The second anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is as good a time as any to take quick stock of progress in World War IV:
(1) Afghanistan. The Allies (America and its ad hoc coalition) have driven the Taliban from power and deprived the Islamic terror network of one of its primary bases. The Islamists still in Afghanistan are now on the defensive, and are focussing, apparently, on trying to regain control of one of the world’s poorest countries, rather than exporting their theology to other countries. Despite ongoing difficulties, this is a clear win for the West because Afghanistan is less of a threat now than it used to be.
(2) Iraq. Pretty much exactly the same analysis applies in Iraq. The Baathists are no longer funding any part of the Islamist terror network, and are no longer a potential source of WMD for the islamists. Based on current information, I would say that this is also a clear win for the West because Iraq is less of a threat now than it used to be. Ultimately, of course, Iraq still has miles to go, etc., but it certainly does not seem to be on course to be a net exporter of terror. Right now it is a net importer of terrorists, and that is fine be me – better to kill them in Iraq than in Iowa.
(3) International Islamist terror network. Clearly on the defensive and less capable than it was before 9/11. Many of its leaders or members are dead, in hiding and emasculated, or in prison. Many of its resources, including terrorist havens, are gone. Recent attacks have been directed, not against Western targets, but against Middle Eastern and South Pacific ones. Offhand, I can’t think of any theaters where radical Islamism is stronger now than it was before 9/11.
(4) Middle East. So far, it is hard to say that the Islamists have gained any ground even in the Middle East. Syria is going multi-party and has made some, admittedly not terribly significant, stand-downs in Lebanon. Arafat is isolated and his days certainly seem numbered. The Saudis have executed a number of their princes that had ties to al Qaeda, and seem to be going after al Qaeda with a little more credibility since it broke its promise not to operate in Saudi Arabia. Lots of fulminating and bitching about the Great Satan everywhere, of course, but that isn’t new and doesn’t really count on the debit side of the ledger. It is still early days, of course, but all told, I would say that the Middle East is certainly no more hostile to the US than it was, and in significant ways is less dangerous, if no more friendly, than it was.
(5) Diplomacy. The common complaint is that the US has sacrificed or damaged many good relationships in order to pursue its war. I think that this is complaint is overstated, at best. Rather, World War IV has tested relationships and revealed which of them were shallow and weak.
I am willing, on the whole, to say that the diplomatic front has been a break-even for the US. On the one hand, many erstwhile “allies” are more vocal in their criticism of us, and possibly even have withheld substantive aid that they might have offered a different diplomatic team. On the other, the UN has permanently devalued, the true colors of the transnational progressives have been revealed, and many of the other impediments to a new and much more functional international order have been weakened or cleared away.
(6) Homeland security. Well, we Americans may or may not be marginally safer from terrorist attacks on our own soil than we were before 9/11. Its hard to say; in spite of the obvious idiocy of most of the high-profile homeland security measures, we haven’t had a terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11. Measured against the baseline of 9/10/01, I think it is hard to say that we are much safer than we were. Measured against where we should be two years on, I would say that homeland security is a major disappointment.
But the war won’t be won or lost based on America’s homeland security. That is purely a damage control issue, because no matter how good the homeland security is, we will surely lose the war if we do not succeed with our “forward defense” of draining the Islamist swamps where terrorists breed.
The schwerpunkt of America’s offensive is in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both of those campaigns were crushing military and strategic victories for the US, victories that have not (yet) been frittered away. They may not turn into little Swedens, but there is really very little chance that either nation will return to being a terrorist haven bent on exporting mass murder to its enemies. That counts as victory in my book.
At this point in history, the Islamists cannot defeat America, but America can certainly lose the war through loss of will and resolution. So far, the will is there.
Brit Hume and panel were just discussing a poll.
74% think it’s going to last at least 5 years
58(?) % think 10 years
30% more
The Jacksonians are paying attention. It has been said that during the Revolutionary War, 1/3 was for independence, 1/3 for Britain and 1/3 didn’t care.
The future won’t be dull.
Largely agreed with the analysis. But there is something to go on the negative side of the ledger, namely the crackdown on civil liberties since 9/11 e.g. Patriot Act, ATCS Act 2001, people accepting all sorts of surveillance, etc.
Al Qaeda and the militant Islamists are not the only threat to liberty we need worry about.
What is ww3 then?
RE Homeland security-
“Do you feel more secure now than two years ago?” is not a good measure. I suggest that two years (and one day) ago, most people had an unwarrantedly rosey view as to how secure the US was, when they thought about it at all. Including myself. Today, we are a long way from being completely secure, and there are gaping holes; but others have been plugged, and none that didn’t exist before, have been created.
As to civil liberties and the Patriot Act, I think that concern is exagerated. Regardless of the merits of the Act, most of its provisions have a sunset clause. And the Administration is running into stiff bipartisan (though not unanimous) opposition in its efforts to expand the Act or make it permanent.
Stephen,
The Cold War. We are 3 for 3.
“What is ww3 then?”
The Cold War
Islamism is stronger in Indonesia and Pakistan than it was 2 years ago, probably in Egypt too. I’m not blaming anyone here for this, just pointing out that we would be wrong to dismiss the appeal of simple, radical, violent ideologies in poorly governed countries with predominantly youthful populations.
I also don’t think it wise to underrate the damage the Bush administration has done to some of our allied relationships. Only part of this was an outgrowth of the decision to take out Saddam Hussein. Some of it has resulted from Bush’s zealous focus on tailoring his message only to the domestic audience, some from his lack of the personal grace that might have led another President to express some appreciation for allied offers of help after 9/11, and a lot of it from his habit of putting off action until a crisis arises. It would have been much easier to get some cooperation on Iraq in the couple of weeks after the American army entered Baghdad, but Bush and his people thought it more important to plan campaign videos from his trip to the Lincoln.
Simply because of its preponderant power the United States has a larger margin for error than many countries. If we seem to rely heavily on our military to deal with difficult situations, well, it makes some sense to rely on one of your strengths. My point is only that diplomacy, particularly Presidential diplomacy, need not be a weakness. It just is a weakness for this President.
“The Saudis have executed a number of their princes that had ties to al Qaeda”
First I’ve heard of this. What is your source Robert, as I would be interested to investigate further.
Good assessment. We’re in this war for a while. It’s going to be a marathon, not a sprint. If we don’t fight now, we’ll fight later. The Islamonazis aren’t going away or giving up. We can’t afford to give up or go away either.
I’m so very thankful for the Net and other alternate news sources. If I only got my news from the popular media, I’d be dpressed because I’d be convinced we were in a ‘quagmire’.
“At this point in history, the Islamists cannot defeat America, but America can certainly lose the war through loss of will and resolution. So far, the will is there.”
This is why the constant droning of our media is so infuriating. The majority of our media don’t like this war, don’t want this war, and are set on twisting things they report to be as negative and defeatist as possible.
It seems as if many in our media want to see us defeated or to give up. I think it’s because they want to say, “We told you so. Should have listened to us.”. They need to be right and are upset they haven’t been, so far.
This (constant defeatist news) will tear away at the US’ public’s will to fight. So far, it hasn’t. But I think it has made a small dent.
I don’t know how many people I’ve told about the soldiers’ blogs. When they read those and see what the soldiers’ think vs. what we are being told via the media, they are generally very angry at our media.
I don’t want ‘happy-news’ propaganda. Neither do I want ‘defeatist-news’ propaganda. Good and bad. Highlight both. So far only the bad is highlighted and the good, if mentioned at all, is on the back page.
If these same media people were in London during the blitz they would have been writing about how surrender was the only option.
I think people make too much of the “loss of liberties.” The “Patriot Act” (which seemed to have been named just to freak out folks from the ’60s) in most cases simply adds terrorism to the crimes for which certain surveillance activities can be done, and modernizes some practices (such as recognizing, via roving wiretaps, the we are no longer living in 1910). It still maintains MORE protections than were in place for the first 200 years of the American republic!
There has been way too much shrill propaganda against it with way too little careful analysis. It’s online, and I would suggest those who are so afraid of the loss of personal freedom go take a look at the actual text of it. There is a whole lot of stuff in there that institutes checks and balances and judicial and congressional review.
