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| 'Do Something' Is Not A Strategy |
| 2011-03-20 |
| The UN Resolution was the news many were waiting to hear - and Qadhafi's announcement of a ceasefire seems to have vindicated calls for intervention. But is this merely the first phase of an ill-conceived, protracted conflict? |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #18 Elsewhere, today, Dribble advocated selling guns to both sides, Secret Master. And he didn't say, "Let them starve," but "Starve the rest." Active voice, not passive. Dribble is a facile and evocative writer, so it's reasonable to assume the choice was deliberate. I don't want to associate with people who are ugly and amoral, which to me is very different than killing people and breaking things. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-03-20 23:34 |
| #17 1) Sell the goons some guns. Make a deal with anyone who holds an Oil pipeline to the port. Starve the rest. 2) Realpolitik: refers to politics or diplomacy based primarily on power and on practical and material factors and considerations, rather than ideological notions or moralistic or ethical premises. One and two seem like a match to me, TW. That said, I didn't say that I found that part of his statement to be cute: I don't. I Simply stated that Dribble shouldn't have his comment removed simply because it's ugly and amoral. |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2011-03-20 23:25 |
| #16 Sell the goons some guns. Make a deal with anyone who holds an Oil pipeline to the port. Starve the rest. That part is not cute, Secret Master, or Realpolitik. That part is evil. Americans don't pull that shit. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-03-20 22:48 |
| #15 The sooner we get independent of ME oil the healthier we become as a nation. Then we can lecture the ME govts and jihadis till the cows come home on morality, the golden rule, and all those mundane things that they think is not important. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2011-03-20 21:56 |
| #14 And discussion of intervention in the ME should be accompanied by a real-time ticking debt counter--even a counter that just showed the interest accruing on our national debt. Sobering reality is we need to conserve some resources for our own survival. We cannot sustain saving everyone everywhere. Impossible. |
| Posted by: Fi 2011-03-20 21:41 |
| #13 Get the Media to show lots of little French children drinking a small glass of watered wine and smiling. Get the Media to show friendly Italian children selling colorful postcards of their sisters wearing native costumes. And the Norwegian children feeding the reindeer or whatever it is they do on those cold six month long Arctic nights. I'm not sure what that entire statement has to do with anything, but it IS kind of funny. And a lot like what watching television in France is like. I also don't enjoy seeing Muslims kill Muslims, any more than enjoy any other kind of fratricide. It makes me profoundly sad. But Dribble's statement is basically Kissinger-era Realpolitik, which we can't exclude from Rantburg merely because it's insensitive. |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2011-03-20 21:33 |
| #12 Flash and Steve White I understand where you are coming from. Dribble has a different style and is provocative. We can get carried away with our thoughts at times. The media as an example does this all the time to sell product. I have made errors and have been corrected. The is called Rantburg University as TW fondly points out. I encourage Dribble to carry on but be mindful of correction when needed. I am personally drawn to this site because I perceive a great deal of talent. |
| Posted by: Dale 2011-03-20 18:33 |
| #11 Meanwhile I would stay on the Carrier and keep Tripoli on the Radar while I waited for Lunch in the Messhall. It's called the 'messdeck', you Flogger of Overblown Prose. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2011-03-20 18:15 |
| #10 I want some proof that Dribble 2716 actually knows more than Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp, who turned out not to be one of the heroes. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-03-20 18:05 |
| #9 I think dribble is funny and want whatever he is smoking. |
| Posted by: newc 2011-03-20 14:01 |
