1. The West lacks the will to survive. We make mountains out of trivial political issues, such as humiliating terrorists, and obsess instead about the rights of people who will cut our throats at the first opportunity. 9/11 has been relegated to historical movie status, not the wake up call it should have been. Too many Americans view the war with radical Islam as an inconvenience or a political problem and not something that concerns and threatens their very existence. A reality check is essential for survival.
Perhaps hyperbole. It is unclear to me at least that the danger is as severe as portryaed here. That being said, we could disengage in the middle east and then, instead of sitting back and not paying attention, pay close attention and see what happens therein. Watch for any trends, if they exist. Act accordingly.
2. The West is selfish and divided. Politics and party have become the priority and survival has been relegated to the closet. Politics no longer stops at the waters edge, but war has become a thing to manipulate for political advantage. The voters seem to not care that undermining the war effort for political gain is the order of the day, as long as their lifestyles aren’t compromised or discomfort brought down upon their heads. Our enemies and our politicians play that to their advantage. We have exposed to all our enemies, our soft divided underbelly and naively expect that they will but rub it for us.
No question that sometimes we pay too much attention to Party instead of policy. Easy to do as it is the path of least resistance. The author presupposes that a withdrawel from Iraq would cause irreparable harm. I might have said that in the beginning of this "occupation", but now after watching current events, it is simply not so. If we stay one more day or one more decade, the results after we leave will still be the same: anarchy. Therefore, who have we helped?
3. The West is too open and too naive about war. We have lost our smarts about what a war is. War is not a made for TV movie with a pre-written script. The other side writes its own game plan, while we foolishly and openly talk of withdrawal schedules. The same people who demand such schedules would react in horror were their favorite coach to announce the play he is going to use next. Mistakes are always made in war. It is in correcting and adjusting, that victory comes about, but never without a will to survive, and that means a will to fight and die in the first place. Supporting out troops means stifling our open disagreements about details. Enough with the armchair generals, and the neutral, but biased media - we have lost our sense of the evil of treason.
Public discourse about the conduct of the war is one of the greatest benefits of democracy. There are some exceptions, but what really defines "comfort ot the enemy" should be a short list.
4. The West is illiterate about faith and martyrdom. It is essential to know your enemy. For liberals to continue to preach multicultural moral equivalency is, but evidence that we act in ignorance of the seriousness of the enemy’s intent and will to die for his cause. Islam, as understood by these radicals, is not a religion of country club requirements and manners. Failing to comprehend what drives this enemy is a guaranteed road to defeat.
How can ANYONE disagree with this statement? This multicultural feldercarb is just that. I know, I know, you liberals will disagree, but you are also wrong.
5. The West is reactive not proactive. It is failing for reasons of domestic political caution, to prepare for international war. It only looks backward such as the current fascination with who caused 9/11, Bush or Clinton, as if we’re in denial that the simple unaltered fact is that we were attacked not once on 9/11, but many times by radical Islamists. They have openly declared war on our nation and have pledged to eradicate each of us while we lack sufficient concern to prepare to fight the most difficult battle of this country’s existence. We have failed to mobilize the major elements of a society at serious war. For example, we fail, for political reasons, to reinstitute the draft and the types of things necessary to engage the enemy fully, as we go about our daily business wondering, or even actually debating, if attacking the terrorists over there is better than waiting to have them over here.
We should have never stopped the draft, for many reasons. One reason which liberals failed to consider was that a draft subjects ALL to the same conditions and training. In fact, (and I am sure this will stir the pot), I have always advocated EVERYONE should serve two years of universal service after high school. It doesn't have to be military. Go biuild park benches along the Appalachian Trail, work in a Hospital, construct parks for the common good, etc. A side effect of this will be to instill a certain levle of discipline and maturity in young people as well as a sense of "we are all in this together, one society".
