Anti-Subjugator

Many, I really get a crack out of seeing photos like this. The top photo of the fearsome Taliban with their ... wait for it ... pickup trucks! I mean, gone are the good old days when you needed to mass produce tanks and planes in order to win a war, and it pretty much came down to whoever had the largest industrial capacity won. Nowadays all you need to do is buy a pickup truck (from the reputable Toyota company) and stick a few goons in it, make sure they're wearing turbans. No need for ridiculous things like the Afghan Army below is wearing - ie helmets. With a Toyota, a Turban and Trust in God's promise of 72 virgins, the world is your oyster.

Meanwhile, the Afghan National Army is getting some real live target practice to make sure they have learnt their new skills properly, so they can become a kick-arse army. Thanks Taliban! We couldn't have done it without you. Those ANA will be useful when it comes time to invade Iran. Another combat-experienced ally. Can't ask for more than that.

I once saw a comment from an American commentor over at ITM who said something like "Oh no, we just lost 2 helicopters. We're down to our last 12,000. Let's surrender". I know exactly where this person is coming from. It's called reality. And she was probably as perplexed as me about how people could live in an entire fantasy world created by a sensational left-wing media. It really truly is amazing just how far humans will go with self-deception. And just how far they will stretch their Orwellian world without bursting into laughter and saying "had you fooled". Ok, no, you don't have me fooled. I don't believe you really think Bush = Hitler and that Cheney's secret plan to take over the Middle East is almost completed, and that 9/11 was an inside job, etc etc. I know all you lefties are just running an elaborate practical joke.

However, although I'm pretty sure that's what you're up to, and you haven't fooled me, I am forced to respond to it as if you are serious. Because the price of freedom is eternal vigilence. And if there is any possibility at all, no matter how remote, that you truly believe all this fantasy, then I must defend against it. That is the correct response to the provided stimuli. I will continue to do this until my dying day. Not only that, but I will also attempt to defend against the remote possibility that there really is a super-secret Jewish/American conspiracy to enslave all the people of the Middle East and that this conspiracy, to which 50% of Americans have secretly subscribed to without my knowledge, and are just waiting for the right moment to pounce (they can't do it while the enemy still has nukes). That is why in the end state of forces in the world, I want to see a NATO is able to defend against, and possibly liberate, America, should the need arise.

But defending against remote possibilities is a long-term goal when there's no elephant in the living room. The current elephant in the living room is Iran with an official policy of "Death to USA", developing nukes, threatening to wipe Israel off the map, enslaving 70 million people, who as far as we can tell are mostly our allies. So that is what gets my attention. It's a great shame that Australia has retired hurt. But while Australia is bloody nice to have, the only weapons that are actually required are America's. And they're still in the hands of decent people. So GO USA! Right now, they really are the land of the free and the home of the brave, as advertised. Not Australia. It wasn't always like that. There was a time when the Americans were hiding under their beds while Australia was standing up for freedom. But times have changed, and it's time to acknowledge the new reality, as sad as that new reality is. Congratulations America. You guys are number 1. And trust me, I'm not just saying that. It's not something I ever wanted to have to say.

Remember Australia II winning the America's cup? I was up at 4am or whatever listening to my radio to see the longest winning streak in sporting history ended by Australia, a relatively small country (20 million) compared to Europe. Those days are gone. The hopes and dreams of decent people in the free world, and decent people waiting to be liberated, are now on America's shoulders. If becoming an American citizen would make a difference, I would do so in an instant. I can't see how that will provide any tangible benefit to anyone, and I can see how it could harm my position as an independent point of reference. Good luck America. And you have God's blessings. Really.

I was reading some humorous comic strips over here and I am continually bemused by the complete stupidity of the right-wing for not understanding how to fight an ideological war. Basically they can't get past the "just bomb random places - that should teach 'em!". The specific complaints about Bush in this instance include:

"allowing for Islamic law in Afghanistan and Iraq"

Ok, moron. You'd rather we started ramming things down the Afghan's throats? Are you willing to go to war with the Afghan people in order to do that? Instead of the current situation where the Afghans have welcomed US troops (something that many idiots said was totally impossible), and are willing to fight our enemies (Taliban and Al Qaeda) using their own troops, you want us to go to war with the entire Afghan population? Are you willing to see US troops die to ram something down their throat, for marginal benefit? Or were you planning on simply carpet bombing the Afghan people into submission, for the same marginal benefit? The fact is the Afghan people have allowed freedom of speech for you to make your case, and they've allowed women to vote. You now have a means of getting the government you think the Afghans should have, via peaceful means. Regardless, the option of going to war with the Afghan people hasn't been taken away. Now is just not the right time to open such a war front.