Furthermore, one should consider that it might be necessary to trade off a little privacy in the age where a few people can kill many thousands with no warning. Post 9-11, we live in situation that mankind has never faced before. That means that we should question our old balances of rights vs. protections, just like we have to question a lot of other things.
Frankly, if the government wants to look at my library records because they have information that I might be about to kill 100,000 people, that’s fine with me. After all (and this is almost never mentioned), grand juries have always had the poewr to subpoena this information, and investigative agencies have been able to do so to catch mobsters, but not terrorists – until the Patriot Act.
Oh, and please don’t throw the Ben Franklin quote into this thread!
John: Quite a few libertarians would have things in their libraries that would appall the control freaks. Dangerous Knowledge you know… Patriot I was not really new stuff. It is stuff the FBI has been trying to ram through congress for years. They simply used a crisis atmosphere to get what they couldn’t have gotten otherwise.
Chris: The old media is working on its’ own demise (or transformation if they wake up in time). The more twisted their representation the more likely they are to lose eyeballs when the brains attached to those eyeballs find out about alternatives. Blogs are one of those alternatives, a big one. They are showing a steady growth. For example, despite the near exponential growth in the number of blogs, even the number of fairly good ones, Samizdata’s readership continues increasing at a steady linear rate over time. We’ve easily got the readership of a good sized town daily newspaper. Or looked at on a monthly basis, one that many newstand magazines would die for. Instapundit a few others are already slipping into the circulation ranges of major international papers.
One has to ask why. Eyeball-time is a zero-sum game. If blogs get 5 hours a week from an individual, that is 5 hours the TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, street adverts and such are not getting. Blogs have very low costs; the other media have very high ones.
It has gotten to the point where I only watch the TV news so I can either laugh or call them obscene names when I catch them bending, twisting and mutilating the news to fit their discourse.
Some are learning, and they will survive. Others are acting like IBM and DEC in the computer world: they are oblivious to the massive technological changes which are destroying their market niche.
On the subject of homeland security: US custom’s sure making it hard, or at least generating a feeling among tourists, that visitors are not really welcome and that all of us who just want to have a good time in, say Boston, are potential terrorists. I’ve been in the position of having 3 US customs officials treating me as if I was Osama’s son or something.
Sad when all I want to do is to go to the country I love. Not to mention move to.
Oh, and turning countries into little Swedens is not something to desire, believe me đ
Robert,
That’s a pretty good analysis, apart from one error: by my count, there have been three terrorist attacks on US soil since 9/11:
the anthrax letters, which may or may not have come from Islamists;
the sniper, who was definitely a Muslim, so might have been an Islamist — he may not have been part of Al Qaeda’s command structure, but that’s not how Al Qaeda work: their strategy is to encourage ordinary Muslims to rise up, which he did;
and that guy who shot up the El Al check-in desk, who was a Jew-hating Muslim, so, again, might have been an Islamist.
I don’t think any of these attacks came from the organised wing of Al Qaeda. I also think their relative failures (amount of death & destruction compared to previous Al Qaeda attacks is very small) illustrate, as you say, a vast improvement in homeland security.
Re. the title: WWIV …. I think its a bad idea calling it that. Apart from that it reduces what is happening to nothing more than a statistic, it misses out on a brilliant headline opportunity.
I think in parody of the newsmedia you should go for the dramatic media effect and call the wars that have occured:
“The Great Terror Wars” or “The War against the Great Terror”…. thereby including Ye Olde Nostradamus Prophecy’s about Ye Ende of Dayes!
When I see WWIV what comes into my mind is “wiv or wivout… what?” ???
OK silliness over…
…Robert that was an excellent brief analysis of what has happened.
Pace John Moore, and leaving the Ben Franklin quote unsaid since we all know it well, we are NOT in a situation we have never faced before.
Islam has been trying to destroy the West since the Middle Ages, and it isn’t going to stop any time soon. Ten years? Ten centuries more like.
Liberalism is a philosphy of consolation for the West while it is being wiped out. Perhaps we have woken up in time, but don’t hold your breath.
