"Incredibly naive" is how I would categorize is thoughts on this subject. Attacking the roots of terrorism would require fundamental changes in societies where we have no influence- Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Iran, etc. And I'm not talking about influence with the government, I'm talking about influence with religious leaders and their legion of followers.
What exactly can we do to influence these people? We're going to buddy-up with the Ayatollahs and suddenly they will realize what good people we are? NOT On 11/9/06, Gruss wrote: > > An unacknowledged and unpleasant reality is that a more militant > approach toward terrorism would, in virtually all cases, require us to > act violently and alone. No other power will join us in a crusade > against terrorism -- in fact, some ''friendly'' governments protect > their countries against terrorism by cutting deals with the groups, > allowing them operational freedom. No political or economic sanctions > would work. Only violence. Only alone. And only if we can figure out > how and against whom to retaliate. > > A third reality is that retributive violence, no matter how massive, > almost inevitably begets more violence against us in response. We > will never prevent all -- or even most -- such acts. In the world of > real choices, we can protect ourselves better. We can bring some > terrorists to justice. But, above all, we can pursue policies and > strategies that in the long term weaken terrorism's roots. > > This mix of force and diplomacy, this reliance on patience and > planning, the painful realization of more casualties to come, is not > satisfying emotionally. It does not quench the thirst for revenge or > justice; it does not offer beguilingly simple answers to complex > problems and difficult choices. In reality, though, it is the only > sustainable course. > > -- Secretary of Defense nominee Robert Gates, August 1998, commentary > in the New York Times. -- --------------- Robert Munn www.funkymojo.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Introducing the Fusion Authority Quarterly Update. 80 pages of hard-hitting, up-to-date ColdFusion information by your peers, delivered to your door four times a year. http://www.fusionauthority.com/quarterly Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:220389 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