Similarly, what's the beef with Iraq? Can you actually point to a single Iraqi law that you don't like? Once again, the US has pulled off the near-impossible. It has managed to convert a dictatorship into a democracy and have that democracy choose to not be an enemy of the US, despite decades of Saddam brainwashing the Iraqi people to hate the US. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have bravely stood up to fight enemies of America, and millions of Iraqis bravely defied terrorist threats to support the democracy that America brought, and you want to go to war with these people to ram something down their throat that will have essentially zero effect, in the absence of a single law you can point to?! Do you people smoke the same whacky weed that the Democrats do or what?

"not waging a war to truly defeat the enemies"

Hey moron, that war HASN'T EVEN STARTED YET. Before we go to war, we need to actually IDENTIFY THE FRIGGIN ENEMY. Unless you're planning on wiping out every Arab, every Muslim, and hey, just to be safe, every non-American, and hey, Democrats as well, and better make it whites as well, to cover those like Timothy McVeigh, well, you'll never win.

The fact is, we need badly needed EXPERIMENTAL DATA from Iraq, just to IDENTIFY the enemy. The data from Afghanistan was important, but not nearly as important as that from Iraq. Data from Iran is also important. We already have the data from Eastern Europe, and Russia. Data from the rest of the world is more-or-less available, except for probably North Korea and Cuba. So we basically have the ability to analyze who is hostile to America et al, and why.

"avoiding shrines and sacrificing troops"

First of all, the number of troops being lost in total is microscopic. The number of troops being lost due to shrine avoidance is microscopic microscopic. And what it buys us is the opportunity to get unblemished data. It is difficult for the Muslims in Iraq to say that America is there to destroy Islam when it's going to such obvious lengths to "respect" this death cult. So, they continue on their merry way oblivious to the fact that when the real war starts, they may be in for genocide. Jury's still out on that.

"blindly worshipping "democracy""

It's not being blindly worshipped. That is what is necessary in order to get accurate experimental data. Rigged polls or forcing things down people's throats would mean that we lose that data forever. The fact is we've managed to obtain this data, which will be invaluable for future war plans. And nothing at all has been lost. At any time you want to start forcing something down the throats of the Iraqi people, that option is available. Have you decided what you want to force down people's throats yet? There seems to be some disagreement on that. For example, Ann Coulter said "We know who the homicidal maniacs are. They are the ones cheering and dancing right now. We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity."

That's a reasonable start. You can look around and see that American Christians aren't cheering 9/11, so an obvious conclusion is "hey, if we convert them to Christianity, all will be fine". Unfortunately, Ann isn't so bright after all. She says "I'm still waiting to hear a better suggestion.". Well, Ann, the better suggestion was given to the world in message 666 on Sept 11, 2004. You, like most people, weren't listening, or failed to understand it, whatever. You see, the Christians of South America hate your guts, so an Arab form of South America isn't going to buy you much. It may buy you something, but not much. And it completely misses the point that there were atheists and Muslims who wanted to protect America. I personally have tried to protect America both as an atheist and as a Muslim. So your theory is crap.

However, you are right about a war to change the religion of the Middle East in order to protect America. But the war needs to eventually extend to South America, Africa etc as well. And it isn't ill-defined "Christianity" that needs to be spread, as an ill-defined version of it has already been spread to almost the entire South American continent. You instead need to spread message 666. Ok, if you're too stupid to do that, then fine, spread some form of Christianity to the Middle East, and it will at least get you closer to message 666, which is a good thing.

Regardless, when this religious war begins, that will be a real war. It won't be pretty. It will be bloody. However, the "data gathering" being done in Iraq and Afghanistan is not a real war. The real war has yet to begin, and may never even be waged. We're not ready to wage it yet. But Ann has correctly identified the scope. A religious war is required. Her mindless bigotry that the religion she was indoctrinated with is the only possible solution notwithstanding.

Regardless, the complete war, the least worst war strategy, has been outlined for several years now. When will the right wing wake up and actually wage it? Or at least support Bush who has, coincidentally or not, been following the least worst option already, even if the right-wing are too stupid to see that. Obviously the left are too stupid to figure out whether the enemy is people with beards chopping off heads or a guy who disagrees with the government-run health care. But given that the right-wing at least live in the real world, you'd think that they'd have the logic skills required to recognize a kick-arse war plan. Apparently not though.