“I also don’t think it wise to underrate the damage the Bush administration has done to some of our allied relationships.”
I think Zathars values that which did not exist. I don’t see how taking out Saddam could lead to any disruption amongst true allies. I do see that the row exposed France for what it was all along, a fair weather friend at best.
As to the civil liberties question, while I have several of the books that might frighten the control freaks, I understand the FBI’s concern about me having them. If those freaks wanted to talk to me about them, I would talk to them openly, honestly, realizing that their job is to keep folks like me safe and able to read stuff like that.
Everything has a cost, and that includes respecting other people’s rights. What 9-11 demonstrated was the potential that the observation of some rights might cost the lives of thousands if not millions.
BUSH’S WAR PROGRESS REPORT
The second anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is as good a time as any to take quick stock of progress in the Bushist foolishness.
(1) AFGHANISTAN
On the verge of chaos: output is not even half of what it was 30 years ago. Bombings & killings are increasing at a vertiginous rate: Islamofascism & medieval warlords are tyrannising civilians who feel abandoned by the West, and rightly so. Karzaï, the local Bushist, is just a foolish curiosity. Drug trade is thriving (terror money for Ben Laden) while people are starving to death.
(2) IRAQ
The Baathists are now colluding with their former enemies, the Islamofascists. This fact alone is a hugely aggravating factor for the long-term future. Anarchy is prevailing from north to south & from east to west with a special mention for hallucinating Baghdad . Insecurity has attained unparalleled levels in Iraqi history. Bush’s enormous lies (lack of casus belli, no WMD, no nuclear capability) have rendered the situation all the more untenable as the USA has -flanked as it was by a pathetic bunch of stooges- wilfully, repeatedly violated UN law. Iraqi people haven’t welcomed US troops as liberators so far. Now Bush is doing a U-turn & desperately negotiating the help from “the axis of weasels”.
(3) PAKISTAN
Don’t know. Never been tried so far.
(4) SYRIA
Don’t know. Never been tried so far.
(5) SAUDI ARABIA
Don’t know. Never been tried so far.
(6) YEMEN
Don’t know. Never been tried so far.
(7) NIGERIA
Don’t know. Never been tried so far.
(8) INDONESIA
Don’t know. Never been tried so far.
(9) IRAN
Don’t know. Never been tried so far.
(10) LONDONISTAN
Don’t know. Never been tried so far.
I also think their relative failures (amount of death & destruction compared to previous Al Qaeda attacks is very small) illustrate, as you say, a vast improvement in homeland security.
I think this is a very very dangerous kind of assumption to make. It presupposes that Al Qaeda, or whoever, is running to a timetable of some kind.
Nearly 10 years passed from the last definite Al Qaeda attack to the last one, which makes sense. The whole point of running a terror campaign is to maintain the low grade fear and disruption to normal life. Whether you manage to land an attack or not isn’t all that relevent.
It *may* be due to improved homeland security, but I’d not put any money on it myself.
Ah and by the way, to those UKish self-appointed warriors & Islamofascist-killers: you dare turn up & lecture us with your usual double-face attitude!
Why didn’t you for f*** sake extradite to the French the terrorists that blew the Saint-Michel métro station killing 8 innocents (dozens seriously wounded) ???!!!…
Your f***ing “justice” dared say: “Their trial in France wouldn’t be fair” !!!!!!!!!!
There’s no Guantanamo in France.
And congrats for Hamza & the public meeting a bunch of criminals arranged yesterday: they all called for slaughter, war & forced conversion >>> shown in all medias.
How dare you speak about France, you coward hypocrits!
Usually the comments on Samizdata are cogent, well-informed, and lucid. Every now and then one will start off rather oddly and continue on into complete foolishness. Almost invariably the author is Kodiak or Scott Cattenach. Could we please get the system to put the name of the poster at the top of the rant so as to make it easier to avoid such twaddle?
After reading Kodiak’ “comments” for a while :
-the tone is an exact copy of “international politics commentator” from USSR TV from 15 years ago;
-those mentioned commentators, while mantaining ther “anti-imperialist- USA” stance, lived in comparative luxury in the West (“reporting from capitalist capital”…)
He is a classic KGB provocator. Don’t buy into it, folks, let him choke on his bile.
