Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
They don’t… I’ll tell you a story about that another day… Irish
Hey Irish, throw it up on the Flight Deck please.
Lex- the Gaddis book came out in 2004. President Bush was impressed, and made his senior staff read it. He even invited Professor Gaddis to the White House to discuss the book.
Prof Gaddis wrote an article about it. I’ve got it somewhere if you want a copy.
Check the book stores…it’s still in ours under the professional development section.
good article.
i’ve made mistakes in my life, but i’ll never count voting for dubya as being one of them.
Look, there is little doubt from anyone who looks at it carefully that President Bush has has from 9-11 on, the BIG ideas right (Gaddis’s thesis).
1. Terrorism and WMD, taken together, constitute the greatest threat to our nation’s security.
2. To be safe, our nation must preempt such threats.
That said, after the strategic brilliance of the initial campaign in Afghanistan (a JUST reactive war aimed at the terrorists who attacked us and the nation harboring them ) — the execution of these ideas has been a almost COMPLETE disaster.
Iraq created enormous confusion over preemptive strikes to eliminate terrorist cells and WMD facilities (the right stretegy) — and preemptive war to create a “stable, democratic Iraq, free of terrorists, that can defend itself, and respect human rights” (although noble – probably a bridge too far from the beginning.)
To make matters worse, we never dedicated adequate resources to the cause in Iraq. To meet the objecvtive would have required us to establish security ourselves first, then get political concensus, and only then develop security forces. That would have meant a LOT of troops.
At the same time, we were VERY slow to develop a Marshall Plan for Afghanistan (as we should have) and too little progress there has allowed our enemies to return and have put that conflict into question. Believe me, I know first hand.
Again — we didn’t dedicate adeqaute resources to the cause in Afghanistan either.
Even a small fraction of what we have spent in Iraq (let’s say $50 Billion a year — that 5 X the Afghan’s GDP) would have completely assured success in a nation with people who just want a better life and not really interested in the return of the Taliban.
MORE PROBLEMS:
1. Our intelligence capabilities are STILL — six years after 9-11 — not sufficient to support a preemptive strategy. We must find and fix terrorist and WMD to destroy them.
2. Our looseness with rules on treatment of detainees have undermined our international credibility.
3. Iran is strengthened and continues to develop nuclear weapons. If we had the credibility and weren’t bogged down in Iraq — Iran’s facilities are perfect example where Bush’s preemptive strategy needs executing.
Why has this happened? In my view, it is because our President lacks the intellectual curiosity to get input from all sources before making decisions. He lacks the sophisication to understand that execution of his grand ideas was going to be very difficult.
I missed the point somewhere that you MUST plan for the worst and hope for the best — not the other way around.
To make matters even worse, he has allowed Macho Men to enact policies that are, in my view, inconsistent with our national values.
I pray everynight that I am wrong. That Iraq will NOT go down as a defeat from which it will take decades to recover — that we can find a way to win.
And even more so, that tomorrow we do not wake up to find New York, LA, Denver, Dallas, San Fran or another major city devastated by a chemical, nuclear, or biological attack by Al Qaeda and her kind.
I believe these attacks may very well be coming soon and that is why President Bush’s strategy was so important.
But having the BIG strategic ideas right is simply not enough — you must execute and I hope that this administration failure to do so deoesn’t make the next few years even more bloody and chaotic for Americans than can even imagine.
BigD,
Although I try to remain positive that the Grand Strategy will be realized, I agree with most/all of your points made with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight of course.
Well said.
I would submit it is dam hard to lead (IE- execute a strategy) when 1/2 of the population you are trying to protect has no friggin clue and are misinformed by the haters and “professional” MSM types. Things are “real bad” that way right now. Some days I don’t understand how Bush can rise and face the day.
re- “In my view, it is because our President lacks the intellectual curiosity to get input from all sources before making decisions. He lacks the sophisication to understand that execution of his grand ideas was going to be very difficult.”
A little taste of Kool-Aid in there methinks.
re- “that is why President Bush?
BigD,
Although I try to remain positive that the Grand Strategy will be realized, I agree with most/all of your points made with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight of course.
Well said.
I would submit it is dam hard to lead (IE- execute a strategy) when 1/2 of the population you are trying to protect has no friggin clue and are misinformed by the haters and “professional” MSM types. Things are “real bad” that way right now. Some days I don’t understand how Bush can rise and face the day.
re- “In my view, it is because our President lacks the intellectual curiosity to get input from all sources before making decisions. He lacks the sophisication to understand that execution of his grand ideas was going to be very difficult.”
A little taste of Kool-Aid in there methinks.
re- “that is why President Bush’s strategy was so important.”
If it was in my power I would change “was” to “is”…
b2
Ah Big, you’re obviously a smart guy, much smarter than Bush and the dolts around him. Perhaps you should submit a resume?
I’m disgusted by those who look for perfect war. There never was one. Are we weaker, or stronger in the Middle East today then we were in 2001? I have no time for anyone who would answer weaker.
B2 – agree IS so important but failure to execute thus far has dulled its potency.
Casca – thank you my friend
.
As some one who has spent some time at sea and on the ground here for the last decade … I would say much … much weaker … and growing more so every day — yet I do see a very slight glimmer of hope in Iraq today and I am truly hopeful that the recent infusion of resources and troops here in Afghanistan might just do the trick.
I believe by this time next year we will know on both — that is provided we do not lose a place much more precious to us at home to Al Qaeda who is still alive and plotting another death blow.