| #8 It isn't right that Muslims are killing other Muslims. No, it isn't. But they seem to do so with extraordinary regularity. Regardless of our actions. Or would you have the Catholics and Huguenots go at it again? Well, I don't recall objections when Noraid had fund raising billboards around Route 128. So we were willing to tolerate some level of it. People everywhere want freedom. They want to be treated decently and they're generally willing to treat others decently. At an individual level in isolation this is probably true. But people have always lived in groups and the groups become societies with roles and norms, etc. People become secure in their position in the group. They can't really imagine, and don't want, a life of freedom where there is no illusion of security. This is true even in America, as was clearly demonstrated by the nuts of Madison. As we proceed from what Walter Russell Mead has called the Blue Social Model to Liberalism 5.0, there is great fear, uncertainty and doubt in the land. It's no where near as reassuring as knowing your place and that if you die a martyr for Allah you get 72 virgins. So I don't really know that the Arab Street is yet ready to escape to and accept freedom. Especially from us at the end of a gun. I'd much rather continue our little experiment in Iraq for a few decades before jumping into another situation. What Qadaffy was doing was well beyond what any decent people should tolerate. As are the leaders of most of the other members of the Human Rights Council, let alone the non-members. The issue is NOT whether it's right to settle his hash now, it's why we didn't do this two decades ago. There's too much hash in the world for us to settle it all at once, if it's even within our abiltiy to settle it. I won't abide genocide. I won't support thuggery. I may have to bide my time here and there but I'll always support the driving of evil people from power. My complaint this morning isn't that Bambi intervened. My complaint is that he didn't do it last month. I don't like evil either, but I'm not eager to do battle with every dragon out there. Especially when there is so little known about what will follow. It could easily be worse. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2011-03-20 13:57 |
| #7 Do you really want to censor people because you don't agree? Nope, but it's quite appropriate to ridicule them when they select Rantburg for diarrhetic spewing. Also, as the spouse of a military professional, I object to the caricature he makes of real military action and command decisions. But that's just me. |
| Posted by: lotp 2011-03-20 13:31 |
| #6 In theory, and in my soul I agree with Steve White. However, when you read headlines that the Arab League is criticizing the Western Allies for causing casualties, I become more like Dribble. |
| Posted by: Penguin 2011-03-20 13:11 |
| #5 Who cares, if its Moslems killing other Moslems? We care. Life is precious enough. It isn't right that Muslims are killing other Muslims. Or would you have the Catholics and Huguenots go at it again? I'm a neo-con. George Bush was right. People everywhere want freedom. They want to be treated decently and they're generally willing to treat others decently. Yes, even Muslims. What Qadaffy was doing was well beyond what any decent people should tolerate. The issue is NOT whether it's right to settle his hash now, it's why we didn't do this two decades ago. I won't abide genocide. I won't support thuggery. I may have to bide my time here and there but I'll always support the driving of evil people from power. My complaint this morning isn't that Bambi intervened. My complaint is that he didn't do it last month. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2011-03-20 12:49 |
| #4 Twice today dribble has gotten grief for stating his mind. Do you really want to censor people because you donÂ’t agree? Groupthink is exactly why i stopped arguing with the buffoons on dailykos. |
| Posted by: flash91 2011-03-20 11:33 |
| #3 Mods, suggested cleanup on Aisle 2. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2011-03-20 10:09 |
| #2 Who cares, if its Moslems killing other Moslems? Sell the goons some guns. Make a deal with anyone who holds an Oil pipeline to the port. Starve the rest. Use French ground forces. Get Norway and the Italians to help. Pay for it all in EUros. And serve those little pork sausages and crackers with the Vichy water. Get the Media to show lots of little French children drinking a small glass of watered wine and smiling. Get the Media to show friendly Italian children selling colorful postcards of their sisters wearing native costumes. And the Norwegian children feeding the reindeer or whatever it is they do on those cold six month long Arctic nights. And as the French manufactured Rafales sell like hotcakes to African dictators we bid a fond adieu in the sunset to our many pleasant memories of our friends in Europe. I wish them well. Meanwhile I would stay on the Carrier and keep Tripoli on the Radar while I waited for Lunch in the Messhall. |
| Posted by: Dribble2716 2011-03-20 09:44 |
| #1 But is this merely the first phase of an ill-conceived, protracted conflict? That would be my guess. |
| Posted by: Besoeker on the road again 2011-03-20 07:52 |