[And I speak as someone who lived overthere for more than half of my life]
Tatyana: and the FoxNews propaganda is a kind of postmodern, ethereal form of global journalism? Climb down from your cloud: my extravagance is highly visible whereas their subliminal brainwashing is devastating: “we, the good, are perfect” vs “them, the evil, are losers”. It’s good to cheer up sometime. It’s not bad to face reality.
“”The Saudis have executed a number of their princes that had ties to al Qaeda”
First I’ve heard of this. What is your source Robert, as I would be interested to investigate further.
Three princes (including the owner of the Kentucky Derby winner a year or two back) died unexpectedly in a short space of time, at reasonably young ages. Gerald Posner, among others, in his new book ties them to al-Qaeda funding and suggests that the government eliminated them. It is a long way from being proven that this is the case– though it’s by no means tinfoil hat stuff to think it could be– and Robert is a little too blithe about stating it as fact.
Whoops, didn’t make my quoting very clear. First two are quotes, third graf is my answer.
It’s really amusing, in a disgusting sort of way, to see a Frenchman accuse the U.S. of running a tropical “Gulag.”
Let me give you a hint, unlike Devil’s Island, the internees in Gitmo leave in better health and fatter than when they went in. Clean up France’s vile neo-colonialism (as documented by M. Ousmane Sembene and others) before you start vomiting here.
The fact that it took France -decades- to close down its hellish penal colony shows the vomit-brained hypocrisy of Kodiak.
Here’s real torture:
http://crimemagazine.com/PrisonsParole/devilsisland.htm
Kodiak is right, the French do not have anything like a Guantanimo Bay, they don’t have the death penalty either. They just have murders with a tendency to leap from the upper floors of their prisons and a populous willing to look the other way.
Love you too, babe. BTW, what happened to Perry and the other original Samizdatists? Why did he turn the site over to the JV squad?
US turns to the Taliban
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI – Such is the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, compounded by the return to the country of a large number of former Afghan communist refugees, that United States and Pakistani intelligence officials have met with Taliban leaders in an effort to devise a political solution to prevent the country from being further ripped apart.
According to a Pakistani jihadi leader who played a role in setting up the communication, the meeting took place recently between representatives of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Taliban leaders at the Pakistan Air Force base of Samungli, near Quetta….
The French have never apologised for making prison unplesant. I recommend Frank Abagnale’s autobiography “Catch Me If You Can” on this subject (the film is highly inferior).
The idea was that prison should deter people from ever comitting another crime. Can’t say that I believe it myself, but there you go.
Dave O’Neill,
Precisely, which is why Kodiak’s hypocritical idiocy is so laughable.
IMO, in this war, the most worrisome obstacle is the democratic presidential campaign. The primary is bad, the general will be terrible.
This is the thing that is most likely to lose us the war on terrorism and islamofascism.
Good analysis. I, too, am uncomfortable with our progress, or lack of, with Homeland Security.
I’d like to see a clear statement of objectives, a clear statement of the risks we will take, a plan to reach the objectives, and ways to measure progress.
We seem to be muddling along, but there is really no data to support a conclusion one way or another, except, perhaps, that the bastards haven’t hit us at home again.
Your shamelessness defies the limits of imagination.
So the UK is a “stalwart allie” when it’s running at Bush’s first whistle like a salivating dog. And when the UK is protecting Islamoterrorists wanted by the French justice, then it’s just a question of Human rights, not a Londonistani problem. Grotesque.
And yes Guantanamo is a no-law territory under US control, not French.
As for l’Île du Diable, it was closed in 1945…
WHY DON’T WE HAVE ANSWERS TO THESE 9/11 QUESTIONS?
By WILLIAM BUNCH
bunchw@phillynews.com
NO EVENT IN recent history has been written about, talked about, or watched and rewatched as much as the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 – two years ago today.
Not only was it the deadliest terrorist strike inside America, but the hijackings and attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington were also a seminal event for an information-soaked media age of Internet access and 24- hour news.
