Quote:
Originally Posted by spence
Whew, thank god you said that.
I think Obama has a pretty sound understanding of the threat, in fact, under his leadership the military has killed a heck of a lot of terrorists.
The difference is I believe, that Obama has drawn a less divisive line in the sand in order to deal with massive changes to the Islamic world currently underway. The focus is to eliminate the real terrorist leadership and more to contain the mid-level violence that's got to play itself out as these nations learn how to not be dictatorships. The focus also has been to avoid getting the US entangled in more confrontations we simply can't afford.
It's not like the birth of the US was a straightforward event.
Too hard a line and the covered pot will boil over and make a mess, sometimes it's better to leave the lid cracked a little.
-spence
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"I think Obama has a pretty sound understanding of the threat"
Spence thinks Obama is doing an aces job, I'm shocked...
"under his leadership the military has killed a heck of a lot of terrorists."
True, and I've always given him credit for that. He has also done a lot to appease these people, and in the process, he projects weakness. I have seen these people Spence, where I gather you have not. They are emboldened by Obama's public softening of the rhetoric, they are not swayed by it.
"Obama has drawn a less divisive line in the sand in order to deal with massive changes to the Islamic world currently underway"
I agree that Obama's intent is to be less divisive. That doesn't make the jihadists hate us any less. It doesn't get us more coopeeration from our allies. It's a perfect example of an idea that sounds great in the Harvard faculty room ("hey, if we show these people that we understand them better than Bush did, they won't hate us as much!"), but bears no fruit in the real world.
Spence, being "less divisive" is a great conflict resolution approach that works well in many situations. It accomplishes exactly nothing in the war against Islamic jihadists.
These people strap explosive-jammed backpacks on the backs of neighbors with Down Syndrome, and send them to crowded makets to kill as many innocent people as possible. You don't reason with these people. You kill them, or you accept the blood they shed.