6. The West refuses to become energy independent. The fuel of radical Islam is our petrol-dollars. No war can be fought successfully when the enemy controls the energy and our economy through our own continued foolish choices - choices we make because of a paralyzing political fear of radicalized environmental worship. Russia, Venezuela, and the Mid-east oil producers can be counted on to close us off in a second should it be thought by them to be to their advantage. Undermining and bringing down super-power America is already their desire. All that is necessary is the minutest turn of events. The eminent war with radicalized Islam offers much more than minute potential, when it comes to affording them opportunity. Energy is victory and lack of sufficient energy is defeat. Our domestic eco-politics have chosen to aid the enemy.
I totally concur with this. We should immediatley insititute steps to become energy independent, regardless of the short term cost. Go ahead, charge me $50 a gallon as long as steps are taken so we do not have to be dependent upon others for energy.7. Our borders are sieves and remain waiting conduits for subversive entry and terrorist activity. Moats weren’t invented because of curiosity or convention. They were created, because in an evil world, the enemy and the danger he presents needs to be kept out of people’s homes. The Trojan Horse mentality we play with our open borders is suicidal. Again, domestic politics by both parties, not security, is the priority that drives our border policy. A policy, I would predict, that history may very well write in chapter one of, How Great Nations Have Fallen (In Arabic of course).
I concur with the premsie, but the implementation is entirely a different sory. For example, I do not believe it is possible to stop the flow from Mexico. A taller fence with all the technology in the world won't stop 'em. They'll create tunnels, go around in boats, whatever it takes. Does anyone know how to really stop tihs flow? Oh, and do not tell me to create jobs south of the border. Remember that good ole NAFTA? Terrible idea. No positive effect for us.
8. The moral case for war. Though we debate about Iraq and the War on Terror, we really have not as a nation, understood and accepted the moral case to fight radical Islam on the moral level that they fight us. We have lost the concept of it being of the highest morality to defend oneself. In a day where WMDs are available and petrol dollars and sophisticated weaponry are funneled to radical regimes or Jihadists, morality requires that we either surrender or capitulate to radical Islam, or we fight. We have failed to make the case for fighting evil to the nation and we have failed to win agreement by both political parties about that core concept. Instead, we play gottcha politics with details and nuance.
Is there a moral case for preemptive action? Perhaps, but in the case of Iraq....
9. Propaganda. We fail to use it to bolster our unity and to undermine our enemy’s unity and cohesiveness. Perhaps we need to use propaganda in Islam to question the goodness of a God that allows for a faith that is spread by the sword, and a faith that chooses such weapons of conversion as dynamite belts on innocent young Muslims. We need to drop our fear of cartoon type reactions and control our multicultural sensitivities when they interfere with our action in this vital area. We need to use propaganda to rally Americans around the need for a common loyalty over and above, lesser things such as ethnicity, class status, and party affiliation, that we may survive as a nation, not a land of competing special interest groups.
We are simply terrible at using propaganda to our advantage (see Vietnam for example).
10. We lack the decency of a moral society worth fighting for. Beyond the biological urge to survive, there is a moral level that man is able to attain that needs and deserves protection and recognition. When both parties squabble about how much innocent life is moral to take or use for our pleasure, or health, when we laugh at those who believe and live in compliance with nature’s God, we lose our moral authority to fight wars. When we deliberately in the name of liberty, confuse good and evil in order to manipulate and control the minds of the masses, we invite evil and lose the sole basis for fighting any war.
Good point, but so?
A society that believes man is incapable of evil is in its death throes. A society that fails to recognize evil is already dead. A country that does battle for neither good nor evil is doomed to lose that battle.
So true. Fighting for the sake of fighting won't cut it.
If we fight just to protect our culture of death or our radical materialism, be it for hedonist, capitalist, or consumer, we fight for a hollow cause, for mankind chooses to die for great and noble causes. Islamists understand that. We had better learn it or live to regret it.
Who can disagree with this statement?
