Liberty MavenWinning the “War on Terror” looks a lot like losing it
February 16th, 2010 4:07 pm | by Marc Gallagher | Published in Blowback, Commentary, Constitution, Foreign Policy, History, Liberty, Maven Commentary, Neo-con, terrorism, torture, War | 11 Responses
Neo-conservatives like to use the expression “cut and run” when describing the Ron Paul-style non-interventionist desire to pull out of Iraq, Afghanistan, and close our many bases in other countries. If we embraced the “cut and run” strategy instead of the “surge” strategy we would already be well on our way to winning the so-called “War on Terror”. I use the words “on our way” to emphasize that such a war can never be won in the classic sense. There can only be varying levels of success.
The idea would be to trade in America’s my-gun-is-bigger-than-yours foreign policy for a more constitution-oriented, defense-focused effort. Sure, it would permit the terrorists to openly claim victory. So what? This is the kind of victory that, in the end, helps reduce terrorism. Once victorious, what is their recruiting incentive?
I know what you’re thinking: “But they hate us because we are free! They’ll just continue what they are doing!”
“They hate us because we are free” is the neo-conservative equivalent of the “truther” claim that “9/11 was an inside job”. Just because it becomes a convenient narrative for pundits on either side doesn’t necessarily make it true.
Read Robert Pape
Even if the “freedom hate” argument were true, is that hate deep enough to turn non-extremist Muslims into suicide bombers? Successful suicide bombers do not live very long. New recruits are always needed. It’s an infinitely easier path toward graduating from the University of Al-Qaeda with a degree in suicide bombing if the instructors can point to America as an occupier, torturer, and murderer. Without America’s presence Al-Qaeda leaders would have zero credibility if they attempted to paint America with such a brush. Continuing our interventions gives their leaders perfect suicide bomber recruit-fodder.
I find it sadly humorous that Obama gets criticized from the Right on foreign policy. They label him weak, yet he’s merely continuing the same policies that made Bush a hero to those very same people. Hypocrisy abounds. The original Tea Party was made up of patriots who protested an overseas intervention. Today the Tea Parties are over-run with a faction, commonly called “tea-ocons”, that supports America behaving like Britain did back in the 1770′s. These are flawed principles unworthy of the Tea Party moniker.
Many people who oppose government-run health care love to point out how government is inept at everything it does. You’ll get no argument from me on that, but if that is true then why do many of these people also believe that the government can be successful in bullying the world toward freedom? It’s an absurd notion. To win the “War on Terror” we must withdraw and call it a tactic for victory rather than a strategy for admitting defeat.
Once the bully’s gun rises, liberty becomes impossible.
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February 17th, 2010 at 1:24 am (#)
Great article, Marc.
But "Hypocrisy is abound"? Still trying to decipher that one…
February 17th, 2010 at 1:47 am (#)
Well, you know how many people like to verify nouns? Sometimes it's fun to nounify verbs!
February 17th, 2010 at 1:47 am (#)
Well, you know how many people like to verify nouns? Sometimes it's fun to nounify verbs!
February 17th, 2010 at 2:11 am (#)
Hmmm I wonder how my editor let that through!
February 17th, 2010 at 3:39 am (#)
He must be some sort of dickbag.
February 17th, 2010 at 6:31 pm (#)
He just doesn't get paid enough, clearly.
February 17th, 2010 at 6:31 pm (#)
He just doesn't get paid enough, clearly.
February 17th, 2010 at 8:40 pm (#)
I go along with everything here, with 1 reservation, and 1 exception:
1) Reservation: people in the mid-east don't get information the way we do. Abundant/reliable/easily available info – not the same there as here. So, the "no recruitment tool" stuff doesn't quite fit. If we stop "torturing", they'll just lie and say "oh, ya, they're torturing our people", and people will be recruited anyway. If we stop occupying, they'll just say "Oh they have spies everywhere, and don't forget about Israel" etc. I don't think they'll stop attacking us ever, to be honest. I think they enjoy it as much as we enjoy bombing them
2) Exception: I've been to most of the t-parties in the DC area, and I pretty much only see people protesting the spending and government intrusion into our lives. While I'll agree that I don't see many of them saying "and get out of Iraq/Afghanistan/foreign wars!", I also can't recall a single instance where anyone was advocating that we go fight more foreign wars. I'm absolutely positive that someone has done so, I'm sure there's a t-party sign saying "kill terrorists, not jobs" or some such, but I'm telling you I personally haven't seen any "teocon" activity at all, and I've ready many signs, talked to many people. The one thing that stands out is people are just pissed that we can't take a dump without the government being involved.
Otherwise, though I lean neo-con, hell I'll give it a try if we can get someone into office who'd follow this plan, if they were serious about it YET READY TO ACT QUICKLY if they miscalculated.
February 17th, 2010 at 8:40 pm (#)
I go along with everything here, with 1 reservation, and 1 exception:
1) Reservation: people in the mid-east don't get information the way we do. Abundant/reliable/easily available info – not the same there as here. So, the "no recruitment tool" stuff doesn't quite fit. If we stop "torturing", they'll just lie and say "oh, ya, they're torturing our people", and people will be recruited anyway. If we stop occupying, they'll just say "Oh they have spies everywhere, and don't forget about Israel" etc. I don't think they'll stop attacking us ever, to be honest. I think they enjoy it as much as we enjoy bombing them
2) Exception: I've been to most of the t-parties in the DC area, and I pretty much only see people protesting the spending and government intrusion into our lives. While I'll agree that I don't see many of them saying "and get out of Iraq/Afghanistan/foreign wars!", I also can't recall a single instance where anyone was advocating that we go fight more foreign wars. I'm absolutely positive that someone has done so, I'm sure there's a t-party sign saying "kill terrorists, not jobs" or some such, but I'm telling you I personally haven't seen any "teocon" activity at all, and I've ready many signs, talked to many people. The one thing that stands out is people are just pissed that we can't take a dump without the government being involved.
Otherwise, though I lean neo-con, hell I'll give it a try if we can get someone into office who'd follow this plan, if they were serious about it YET READY TO ACT QUICKLY if they miscalculated.
February 18th, 2010 at 12:25 am (#)
About that is absolutely no doubt!
February 19th, 2010 at 4:54 pm (#)
excellent article!