So, why after 730 days do we know so little about what really happened that day?
No one knows where the alleged mastermind of the attack is, and none of his accomplices has been convicted of any crime. We’re not even sure if the 19 people identified by the U.S. government as the suicide hijackers are really the right guys.
Who put deadly anthrax in the mail? Where were the jet fighters that were supposed to protect America’s skies that morning? And what was the role of our supposed allies Saudi Arabia and Pakistan?
There are dozens of unanswered questions about the 2001 attacks, but we’ve narrowed them down to 20 – or 9 plus 11….
–Tatyana: and the FoxNews propaganda is a kind of postmodern, ethereal form of global journalism?–
Kodiak, will you please quit griping about a news channel that gets barely 3 m domestic viewers?
The big free 3 pull in approx 25-30 mil for their news.
The only reason you consider it propaganda is because it’s counteracting your propaganda.
What’s the matter, getting cranky because Fox News makes your grey cells spark?
Don’t watch it, just keep reading your newspapers and watching phrench TV.
Jeez.
Scott, go read Laurie Mylroie’s interview by Gloria Lopez.
Some of your questions might be answered.
But you’re not going to like the answers.
Sandy, let me guess, all evil on Earth was caused by whoever Rummy wants to invade today……
Do you have a link to the interview?
The UK could never trust the Fwench as allies. Everything they sign they ignore and lie about.
Remember those Fwench state terrorists who killed those luddites in New Zealand?
Fwance cannot be trusted on anything, especially with Islamists, they will let them free and give them a medal.
Anyway the fwench legal system is untrustworthy. Look at how ChIraq and all other fwench politicians have avoided prison for corruption.
Best for UK citizens to drive through at high speed on the way to somewhere nice.
Scott Cattanach,
Quoting your article: “Conspiracy advocates have cited these strange lapses as evidence that Bush knew about the attacks ahead of time, but why would anyone with advance knowledge appear so clueless?”
Don’t be ridiculous. Bush is surely a terrorist, but certainly not against his own country !!!
Well, considering that one Saudi prince went out for a drive in the desert w/o any water……It would make one go Hmmmmm.
—
Scott – here’s another perspective on the meeting.
Either you stop them from coming across the border or we will. The Afghans and we already visited Pakland to send a message. Especially since 2(?) ISI people were killed w/some taliban at about 5 AM coming across the Afghan border.
One would think w/200 more dead, it would send a message, but no, it won’t.
They raid, kill, take some hostages, get cocky, get a few hundred jihadis to try something bigger and it’s almost as good as shooting fish in a barrel.
And I’m sure the Afghan army is grateful for the target practice, I think they’re getting good.
I
Rob Read,
Ahw you alweady high ohw do you need anothuhw dwink ?
And what do you think about Phony Bliar? Deportation to Australia should be envisaged…
Kodiak,
Many people do not know this, but the Afgan economy is growing at 27%.
You are quite right that it is not as prosperous as it was 30 years ago, but (as you well know) the US is not responsible for that.
The US is increasing its investment in that country beyond the monthly billion it currently provides. I maintain optimism that other countries will soon make good on their pledges of reconstruction assistance.
I think we are all united in our wish for a new prosperity in that country. It has certainly suffered enough.
Abby,
” (…) the Afgan economy is growing at 27%”
Well, 0 x 1,27 = 0.
” (…) the US is not responsible for that (THE ECONOMIC DISASTER IN AFGHANISTAN)”
Oh isn’t it? And what about the financing of Ben Laden & Co who’ve plunged Afghanistan into nightmare for decades?
I agree that Afghanistan deserves peace & tranquillity. But the results are far from encouraging..
Zathras:
Islamism is stronger in Indonesia and Pakistan than it was 2 years ago, probably in Egypt too. Got a link for that? I’m not denying that its true, I just haven’t seen much to this effect.
Edmund:
“The Saudis have executed a number of their princes that had ties to al Qaeda”
First I’ve heard of this. What is your source Robert, as I would be interested to investigate further.
This has been hashed out above. I confess to being a little too blithe to assume this is a fact. Sorry, no link is readily to hand.
