[Industrialblog,
November 20, 2006]
My vote is 'Go long'
This story indicates that the Pentagon review is down to "Go big" "Go long" or "Go home."
My vote is "Go long." That is, we just stay. And stay and stay. And stay.
Go big has the problem of "what if it doesn't work?" And unless we're ready to address Syria and Iran militarily, it won't. My false assumption in supporting the Iraq War was it was simply a tuneup for Iran (and a way of getting into Syria). Without addressing Iran and Syria, Go Big seems to be just sending more targets to the front.
Go home would be an unmitigated disaster. This would mean the end of U.S. ground troops abroad for a very long time, absent an extraordinary provocation (and even then). We'd embolden our enemies and show them that we won't stand up for ourselves, ever.
Go long isn't ideal, but if we can get a bipartisan, cold war-style consensus that we're simply gonna stay and keep military bases there, we might outlast the Jihadists or make this drag on for so long no one will remember what it's about. I mean, we're probably looking at staying for 10, 15 or 20 years. The War on Terror is currently locked into a stalemate in Iraq — fine, let it stay locked. Let it be a magnet for the jihadists worldwide ... and keep them the hell out of anyplace else.
At least that's the thought. My guess is we'll try all three. We Americans have ADD after all.
Or maybe there's another solution.
My vote is "Go long." That is, we just stay. And stay and stay. And stay.
Go big has the problem of "what if it doesn't work?" And unless we're ready to address Syria and Iran militarily, it won't. My false assumption in supporting the Iraq War was it was simply a tuneup for Iran (and a way of getting into Syria). Without addressing Iran and Syria, Go Big seems to be just sending more targets to the front.
Go home would be an unmitigated disaster. This would mean the end of U.S. ground troops abroad for a very long time, absent an extraordinary provocation (and even then). We'd embolden our enemies and show them that we won't stand up for ourselves, ever.
Go long isn't ideal, but if we can get a bipartisan, cold war-style consensus that we're simply gonna stay and keep military bases there, we might outlast the Jihadists or make this drag on for so long no one will remember what it's about. I mean, we're probably looking at staying for 10, 15 or 20 years. The War on Terror is currently locked into a stalemate in Iraq — fine, let it stay locked. Let it be a magnet for the jihadists worldwide ... and keep them the hell out of anyplace else.
At least that's the thought. My guess is we'll try all three. We Americans have ADD after all.
Or maybe there's another solution.
Sorry, just couldn't resist.
It's getting to where you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a gay republican these days. I think GOP now stands for GAY OLD PARTY.
///snark mode off///
sorry