be even more offended by the fact that Mohammed was subjected to waterboarding — a trial by men and women in uniform would be seen as an extension of the “war on Islam.” Holder’s choice is not without risk. The biggest question I have is whether an impartial jury could be impaneled in New York. And while I think the chance of an acquittal is incredibly remote, if it happened, Mohammed would be kept in indefinite detention anyway.

But there’s one more huge benefit to a civilian trial: It would show the preachers of hatred and their followers that we’re not afraid of them or their poisonous ideas. It would show that they haven’t changed us or our ideals — and that they never will.

I say bring it on.

Which is exactly how we should be saying that. We're better than them, and should demonstrate it. We weren't always perfect, but did a much better job in the Cold War, and nearly the whole planet realized it. We didn't beat the Soviets because of nukes, or money, or diplomacy. We beat them because the world looked at our way of life and theirs and realized there was no comparison. From that day Sovietism began dying an agonizing death, and terrorism will, too, if treated the same. Or does anyone think Al Qaeda better trained, funded or more capable of infiltration than the KGB...?

Let the world, including the Muslim parts, see what we offer and what the militant religious radicals offer, and I'll bet dollars to donuts most decide in moments. Right now we increasingly run the risk of this going like Israel and Palestine, where the rest of the world gets so disgusted with both sides they support neither and say to themselves, "Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll kill each other. "

I remember reading my Encyclopedia Americana as a child, as was my wont, and the articles on Strategy and on Tactics, which listed about a dozen priorities, usually the same ones, but rarely in the same order. There was one notable exception:

The top priority of both strategy and tactics is to destroy the enemys will to fight. If he lacks the will, whether he has the means is irrelevant. It's odd that so many on the right have bemoaned that all the way back to Vietnam but don't realize it cuts both ways.
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No need to interrogate Osama bin Laden? - 20/11/2009 12:48:27 AM 1063 Views
oO uhm, what? - 20/11/2009 12:54:13 AM 546 Views
Yeah, a lot of people were fuzzy on that till this started. - 20/11/2009 09:30:39 AM 571 Views
on the other hand, we're more than willing to take them out back with a confession. - 20/11/2009 06:34:12 PM 568 Views
As it seems we will. - 24/11/2009 09:41:18 AM 543 Views
New York is now asking for $75 MILLION for the KSM trial - 20/11/2009 01:43:26 AM 495 Views
Its to salve their conscinse - 20/11/2009 01:55:08 AM 501 Views
That's exactly the problem! - 20/11/2009 01:58:37 AM 517 Views
If this trial were being held in any other country - 20/11/2009 01:56:07 AM 518 Views
It's a terrible precedent no matter how you look at it. - 20/11/2009 02:13:46 AM 543 Views
It IS a terrible precdent, hence you and others are citing it 65 years after WWII ended. - 20/11/2009 09:23:45 AM 433 Views
Spare me the bullshit. - 20/11/2009 01:57:16 PM 439 Views
I will if you will. - 20/11/2009 02:55:30 PM 535 Views
No, you won't. You never will. - 20/11/2009 06:14:30 PM 425 Views
You're putting your cart before your horse is the problem. - 23/11/2009 05:40:46 AM 516 Views
No, that's not right. You don't read very closely. - 23/11/2009 02:21:54 PM 439 Views
In this case my reading comprehension is more than adequate. - 24/11/2009 09:16:39 AM 479 Views
You don't think this is a military struggle? Wow. - 20/11/2009 02:52:26 PM 476 Views
Allow me to point out... - 20/11/2009 03:02:33 PM 456 Views
Well, Timothy McVeigh was in OUR Army. - 20/11/2009 03:55:18 PM 578 Views
That's the thing, they aren't a terrorist group - 20/11/2009 04:54:31 PM 497 Views
It would help if you would offer any argument in favour of your stance. - 20/11/2009 08:43:08 PM 440 Views
I only use the word army cause I can't think of a better one - 21/11/2009 04:32:01 AM 456 Views
Yes. "Terrorist group". - 21/11/2009 12:02:04 PM 530 Views
Yeah I guess you're right - 22/11/2009 01:34:34 AM 445 Views
Military struggles involve militaries. - 20/11/2009 03:23:14 PM 618 Views
Once again, bullshit. - 20/11/2009 06:09:31 PM 580 Views
Aaaah, I see; it's a question of who's the master, is it? - 23/11/2009 07:47:43 AM 596 Views
You're wasting your time - 23/11/2009 02:24:57 PM 480 Views
This is wrong - 20/11/2009 07:41:35 PM 484 Views
We're a long way from the shore of Tripoli. - 23/11/2009 05:59:19 AM 536 Views
Nevertheless, uniforms or a nation is not a requirement - 23/11/2009 03:09:22 PM 496 Views
Rightly or wrongly, I disagree. - 24/11/2009 08:48:25 AM 538 Views
That is bad - 21/11/2009 12:31:04 AM 468 Views
You're not going far enough, man. - 20/11/2009 11:03:08 AM 523 Views
Blah blah blah blah blah *NM* - 20/11/2009 01:57:39 PM 223 Views
I just can't imagine how they expect to get a fair trial. - 20/11/2009 03:17:28 AM 440 Views
The Code of Conduct - 20/11/2009 07:23:02 PM 546 Views
The mention of God is interesting. *NM* - 21/11/2009 05:24:14 AM 334 Views
Your little diatribe in the beginning only makes me glad... - 22/11/2009 05:32:57 AM 604 Views
I understand your "jihadist narrative" - 22/11/2009 06:36:41 PM 585 Views
Good analysis of the situation. - 23/11/2009 08:17:01 AM 592 Views
enemy combatants and terrorists - 23/11/2009 08:03:25 PM 559 Views
They're not different because from the Third World, but because terrorists. - 24/11/2009 08:09:13 AM 675 Views
not every soldier in history has worn a uniform - 24/11/2009 11:00:34 PM 352 Views
One example would be Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys - 25/11/2009 06:23:08 PM 526 Views
Just for fun, let's call them fundamentalist vigilantes. *NM* - 24/11/2009 11:12:09 PM 194 Views
Works for me. - 01/12/2009 09:12:29 AM 508 Views

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