Squander Two:
I don’t count the anthrax attacks as being post 9/11 because they were conceived and executed either before or simultaneously with the hijackings. The sniper and the El Al shooter were free-lancers with no apparent ties to the international Islamist terrorist network, so distinguishing them away doesn’t bother me too much. That said, inspiring such freelance attacks is likely a tactic of the network. Fortunately, they have not been able to do so in any meaningful way.
Kodiak:
Some gulfs of comprehension are too wide to attempt to cross in a comment section.
All:
I intentionally avoided discussing the Patriot Act and other civil liberties concerns. This issue is easily teased out and dealt with as an issue separate and apart from the question of how we are doing in defeating our enemies.
It is premature to call Afghanistan and Iraq wins because they are still huge holes into which we pour massive resources – that prevent us from pursuing other, competing agendas. This does not mean they must become fully self-sufficent to be “wins” but it does mean they reach a point where they are -at a minimum – no longer the proximate cause to all the “military is stretched to the point of breaking” discussion.
Kodiak, have you ever visited rantburg.com?
Your views of using diplomacy in certain situations would be illuminating.
It will not be easy, but you could become a respected contributor as to French insight.
Actually, it would be trial by fire. But if you’re up to the challenge, the divide will have gotten 2 hands smaller, because friends would be helping friends.
They do not suffer trolls and there is another frenchman who visits, along w/German, Turk, Greek and Brit and now Estonian! They contribute lively, interesting, and enlightening conversations.
If you visit today’s rantings, just go past Jack’s good friend Dom and his UN comments. That won’t be trial by flame, but flamethrower.
So, Mr. Phelps, this is your mission if you choose to accept it.
Hans ze beeman suffered many, many stings (hence ze beeman) at another blog, but now he has his own.
Maybe we’ll be linking to yours.
NRO online(?).
Also google Jayna Davis.
This could be about more than 9/11.
Try WTC #1 and Oklahoma City. Those should get your unanswered questions juices flowing.
So, Kodiak, you doubt IMF figures as to Afghanistan’s growth?
Actually, I think it was pegged at 28%.
The funny thing is, if it were as bad as you believe, there would be another exodus. But there’s not.
How come they’re not leaving in droves?
How come the Iraqis aren’t?
Johan, I’m not pleased you have problems at Customs when visiting Boston. One of the problems this country has had, being a nation of immigrants (excepting those already here who had immigrated originally from Siberia), is that we have not enforced certain laws consistently. Enforcing them now seems capricious and arbitrary, but this always happens when existing laws are not enforced. I have always been opposed to this situation. Laws should be uniformly enforced. I’m not happy at the situation you faced, but I don’t see any way around it. As the situation develops, inconsistencies will be addressed and hopefully things will run smoother.
We should also remember that mercy and grace accompany justice. After all, that is what the Islamists lack – mercy and grace.
I would add something else to the analysis posted. Non-citizens from certain countries were asked to register. Many of the illegal ones were scheduled to be deported. Large numbers of them have departed for other places. This is a Very Good Thing – it saves us the bad press from deporting people we formerly allowed to stay, and it gets them out of the country.
The administration obviously has a long-term plan to handle this sort of lack of enforcement. Since it is impossible to take care of the problem all at once (the best way), we do what we can. Thus, illegal Hispanic and Chinese immigrants should expect to receive the registration/deportation treatment sometime in the next few years. I think this is will happen regardless of who is elected President in 2004 or 2008.
Even planning (and leaking or annoucing) this sort of thing is a good deterrant to future illegal immigration. So is ridding us of the H1B visa program and others of their ilk, and instituting some other type of work-friendly temporary visa program, particularly for Mexican migrant workers. I am not in favor of an amnesty, but the current situation is not good. And to answer the question before it’s asked, I’d rather have more expensive lettuce than the higher probability of more 9/11-style attacks.
Africa is also a key part of the future. There is much to be gained by focusing attention there. It should be emphasized. See
http://windsofchange.net/archives/004021.html
As a side note, I remember the WaPo article on potential Chinese immigrants who now say it’s not worth it to come to the U.S. – they can make as much money staying in China. This should be our goal with Mexico.
