Will Part II

Why are so many against the war for so many reasons? Victor Davis Hanson is prescient in his book "An Autumn of War" in describing the reasons why we should not go to war. He also predicted the next step would be Iraq. His assertions about academia match those of Walid Phares in "Future Jihad."

A great topic for investigative journalism would be to check the funding by fundamental Islamic groups, both organizations such as CAIR, academic programs and special interest. Also look at the various demographics of support and opposition to the war.

Raphael Patai in his book "The Arab Mind" shows how Arab Historians recognized that the Arab world went static and then into a decline in the 16th century. That colonization and Israel are excuses for a culture that is anti-modern in so many ways.

The point of citing the sources up above is to show that I've been doing a lot of research. Part of me really does want to be guilty of what we are being accused of, American Imperialism and Empire. But J.R. Dunn shows the problems with this. And frankly, it is against the values of freedom that we hold. But is supported by the values of security.

President Bush is playing a long-term game. By establishing a Democracy in an Arab Muslim country he is hoping they will begin to reform themselves and join the 21st century. The problem, is keeping our will long enough to make this work.

No one should doubt the American Military's ability to lay waste to the Middle East. Look how quickly we defeated the Iraqi Army. The reason Israel didn't clean house in the last brief war, is their military was constrained from doing so. Whether it was internal constraints or American, I don't know. I do know that America does not have the will to commit genocide and try to wipe out whole countries. This is one of the things that makes America great, even though our enemies see it as a weakness.

Hanson argues for more force. Using a variety of examples including the Civil War and the outcomes WWI and WWII he shows where a crushing defeat makes for a lasting peace. And America goes into places like Bosnia and Panama, gets rid of the dictator and then lets the local population take it from there. That is not Empire Building. If we did build empires, Japan and Germany's official languages would be American English and they would be very different countries today. And so would Canada and Mexico for that matter.

I believe we should get rid of Political Correctness. Basically is says you can't have a discussion if you offend someone. To shut down an argument, all someone has to do is say I'm offended. You can't have Democratic discussions and values in an environment like that.

I believe we need to concentrate on effective actions, not things that sound good. You can put measurements around effective actions.

We need to realize this war is against Islamofacists. They do not fight by the rules of war; they are not protected by the Geneva Conventions. We need to quite hassling grandmothers from Minnesota with knitting needles in the bag at the airport and concentrate on young males from the Middle East, and of Middle Eastern descent (This is unfortunately expanding also to females, as the plot of husband and wife to help bomb an airplane over in London showed.) They are the majority of the problem. This will cause many innocent people to be discriminated against. I ask for their understanding and their help. Islam needs a reformation that will support existing in the 21st century. Not only do they need to abandon violence, but they need to adopt some Western values including the equality of women, freedom of speech, and treating all people with respect. As you sow, so shall you reap. You can not get respect if you don't give it.

I believe we need to quit supporting dictatorships and theocracies in the name of stability or some other misplaced ideal. We need to support governments that we would want to live under.

We need to drive the use of nuclear power and alternative energy sources, especially for transportation. To cut down or even eliminate the need for oil is vital. Our petrol dollars fund our enemies.

We need to quit worrying about what other countries say about us. You can't please everyone. Only the US is concerned about US security. Over half the UN is worried that they are on our threat list, and they could be next. Of course they will talk about how mean we are.

We need to secure our boarders (and yes we need a guest worker program, but that is an economic discussion).

We need to start teaching some history in schools and that American Democratic and Capitalistic values are what made this country great. The only way you can make sure everyone is equal is by pulling down the guys on top. The guys on the bottom are there because they don't know how to climb, you can't pull them up. Capitalism is a meritocracy, it rewards success. We can't be responsible for Every Tom, Jose and Abdullah. They have to take responsibility for their own success or failure.

Most of all we need our Congress and Senate to stop worrying about who is in power and concentrate on the future and safety of our children. We need open and honest discussion. This also means that our MSM needs to facilitate the discussion. Blogs are great for allowing people with the same thoughts to discuss and refine their ideas, but there is very little real debate taking place.

I think 50 years from now President Bush is going to be regarded as a great leader for overcoming so many obstacles and doing the right thing.

One final thought. If we do not support the President's strategy, then that limits our options to continued attacks. We will either continue to live with those attacks, or we will adopt a scorched earth policy. I think he has chosen the hardest choice, and the best one.