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| A Cold War approach to the war on terrorism |
| 2005-02-23 |
| Standing in the thick mud before a giant Paladin howitzer, Capt. John Benoit, an artilleryman from the Louisiana National Guard, looked Gen. John Abizaid squarely in the eye and asked bluntly: How's the war going? Many soldiers, even those who give no quarter when fighting insurgents, tend to clam up in the presence of four-star brass. So when Abizaid, commander of all U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, finds a group like the Louisiana grunts willing to ask tough questions, he sticks around. And he doesn't just answer their questions but tries to share his view of the war in Iraq and what he sees as the larger struggle against Islamic extremism. The insurgency, Abizaid acknowledged, has grown worse over the past year. There's no defensiveness on that point, though, as he segues into a discussion of why the insurgents--particularly the radical Islamists--must be confronted. "What we can't allow to happen is guys like Abu Musab Zarqawi to get started," Abizaid told Benoit and the soldiers of the 1-141 Field Artillery. "It's the same way that we turned our back when Hitler was getting going and Lenin was getting going. You just cannot turn your back on these types of people. You have to stand up and fight." Abizaid's military command covers an area that stretches from Somalia through the Arabian peninsula, and into Iraq and on to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Throughout that mostly Islamic region, Abizaid argues, a critical struggle is going on between the forces of moderation, who are pushing for democratic reforms, and of extremism, who are pushing for the imposition of a rigid interpretation of Islamic law. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 IToldYouSoLucy: The lesson that I take is: Islamofascism - of different variants - is the dominant ideology in Iraq. Actually, most of this happens in the Sunni parts of the country. I think it means that the Sunnis really, really want to get back in power. As to Islamo-fascism being the reason - I think many of these guys are secularists - Baath Party people who aren't really doing much that is different from what they used to do when Saddam was in power. The only thing different here is this - when Saddam was in power, they only used to get rewarded for raping, torturing or killing their victims, whereas now that Uncle Sam is in charge, they run the danger of being captured, wounded or killed. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-02-23 6:19:30 PM |
| #2 Not always, ITYS. And before you criticize the Iraqi civilians, be very sure you know what you would do if you had a small kids who could be deliberately killed by the insurgents if you intervene. We're so conditioned by our safe lives. Others are so vulnerable. |
| Posted by: Glosing Slang5937 2005-02-23 8:49:38 AM |
| #1 Reminder: IEDs are planted in open areas, with numerous witnesses around, notwithstanding the huge rewards offered for information about same. The lesson that I take is: Islamofascism - of different variants - is the dominant ideology in Iraq. Iraq jihadism isn't as bad as the Pale-suicide-martyr cult. But give them time... |
| Posted by: ITolYouSoLucy 2005-02-23 4:31:57 AM |