Sorry, I can’t find the article on the Washington Post web site, but it was in the past week or so. If anyone bookmarked it or can find it, please post the link.
Scott:
NRO online
September 11, 2003, 9:00 a.m.
Battling the Beltway
Laurie Mylroie on Bush, the war, and the unmade case.
A Q&A by Kathryn Jean Lopez
…Mylroie: The post-9/11 investigation into al Qaeda has produced a lot more information than we had before. Most importantly, it is now understood that at the core of the astonishingly lethal terrorism — beginning with the 1993 Trade Center bombing and culminating in the 9/11 strikes — there is a family, or what is supposed to be a family, that includes:
Ramzi Yousef, mastermind of the 1993 bombing; 2) Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, 9/11 mastermind, said to be Yousef’s uncle; 3-4) two older “brothers” of Yousef, also al Qaeda masterminds; 5) a younger “cousin,” Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, now known to have sent most of the money to the hijackers; and 6) Yousef’s childhood “friend,” Abdul Hakam Murad.
This is the claim of the U.S. government.
Yet it is strange. It is without precedent. No terrorist organization has a family at its core. Moreover, all these individuals, with the possible exception of the younger “cousin,” are said to be born and raised in Kuwait. Their identities are based on documents in Kuwait, above all interior-ministry files, that pre-date Kuwait’s liberation from Iraqi occupation in 1991.
Those documents are not reliable, because Iraq had custody of those files, while it occupied Kuwait. This is self-evident and beyond dispute.
Moreover, at least one file in Kuwait was tampered with to create a false identity for Yousef. A summary of that file was read to me. Quite possibly, other files were also altered. In fact, a colleague retired from the number two position in Israeli military intelligence believes exactly this: Iraq used Kuwait’s files to create false identities for intelligence agents….
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She has contended before that the person’s file that was tampered with grew in his adult years.
The kuwaiti disappeared when Kuwait was invaded and poof! he’s later in the US taller.
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Remember, Saddam was the largest money-launderer in the world.
“I’m not happy at the situation you faced, but I don’t see any way around it. As the situation develops, inconsistencies will be addressed and hopefully things will run smoother.”
thank you Dale, and as much as I’d love to, I can’t really offer an alternative way either đ Maybe my love for American can seem childish and pathetic, but imagine your wife (or girlfriend) treating you in a similar way? As much as I would like to see America safe, I would also like for customs to realize that despite those anti-Americans all over the world, there are still people who do love America and are sincere about it too.
I’ve never had problems with US customs but weirdly most of my American friends have and do on a regular basis.
I actually find it astounding the rigmorole US citizens have to go through just to get home.
Kodiak, are you really claiming that it was WRONG for the US to overthrow the Taliban, when said organisation bragged about giving shelter and support to the 9/11 mass murderers?
Or are you just engaging in the usual line of bashing the US?
I think WW3 is a bad name for the Cold War. In WW2 tens of millions of people lost their lives in the Big One. It devalues the sacrifice of heroes to call a political campaign a World War. The cold war culminated in a stalemate. It was merely Russia and America flexing their muscles.
When writing a polemic it is advisable to at least get your first two points correct. Afghanistan is in no condition for an approving check in the “success” column of your ledger. It is a rickety collection of robber-barons and zealots accepting U.S. “aid” while waiting for the exodus of the U.S. military before making a grab for power. How is shakes out then is anyone’s guess.
As for Iraq, this one is a disaster. Period. The Bush administration didn’t even have the presence of mind to bring some WMD along with them. Any cop knows enough to carry a throwdown. So, egg on our face. WMD evidently stood for Weapons of Mass Delusion. And Iraq is “no longer funding any part of the Islamist terror network” because, it turns out, it never was funding any part of the Islamist terror network.
After two strikes, I stopped reading. You don’t know enough to be discussing this issue.
“Offhand, I can’t think of any theaters where radical Islamism is stronger now than it was before 9/11.”
How about Iraq. No ties before invasion, now biggest breeding ground on earth for militant Islamic extremists.