IGX

Terry B. wrote:

Fat Cat wrote:PS Which country are we going to invade today?

Neither Syria nor North Korea have enough oil and the latter has nuclear weapons so I believe we're good for the moment.

I predict Nigeria. It just feels right.

Fat Cat wrote:

nafod wrote:Guys like Saddam *need* everyone else to be like Desmond Tutu, otherwise they wouldn't be able to gas their own people with nerve agents.

By your estimation Reagan, Bush Sr., and Clinton were all "like Desmond Tutu".

PS Which country are we going to invade today?

The goal is to not to have to invade anyone. The key is credibility when you make threats.

I always thought Obama should have sent to the heads of North Korea and Burma a Christmas Card with this pix along with the caption "Thinking of You during the holidays"



If they think they stand a chance of getting killed, they behave differently. If the world unites in condemning the "unlawful invasion" of Saddam's Iraq (how the hell could it ever be unlawful to kill off a shitbag such as him? What kind of world creates laws protecting him?) then the NORKs and Libyan Moamars and Burmese Generals know they've got nothing to fear, the peaceniks have got their back.

A little fear, uncertainty, and doubt goes a long way. Don't waste the "walk the walk" street cred earned the hard way. Exploit it for peace.

If it he didn't already in live in SA, I'd pray that TuTu rot in hell.

Yes, the Saddam example worked so well "Libyan Moamars" make nice with Republican Presidents and remain happily in power. Until their citizens decide it's time for some street justice.

nafod wrote:A little fear, uncertainty, and doubt goes a long way. Don't waste the "walk the walk" street cred earned the hard way. Exploit it for peace.

I'm going to ignore everything prior to this as irrelevant or poorly thought out. This part resonates with me, though, so I'll recognize it. We are now the crazy guy in the room, and we shouldn't squander that currency but should focus on extending its leverage for as long and far as possible by using it wisely.

Research is clear. Retaliation and retribution deters terrorism. Prof Andymknows

Fat Cat wrote:

nafod wrote:A little fear, uncertainty, and doubt goes a long way. Don't waste the "walk the walk" street cred earned the hard way. Exploit it for peace.

I'm going to ignore everything prior to this as irrelevant or poorly thought out. This part resonates with me, though, so I'll recognize it. We are now the crazy guy in the room, and we shouldn't squander that currency but should focus on extending its leverage for as long and far as possible by using it wisely.

I second this.

There are much much more efficient strategies we could have adopted but we're here now and we should continue to milk it. Targeted acts of extreme violence right along side targeted acts of unvarnished generosity go a long ways towards restoring and maintaining our reputation.."Laying seige to walled cities" or Nationbuilding as we currently call it, reveals our greatest weakness as a country.

Blaidd Drwg wrote:"Laying seige to walled cities" or Nationbuilding as we currently call it, reveals our greatest weakness as a country.

Or, stated in psychological terms, we care too much what everyone else thinks. "Do they like us??? Will they like us if we....???"

As a country we do two things extremely well...perhaps better than any empire before us and much of our foreign policy should be leveraging these talents.

1) Hit and Get out.

America excels at death from above...whether that's targeted strikes via Skynet drones or WTF they're called or if it's dumping metric fucktons of explosives, laying waste, wrecking infrastructure and racking up death tolls. This is more than just air power, it's reconnaissance, intel, and boots on the ground to back up a play. If it's a campaign of weeks, we're down to party.

2) Kitty stuck in a Tree.

Responding after the fact to natural disasters. Hell, 4 American Rednecks with an outboard and some bailing wire do better flood relief than the entire Burmese Army. If you needs help right now, we're pretty fucking good at baling your ass out. BUT...if the effort calls for more than 6 months of focused effort and planning, our attention span just ran out.

We should exercise these talents to our benefit. We should not engage on LTR's with poor countries who rightly size us up as impatient suckers for the bilking.