Braindrops

People for Tumors

So here's another columnist (surely not top-drawer, but fairly prominent in B-level papers like the Baltimore Sun) making the argument that the hornets' nest we've stirred up in Iraq shows that the Cowboy Doctrine does not, in fact, make us any safer.

I view that argument as analogous to recommending against cancer surgery because it takes people who are already ill, and cruelly makes them contend with incisions, drugs, and the like, making things even worse.

I don't know how long it will take before military action against Islamic societies infected with terrorism succeeds in giving them the freedom (the Bernard Lewis model) or the sociological tools (the Karen Armstrong model) to contend with modernity. Years for sure, and probably decades. The other alternative (enthusiastically supported by Chirac, Shroeder, and Zapatero) is appeasement, although I question the logistics of that approach. See Regimes, Vichy, for details.

Here's the deal, in short-ish sentences. Much of Arabia is a societal mess. We waited too long to address it, and as a result, we are now not safe, and actual safety will simply not materialize-other than in small, incremental movements-for the next X years. The question is, are we moving the world such that security is reasonable in five years, or ten, or twenty, or fifty?

Doing nothing would probably not have antagonized Zarqawi et al, and it would have probably preserved the illusion of safety until the Persians had created and dispersed enough nuclear materials to significantly (and unpleasantly) reshape the Western world. So we're doing something, and more importantly, we're rejecting the assumption that we have to always play the game the way it's been played, which suggests that if we need to do something else differently (say nudge Riyadh slightly harder, once we have a secure supply of economy-sustaining oil from our friends the Babylonians), we are likely to.

So I would have liked Badnarik to win, although he never ever would have in any event. And in addition to uncontrolled spending, Bush is proving to be remarkably inept when it comes to the important task of rallying otherwise unconvinced people to his arguments, which would enhance support from humane Islam. But Kerry seems to be insistent on adhering to the infinitely contorted position produced by his rather (let's say) fluid positions, and that carries the risk of continuing to ignore the symptoms. One might then feel better, but, as any oncolgist would tell you, it's unwise.

- Moishe Potemkin

Posted by MoisheP at September 25, 2004 09:40 PM