where do we go from here (and where should we have gone)

[attila!]

    The time for a massive one-shot 'retaliation' has passed
    --it should have been done within the hour.  I had hoped
    when Bush went to Orfit AFB (US missile command,
    sometimes referred to as 'nuke city') we might see a
    proper response --we did not.

    As members of the Church we are required to forgive our
    "trespassers"; I have no problem with forgiving them as
    they are obviously misguided, but that does not change
    the need and responsibility to protect our families and
    therefore punish not only the direct participants but
    also their leaders and any nations who harbor them. In
    so much as the terrorists are outside the reasonable
    laws of man, extraordinary measures are warranted.

    I consider 'war, in and of itself, a war crime', but
    that does not diminish the occasional requirement to
    maintain the rule of law, but war should only be
    entertained if you are determined to strike a decisive
    (and hopefully permanent) victory. To the victors go the
    privilege to write history; to the losers go the war
    crime trials.

    Terrorists are a special case. Bin Laden is following
    the playbook of the old Chinese master, Sun Tzu: kill
    one man and you terrify 10,000. Terrorists can only be
    eliminated by turning the people against them with pain
    and suffering --eg: 18 million Iraqis all do not wish to
    be martyrs when the chips are down. If we had taken out
    Iraq and Afghanistan, we should have smiled and said:
    "Next?"

    Geostrategy Direct detailed the Israeli assessment of
    Bin Laden's and Hussein's dirty hands.

    Today's Federalist article was the strongest (and
    most rational) I have seen --their bottom line is part
    of what I demanded yesterday: Afghanistan becomes molten
    silicon.

    What do we do now? Probably slide down the slope of the
    talking heads as the Left criticizes Bush's lack of
    decisive leadership (and U.S. intelligence failure) and
    permits the UN to convene to condemn the terrorism, but
    even more strongly condemn U.S. foreign policy for
    creating the world problems which brought forth the
    terrorist response --in other words, the U.S. must pay
    off the radical Islamists.

    Jefferson made the correct statement in history vis a
    vis the Barbary pirates: '...not one penny in
    tribute' --even the Brits had been paying tribute. A
    task force, led by the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides)
    and the Marine Corps, leveled Tripoli. They did not ask
    for their surrender: they eliminated them. Summary
    justice.

    George blew his window of opportunity --he had a chance
    to go down in history as a decisive leader in crisis,
    rather than just a president who presided over the worst
    single casualty ever suffered by America, here or
    abroad; the diminution of our military status; the
    abrogation of our leadership in the free world; and the
    potential destruction of our economic base if the
    financial markets collapse when the stock markets reopen
    on Monday.

    But even more pernicious, few Americans will trust the
    government to protect them or represent them in the world.

    Sorry, George, I thought you were more of a man.