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Originally Posted by MikeWaters
I don't dispute that evil radical Islam exists.
I'm not sure that we all agree what to do about it.
I'd prefer to seduce them with Walmart and McDonalds, rather than sending my son to die.
I operate under the premise that almost everyone wants a decent life, a good job, a little bit of savings, a few luxury items, etc. Not to mention freedom.
So if you want to battle radical Islam right now, not in the arena of thought, discourse, and argument, but with war, how exactly do you wage war against an ideology? Do you propose we attempt to kill the "hundreds of millions" now or later? I think Iraq has taught us that exterminating a determined guerilla force is pretty dang difficult.
We have muscles. But if we win, it will be with our brains.
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I think you are mixing concepts. First, you suggest we seduce them with materialism. This will not work, IMO, as this is precisely what they find most objectionable about our culture. They do not want your life. They reject yoir lifestyle.
I do agree, however, with the idea that if we are to win, it must be through our brains (IOW ideas). Unfortunately, I am not sure if the ideas inherent in our own culture (and I am sure SeattleU would opine much more eloquently than I on this notion) are sufficianetly embraced by our government and our people to be used in the battle of ideas. WalMart will not work; the Founding Fathers might. The question is how to assert these ideas in a way that saves the lives of our sons while still protecting our vital interests and security in the mean time.
Iraq is not a good analogy to the problem of radical Islam amd radicalized muslims. There are simply too many muslims that hate us and they are too deeply mixed with too many other people for us to ever hope to prevail in a traditional miltiary sense. Iraq will have to be dealt with on its own terms. Our approach to the larger problem presented by radical islam must be dealt with through other means.