tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post7227917539244183714..comments2024-01-13T08:49:14.041-08:00Comments on Myrhaf: Losing a War We Cannot Afford to LoseMyrhafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16340507405537605164noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-71855509609276430612007-12-07T10:59:00.000-08:002007-12-07T10:59:00.000-08:00Thanks, Rick! And counting...Thanks, Rick! And counting...Myrhafhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16340507405537605164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-62738297953954834172007-12-07T10:54:00.000-08:002007-12-07T10:54:00.000-08:00Congrats on 600!Congrats on 600!Rick "Doc" MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03925428040124678898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-82006416618990765942007-12-06T14:35:00.000-08:002007-12-06T14:35:00.000-08:00"With regard to the accuracy of the NEI, these are..."With regard to the accuracy of the NEI, these are the same people who said that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction."<BR/><BR/>Exactly. From what I understand, the NEI is composed of hard core leftists. The conclusion that I'm drawing is that our intelligence agencies are so corrupted by leftism that they are potentially irredeemably incompetent. <BR/><BR/>"Well, trust the Iranians at your peril."<BR/><BR/>Again, spot on. Dr. Peikoff described it this way, he said that Bush had a gun with only a few bullets and he wasted them by firing them into the ground. By wasting those "bullets" on trying to democratize Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush has discredited war and in all probability it would take something catastrophic to reawaken the American fighting spirit - if it even exists after decades of public (progressive) education and culturally reinforced altruism. <BR/><BR/>We may be in deep shit.<BR/><BR/>John KimAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-65960990965932292262007-12-06T13:41:00.000-08:002007-12-06T13:41:00.000-08:00With regard to the accuracy of the NEI, these are ...With regard to the accuracy of the NEI, these are the same people who said that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Remember that? They were also saying as recently as a few months ago that Iran was still pursuing nuclear weapons. Now they say Iran is not pursuing WMD and gave that up in 2003 (the same period in which we kicked ass in Afghanistan and Iraq and got Libya to give up its WMD programs. Funny how the initial attack caused quite a panic isn't it? Too bad we didn't simply go all out then and end it). If people believe the NEI was cherry picking info on Iraq, why would people believe they are dealing straight from the deck now? The only possible answer is that they want to believe it. Well, trust the Iranians at your peril. One day, the country will wake up to reality. I just hope its not on a day when our ship of state is nearly sunk.Rick "Doc" MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03925428040124678898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-66157122938599035392007-12-06T13:31:00.000-08:002007-12-06T13:31:00.000-08:00Ironically, the Iranian people seem to be the most...Ironically, the Iranian people seem to be the most liberal of all the Islamic states. They have a large number of young people and they are trying to adopt Western values much to the chagrin of the mullahs. I think that of all the Islamic states, Iran is the most likely to go through the cultural enlightenment that the Arab world missed out on a few hundred years ago. With the mess we are in in Iraq, I don't think the American people will stomach another military adventure in that part of the world. If the NIE report is accurate, then that's good news. It means we don't have to worry about Iran going nuclear anytime soon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-1224736005641093282007-12-06T13:20:00.000-08:002007-12-06T13:20:00.000-08:00"I still have this gnawing suspicion that we under..."I still have this gnawing suspicion that we underestimate the power of capitalism and the power of American leadership in the world."<BR/><BR/>You have a point here. Even deeper than capitalism, the power of rational philosophy even if only in smaller increments may be enough.<BR/><BR/>"Is Islam different? Maybe. If so, woe unto them."<BR/><BR/>Vae Victi! As the old saying goes.madmaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14375140131881725965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-47077291820532158642007-12-06T12:29:00.000-08:002007-12-06T12:29:00.000-08:00Madmax, I understand what you are saying. I still ...Madmax, I understand what you are saying. I still have this gnawing suspicion that we underestimate the power of capitalism and the power of American leadership in the world. Look at how quickly Germany and Japan became free countries. And Japan had no history of freedom. The "Asian tigers," India and Eastern Europe all indicate that people who have never had freedom can take to it in a short time. <BR/><BR/>Is Islam different? Maybe. If so, woe unto them.Myrhafhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16340507405537605164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-54254402446003613002007-12-06T11:04:00.000-08:002007-12-06T11:04:00.000-08:00"I'm not convinced that Islam is hopeless. I think..."I'm not convinced that Islam is hopeless. I think that if the influence of socialism and modern philosophy waned and freedom spread that Islamic countries could find a nice hypocritical moderation as Christians have. When people have wealth and freedom they will find justifications to keep them."<BR/><BR/>The anti-Islam conservatives would dispute this (Bostom, Spencer, Fitzgeral, etc). They would tell you that Islam has existed for 14 centuries and never been reformed and that wealth and freedom are not things that the mass of Muslims want. They would argue that Islam is beyond redemption in any kind of reasonable time frame.