And you think that killing their families will convert them to our side?

No need for a nuke. A conventional pursuit at a fraction of what Iraq cost us would have sufficed. But yeah, it's all moot now.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

What was it that yankee colonel said about Indians? Oh yeah, "Nits make lice." Then proceeded to kill noncombatants in wholesale.

Doubtful but at least they will fear us.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

You forgot the part about 72 virgins. They don't fear them, they want them. And those who don't want them now will want them in the future if you start killing their families.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

Oh, the fanatics you cannot cure except with a head shot. However, it might discourage others from giving tacit support.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

It may discourage some but it will also drive others to seek revenge. I'm afraid the second group may be larger. If the Iraqi surge has shown anything it's that force alone cannot suppress a determined insurgency. Force is still a useful tool but it needs to be used intelligently and as part of a broader strategy that also includes politics, diplomacy and various forms of trickery.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

Yeah, that's him.

I found this link that supposedly has audio of his address to the Commonwealty Club. I have to leave right now, not sure if it works yet. Not sure how widely those broadcasts are distributed, but I'm telling you, they get some good speakers.

http://www.commonwealthclub.org/archive/09/09-01steves-audio.html

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

The Bush hawks thought Shock 'n Awe was going to make Iraq just give up and be our understudy. Of course nukes would work where shock 'n awe failed.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

The Iraqi army evaporated under the combined arms assault. Within a couple of months there was no Iraqi military or Iraqi government. The coalition military performed admirably. No question.

What came next was poorly planned and poorly executed. Until last year when YOU and the rest of the "Let's surrender" crowd were pi$$ing all over yourselves.

My how times do change.

Now the same surrender crowd is looking at Afghanistan for vindication of their cowardice. Hope springs eternal.

B

Having a rough night? Sounds like you are.

The "surrender crowd" didn't want to surrender in Afghanistan. It was the warmonger crowd that decided to give up there and move onto something unrelated like Iraq.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

They wanted to surrender Iraq because as we all, "know" the religious differences make Iraq ungovernable except by a ruthless murderer -- implied by some (anybody wish to step up with their raised hand??) that Iraq was better off under Hussein. They "knew" Iraq was "destined" to fragment in violence.

What actually has happened?

Anybody?

Now the same crowd is eager to find a reason to surrender to the Taliban. Reason? 19th Century British army failed to subdue the local tribes and the USSR failed to subdue the local tribes. With those two witless, mindless, shallow points, who could possibly argue?

B

Just to clarify, the Taliban did not fill the vacuum left by Russia. Nor is it our responsibility or right to have stopped them from gaining power. The Taliban can gain power again, but not over the whole country, which they didn't have in the first place, but the mountainous tribal regions are mostly Taliban supporters.
We are there because they harbored Bin Laden, and we didn't try to negotiate to get him.



I don't know who is clamoring for surrender in Afghanistan. Buchanan was not calling for a pullout of Iraq. Iraq's success remains to be seen. There are some factions who are trying to gain power through elections, but that doesn't mean if they fail they won't resort to violence. Even if successful, that doesn't make the invasion right.

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1984 300TD

We tried negotiations for Bin Laden during both the Clinton & Bush administrations. The negotiations failed. Oops.

What Bush did was not negotiating. I'm not saying it would've worked, but he didn't try. At least we had legitimate reasons for invading Afghanistan.

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1984 300TD

We'll just ahve to disagree on that one. I like "Give us that mofo or we'll destroy your sorry misogynistic asses" as a negotiating position. They went for Door #2. Oopsie.