11 years on
11 years after 9/11 we see that the problem still exists (witness the recent events in Cairo and Libya).
What we need to realize here is that on December 7, 1952 (11 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor), not only was World War II over, but Japan was our ally, and we were in the midst of the Korean War (which would not be over for another 7 months). The dynamics of the acts of aggression in those conflicts are categorically separate than what we now face. This is different – very different. As for the events of the past few days, to blame an insignificant movie as the cause demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the core issue. Furthermore, to blame an insignificant movie for the murder of 4 Americans in Libya would be like blaming Wall Street for the toppling of the Twin Towers. Oh, I forgot, some people already do.
Filed under: Culture • Middle East • Military • Rusty • War
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Perhaps we should consider doing for Libya, and Egypt, and Iraq and other nations of the Middle East, what we did for Japan and Germany after World War II. We need a new Marshall Plan, to rebuild those nations (and others) and bring them into the first world, to make them viable trading economies, real trading partners, and to get them out of the thrall of poverty, despotic governments, and economies that stifle opportunity and freedom and breed malcontents willing to play suicide bomber or embassy stormer.
But that would require that we spend more money, not less, in foreign aid. It’s the solution John Maynard Keynes proposed after World War I (and sadly, few listened). It would require that we prevent Romney and the GOP from carving up the world into hostile, armed camps, as they work so hard to do now.
Not likely, eh?
Get used to the violence, then.
Hi Ed,
One of the points of my little ditty was to note the difference in situations between World War II (and WW I, for that matter) and the war on terror. The actions you suggest depend on there being clearly defined aggressor nations as well as clearly defined terms of surrender. Which nation attacked us at the World Trade Center in 1993? Or on the USS Cole? Or on 9/11? (just to name a few) What we did for Japan and Germany could not have happened had they not surrendered to the Allies. It also could not have happened had they not shared, at least partially, in the same sort of world view the West has towards politics and economics.
But more to the core issue we face today, we need to realize that the problem is not one of poverty or economic oppression. The core in this fight boils down to the difference between radical Islam and the West (and I say “the West” rather than “Christianity” for good reason). What you propose depends on rational and civil discussion between opposing parties. And rational discussion was not something the 19 terrorists on 9/11 were interested in having, nor is it something radical Islamic terrorist groups are interested in today. Until those who are willing to blow themselves up for their cause are neutralized, they (and not the GOP) will continue to promote and use terrorist violence.
In my opinion.