Wrong about Iraq

[cmr164]

Just to stop the howls of the ignorant about "liberal media" I will put the author's bios here first.

Navy Commander Philip Kapusta is currently serving as chief of strategic plans at Special Operations Command Central, in Tampa. Marine Captain Donovan Campbell recently returned from his third combat deployment. His book, "Joker One," will be published by Random House in March. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the US government.

Containing Radical Islam

[Chief Wiggum]

I love this plan! I'm excited to be a part of it! Let's do it!

[vacop4274]

Dr. Peter Venkman

[djack16]

That article was enlightening.

[tony.o]

Its not the same. The Soviet Union was not suicidal. They tell us what they are going to do once they obtain the weapons they want. Containment will not stop them from aquiring the weapons or using them.

[GrndPnd0311]

Its not the same. The Soviet Union was not suicidal. They tell us what they are going to do once they obtain the weapons they want. Containment will not stop them from aquiring the weapons or using them.

MAD worked against the Soviets and is working with Pakistan and India. With Iran, a little different situation. The whole theory of Martyrdom wasnt a factor in those cases.

[Stormy]

Just to stop the howls of the ignorant about "liberal media" I will put the author's bios here first.

Navy Commander Philip Kapusta is currently serving as chief of strategic plans at Special Operations Command Central, in Tampa. Marine Captain Donovan Campbell recently returned from his third combat deployment. His book, "Joker One," will be published by Random House in March. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the US government.

Containing Radical Islam

[bold highlite mine]

Interesting name; translated into Russian = cabbage. Not implying he is one, just humorous.

[Seventy2002]

I concur with the article's assertion that what we've been doing isn't working. The author and I part company when he says "We should build a virtual wall of stable, moderate nations on the periphery of that arc..." That's the kind of happy horse**** that got us into Iraq in the first place.

"Nation building" doesn't work. The British assembled Iraq out of fragments of the Ottoman Empire. The made it in their own image, a consitutional monarchy. Now, we're trying to assemble a federal republic from the fragments of that failed experiment.

While comparisons to 1949 and containment of communism have some relevence, the differences are more important than the similarities. The Cold War was fought against nation-states. Radical Islam is stateless.

This is a sitution where we can do very little to make things better and much to make things worse.

Time to go home. There's work to do here.

[Stormy]

I concur with the article's assertion that what we've been doing isn't working. The author and I part company when he says "We should build a virtual wall of stable, moderate nations on the periphery of that arc..." That's the kind of happy horse**** that got us into Iraq in the first place.

"Nation building" doesn't work. The British assembled Iraq out of fragments of the Ottoman Empire. The made it in their own image, a consitutional monarchy. Now, we're trying to assemble a federal republic from the fragments of that failed experiment.

While comparisons to 1949 and containment of communism have some relevence, the differences are more important than the similarities. The Cold War was fought against nation-states. Radical Islam is stateless.

This is a sitution where we can do very little to make things better and much to make things worse.

Time to go home. There's work to do here.

Great post! Great insight! Thank you.

[PB3021]

I concur with the article's assertion that what we've been doing isn't working. The author and I part company when he says "We should build a virtual wall of stable, moderate nations on the periphery of that arc..." That's the kind of happy horse**** that got us into Iraq in the first place.

"Nation building" doesn't work. The British assembled Iraq out of fragments of the Ottoman Empire. The made it in their own image, a consitutional monarchy. Now, we're trying to assemble a federal republic from the fragments of that failed experiment.

While comparisons to 1949 and containment of communism have some relevence, the differences are more important than the similarities. The Cold War was fought against nation-states. Radical Islam is stateless.

This is a sitution where we can do very little to make things better and much to make things worse.

Time to go home. There's work to do here.

I agree as well. Only we should leave when the government is as stable as possible. We touched it last, right or wrong, and we should leave it as strong and stable as possible. The real challenge is knowing when that point is reached. Thank gawd I'm only a sgt.

[Chief Wiggum]

Dr. Peter Venkman

Yes, well done!

[tony.o]

MAD worked against the Soviets and is working with Pakistan and India. With Iran, a little different situation. The whole theory of Martyrdom wasnt a factor in those cases.

Pakistan will be a problem once Musharaff is gone. Even he was hostile to the US prior to 911, before we made threats against them if they failed to cooperate with our entry into Afghanistan over their territory. I remember when Clinton did one of his whimpy Tomohawk missle strikes, on that empty training camp in Afganistan, one of cruise missles failed, went down in Pakistan and Musharaff sent it to China so they could reverse engineer it.