Why then has the United States become unhinged?
A variety of reasons.
A media that makes Cindy Sheehan, Valerie Plame, Mark Foley’s email, or lies about flushed Korans in Guantanamo into headline stories is itself nearly lunatic.
The once quick victories in Afghanistan (8 weeks) and Iraq (3 weeks), following the easy wins over Noriega and Milosevic, unrealistically sent the message that the United States could almost simultaneously win wars without losses and continue to honor its global obligations with a vastly reduced Army and Marines.
And the problem in Iraq has not been so much the constant “mistakes” (such lapses happen in every war), as the inability of our government to articulate why we are there and how we will win.
The result is that we have almost worked ourselves into some sort of self-induced paralytic state. But on sober reflection, things in fact are hardly lost. There has been no repeat of 9/11. The U.S. military has killed thousands of jihadists. The Taliban and Saddam are gone. There are still democratic governments in Afghanistan and Iraq struggling to make it, the first in the history of the region. Our troops in the field have high morale and believe they can secure Iraq. And the world, especially in Europe, has become vigilant against Islamic fundamentalism.
We are in much better shape that during any of the crises that Churchill, Roosevelt, or Truman all weathered. And while 50 dead every month since 9/11 is a high toll in this war against jihadism, it does not compare to the 8,000 plus killed from December 1941 to August 1945, a war that similarly started out with a surprise, though less lethal attack on the United states.
Hat Tip: Pajamas Media
Something tells me that one of the main reasons the bloodbath goes on in Iraq is the encouragement the criminals and terrorists get from western media and western politicians.
ReplyDeleteI was amused that Al Qaeda publicly celebrated the Democratic Party victories in the November elections. Now Zawahiri is inviting congressional leaders to talk directly with him, instead of dealing with middle eastern and middle asian governments. Zawahiri will take care of Afghanistan and Iraq if only Congress will consult with him.
This is something that makes my head explode. Have we really changed trhat mush as a people? Or, have Congress Critters have always been this way?
ReplyDeleteI think the 24-hour cable news channels are helping (witting, or unwitting?) to create a false picture of the ways things are in the world, and we (as a people) haven't yet adapted to this change.
In short, there is a positive feedback loop that is distorting perception of reality for the majority of people.
I am involved in a local effort to experiment with ways to break that hold, and if it is successful, take it nation-wide.
Good luck. Grassroots approaches, including newmedia (blogs, podcasts, webTV etc) approaches, are the only type that will work. The mainstream media is completely dhimmi, and now so is Congress. If anything is to be done, we have to do it ourselves.
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