Sunday, February 18, 2007

Our Current Debate

I have tried to stay away from commenting about the great debate occuring in both Houses of the US Congress with regards to the War in Iraq and the "surge". In war there are two concepts which, though intimately linked, are essentially different and at times in direct conflict with each other. One is called tactics and the other strategy.

In previous posts I have spoken about how the "I support the troops, but not the war" mentality says in effect "I support you tactically, but I oppose you strategically". Our enemy, both in Iraq and elsewhere, is not trying in any way, shape, or form to defeat us tactically. They are trying to defeat us strategically. They cannot stand toe to toe with us on the battlefield and win. However, they can defeat us in the realm of perception.

The stragegy of our enemy is simple.....use terror with impunity against any and all targets.

To vote against the surge, to vote to leave Iraq without stabilizing it is a vote in support of our enemies strategy......terror. We will be saying simply this, terror works. Building schools, rebuilding infra-structure, organizing and carrying out free elections, liberation from brutal dictators, etc, is a failed strategic position.

No comments: