I couldn't agree more. Great post, Val.

I'm beginning to think that we should adopt the following policy in regard to terrorist acts (such as televised beheadings, hostage-taking, and suicide bombing, among others):
1) Determine what nation the terrorists in question came from. If this cannot be determined with absolute certainty, then make an educated guess.
2) Utterly and irrevocably destroy a city in the country that the terrorists came from.
3) Warn said nation that they can expect much more of the same if they don't turn over every terrorist that they are in contact with, and subsequently join our effort to actively root out terrorist organizations.
4) Repeat the process as necessary, with the understanding that any given nation gets three "strikes", so to speak. If we have to destroy a third city, then we're not stopping until the offending country is a smoking crater.

Yeah, it's harsh, and not likely to make us very popular. On the other hand, it's not as if poularity is getting a whole lot accomplished against Islamofascism.

Pax Romanus?

Val Dorta has a similar post up at his site, 'cept he doesn't call for beheading reciprocity.

Bravo, Val. Couldn't have said it better.

Bravo Val - I completely agree

Val,

Who is going to fight back?
Who went into Iraq and thought that it was a good idea to leave the borders wide open?
Who benefits from chaos and open borders in Iraq?
Who has been painting a rosy picture of the situation on the ground in Iraq?
Who Val who, tell us so that we can vent our frustrations.

Madtom

Great post, Val. One question, though: did you teach Tracy or Parker kenpo?

Val, I couldn't agree more with this philosophy. The problem is, we should have started out this way. Instead, Bush is making us look like the arrogant, ugly Americans, playing bully to the world - hardly kenpo-like.

Here's something I wrote on 9/15/01:

Obviously, hit them, and hit them hard. The response must be grotesquely disproportionate to the original act. It must be sustained. If they have built their infrastructure near civilian centers, the civilians will be killed along with the terrorists. The message must be loud and clear: "Don't Tread on Me".

America's posture in the world had always been as the gentle giant that will stomp the shit out of you if you try and push us or our allies around. It has been reactive instead of proactive, it has served us well, and would have served us in this case, too. We've lost that moral superiority in this conflict. I honestly don't know how we get out of this one with our pride and our honor intact.

"Who went into Iraq and thought that it was a good idea to leave the borders wide open?"

Nobody. We can't seal the southern border of California, how would you propose we seal the borders of Iraq, which would be roughly equivalent to sealing *all* of California's borders, including the coast?

"Who benefits from chaos and open borders in Iraq?"

Islamist radicals, Iran, and to a lesser extent, Iran. Why, did you have some sort of point in mind?

"Who has been painting a rosy picture of the situation on the ground in Iraq?"

Nobody. It's pretty much a strawman put up by the opposition; easier to knock down, you know.

Anybody who knows the situation first-hand realizes that it's nowhere near as bad as the press likes to portray it; while being quite clear in understanding that there is a lot of work left to do.

Very much like the clean up resulting from the end of major combat in WW2 Europe. Which recovery didn't really gain steam until the Marshall Plan began to be accomplished. Which plan did not get under weigh for almost two years after the end of fighting.

You'd think they'd had no plans at all...

"Nobody. We can't seal the southern border of California, how would you propose we seal the borders of Iraq, which would be roughly equivalent to sealing *all* of California's borders, including the coast?"

So you believe that "If" California were under threat of invasion by foreign terrorist that there would be nothing anyone could do even with an Army of 140,000. Border check points surveillance, and patrols would be totally ineffective, so we would not even try? Are you saying that we would just abandon the border to the opposing army and retreat to fight them in central LA.?

"Islamist radicals, Iran, and to a lesser extent, Iran. Why, did you have some sort of point in mind?"

How about our allies in the KSA, you know KSA where the official religion of the state is Wahhabi, ever heard of them? They believe that all other forms of Islam are corrupted and should be either converted to the "true" form or beheaded, not to mention Christians and Jews, and every one else. These friends of the US are going to hold thier first ever election soon. Do you believe that it would be in their interest to get rid of the more extremist element in their society that thinks that the governing family has been corrupted by their close relationship to the US? Or would the royal family welcome their participation in the upcoming regional elections?

"Anybody who knows the situation first-hand realizes that it's nowhere near as bad as the press likes to portray it; while being quite clear in understanding that there is a lot of work left to do"

Not as bad? The opposing army is now entrenched in major portions of the country terrorizing the population and enforcing a strict fundamentalist version of Islamic law, with courts and it's own vice patrol. All inside what was the only secular ME state. It's more than having more work to do, we may need to start over and re-invade major portions of the country.

"Very much like the clean up resulting from the end of major combat in WW2 Europe. Which recovery didn't really gain steam until the Marshall Plan began to be accomplished. Which plan did not get under weigh for almost two years after the end of fighting"

Well as soon as the fighting stops I guess we will be able to reconstruct something. Hope that happens sooner than later.

"You'd think they'd had no plans at all..."

Oh, they have a plan, apparently not a very good one, or one with Iraqi interest in mind. I hope that if Cuba is ever liberated that they got a better plan than the one that they have on display now in Iraq.

Madtom