<BR/><BR/>Now they are conservatives and part of what they say is motivated by a tribalistic desire to protect Christianity from competitors. So you may be right although I don't think so. Also, from the perspective of Objectivist intellectual advocacy what should we be doing? Should we be advocating reforming the Islamic world? I have shown liberal friends of mine columns written by Tracinski and they have responded with one word: "neoCon", which is what liberals accuse everyone of (well almost). But I have shown these same liberals essays and videos by Yaron Brook and the liberals responded with a different word: "warmonger". Now that to me is the response a liberal should give to an Objectivist because it shows how Objectivists totally reject (or should reject) altruism. <BR/><BR/>So, to me, when Objectivists lament that we haven't destroyed Iran without similarly lamenting that we haven't waged war on *Islam* it suggests to me a sort of denial. But as I say, I may be wrong.madmaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14375140131881725965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-19826643112507046312007-12-06T09:51:00.000-08:002007-12-06T09:51:00.000-08:00Anonymous, I'm saying we know all we need to know ...Anonymous, I'm saying we know all we need to know from Iran's 30-year war against us that we need to destroy the regime of the mullahs. The NIE report will be used by those who want us to continue appeasement, when really it's beside the point.Myrhafhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16340507405537605164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-8790765844409455132007-12-06T07:49:00.000-08:002007-12-06T07:49:00.000-08:00Myrhaf, you seem to regard the NIE report as an in...Myrhaf, you seem to regard the NIE report as an inconvenient truth that should have been repressed. <BR/>Whatever we need do about Iran, it should be based on realistic assessments and foreign policy judgments, however politically unpleasant they may be.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-62356047544219036112007-12-05T23:16:00.000-08:002007-12-05T23:16:00.000-08:00Considering that multiculturalism is now taught in...Considering that multiculturalism is now taught in government schools as an unquestioned moral ideal, Madmax, your solution is impossible short of a philosophic revolution in our culture. Most people would rather that the West bled a slow death than do what you advocate.<BR/><BR/>I'm not convinced that Islam is hopeless. I think that if the influence of socialism and modern philosophy waned and freedom spread that Islamic countries could find a nice hypocritical moderation as Christians have. When people have wealth and freedom they will find justifications to keep them.Myrhafhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16340507405537605164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-50724057903610981722007-12-05T22:10:00.000-08:002007-12-05T22:10:00.000-08:00My reading on this subject since 9/11 has lead me ...My reading on this subject since 9/11 has lead me down the direction that victory in this war goes beyond bombing Iran or any other Muslim country. The enemy is *not* totalitarian Islam or radical Islam or fundamentalist Islam. I wish Objectivists would stop using these redundant terms. The enemy is Islam. Period. <BR/><BR/>I am a hard-liner on this. The solution I have come to believe lies in not reforming the Islamic world as the Neo-cons want to do and even as some Objectivists want to do such as both Tracinski and BiDinotto. The solution is to *quarantine* the Islamic world and I feel that will entail the extreme limitation if not outright cessation of Muslim immigration. <BR/><BR/>Terrorism is just one of the weapons Muslims use to harm infidels. They have other weapons. One of their most powerful weapon is demographic conquest. They will take advantage of Western welfare-states and Western Multiculturalism. This will not stop even if we bomb the crap out of Iran (which we should do anyway). <BR/><BR/>Islam has waged a 14 century campaign of warfare to conquer the world. There is no culture that it has come into contact with that it has not tried to conquer. It is the most warlike religion in history. It is a religious Nazism or religious Communism. It needs to be bitch-slapped and then isolated in its own historic lands and thoroughly demoralized. Isolate the Muslims and let them kill each other. Leave tactical bases all over the place to bomb what we have to and to kill what we have to. Confiscate some of the oil fields and place them in a protective bubble to preserve our standard of living. These are the strategies that we should be hearing. <BR/><BR/>To really win this war, it would take an Objectivist Machiavelli combined with and Objectivist Von Klauswitz. Nothing less will do IMO.<BR/><BR/>With the exception of Yaron Brook, I have been very disappointed with Objectivist commentary on this subject. Too many of us are infected with NeoCon premises. In short, we are not ruthless enough. We need to be.madmaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14375140131881725965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-61836265029212595542007-12-05T16:52:00.000-08:002007-12-05T16:52:00.000-08:00Gideon, thank you for catching the typo; I have co...Gideon, thank you for catching the typo; I have corrected it. And thanks for the link to Jocelyn's report. I've put it in my favorites so I can return to it and read the whole thing when I have time.<BR/><BR/>Anonymous, my point is that whether the NIE report is accurate or not, we should destroy the regime of the mullahs because it is the number one state sponsor of terrorism.Myrhafhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16340507405537605164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-16774062105333033332007-12-05T16:40:00.000-08:002007-12-05T16:40:00.000-08:00Minor correction. You wrote: "When America invaded...Minor correction. You wrote: "When America invaded Afghanistan and <B>Iran</B> after September 11, 2001". I wish! Unfortunately, it was only Iraq.<BR/><BR/>By the way in response to anonymous. The issue to the exact stage of Iran's progress toward nuclear weapons may be in some doubt but Iran's enmity and acts of war are not. Myrhaf lists some examples but you can also take a look at Thomas Jocelyns <A HREF="http://www.claremont.org/repository/docLib/20070913_IranWarAgainstAmericaLR.pdf" REL="nofollow">report </A>for details.Gideonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02806423185226885594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19129587.post-68000360429480050922007-12-05T06:49:00.000-08:002007-12-05T06:49:00.000-08:00Well, was the NIE report accurate or not? Isn't th...Well, was the NIE report accurate or not? Isn't that what matters? Shouldn't we base our foreign policy on factual reality.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com