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2004-04-21 Home Front: WoT

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Posted by tipper 2004-04-21 7:55:31 PM|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 continual proof: Steyn Rules!

Posted by Frank G 2004-04-21 8:19:07 PM|| 2004-04-21 8:19:07 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 I generally agree: the tide of history will result in less dictatorial/fanatic regimes in the mideast as a result of the US shaking things up. I am concerned though that, in the medium-term, we could end up with more governments consisting of islamist fundamentalists. The people of the middle-east are basically conditioned to accept two types of authority: strong-man dictators and religious leaders. Liberal, moderate, democratic governance is beyond their experience. So when one authority is removed--i.e., Saddam, a strong-arm dictator--I think the easiest thing for them to turn to is religious authority. We are in a real battle to show them that they can, instead, turn to democratic authority and governance, with protection of minority (read Kurdish and Sunni) rights. We are witnessing a historic turning point. Like I said, I think inevitably the shift will be positive in the long term. What we should be anxious about is the intermediate term: will the Iraqis comprehend their own self-interest, and take responsibility for their future by stepping into the unknown by embracing rights-based democracy, or will they revert to the safety-blanket of blind discipleship to religious authorities. We shall see.

Posted by sludj 2004-04-21 9:12:49 PM|| 2004-04-21 9:12:49 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 good point sludj, perhaps the linchpin will be a long-term stationing of US military bases in free Iraq? Nothing focuses the mind so much as a cruise missile on the neighbors' lawn (to paraphrase Churchill)?

Posted by Frank G 2004-04-21 9:17:11 PM|| 2004-04-21 9:17:11 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 In the summer of 2002, Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League, issued a stern warning to the BBC: a US invasion of Iraq would "threaten the whole stability of the Middle East."

Referring to the moral cesspool of Middle East governments as any form of "stability" is like calling rigor mortis "muscle tone."

The advent of affordable technology that easily manufactures weapons of mass destruction has forever changed the world's ability to tolerate these violent stone-age cultures.

We no longer have the luxury of dabbling in old school moral relativism that gave these virulent barbarians any reprieve from forcible compliance with world standards of human rights.

These cretins now seek nothing less than global domination with their Neanderthal sensibilities intact. This cannot be permitted, even at the cost of obliterating those belligerents which refuse to lay down arms.

Free society must not be imperiled by any reticence towards annihilating these moral cancers before they metastasize into a cataclysm of vicious theocratic domination with unimaginable loss of human life throughout modern civilization.

Posted by Zenster 2004-04-21 9:32:54 PM|| 2004-04-21 9:32:54 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 Steyn is a good guy for the Brigade to be exposed to. Midshipmen don't have regular access to TV, so printed news is very important ... I don't know whether Mids have access to the Web now. All we had was WaPo, AKA Pravda West.

Posted by Super Hose 2004-04-22 2:52:43 AM|| 2004-04-22 2:52:43 AM|| Front Page Top

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