A More Mature Response to 9-11

[jordan179]

Some people have argued that we should have simply tried to deal with Al Qaeda through "police work" -- arresting terrorists when we found them, and not attacking Afghanistan. And certainly not Iraq. So I'm going to speculate how this would have worked.

Comments

[stremph]

They tried treating it like a law enforcement problem throughout the 1990s. The FBI was all over the Khobar Towers bombings, the Embassy bombings in Africa, and the USS Cole, as well as dozens of kidnappings by terrorist groups throughout the region.

I think it's safe to say that that approach failed America.

[jordan179]

Indeed. The problem is that you can't stop an international organization through "law enforcement" when its headquarters are located in a country which treats it as legitimate and shelters it against your police. In such a case, the best you will do is to catch agents, while the bosses continue their careers unimpeded.

[jordan179]

These zealots are at war with us, so we should treat it like a war.

Precisely. And, as far as I'm concerned, they escalated it to "strategic bombardment of the enemy homeland" on Day One of the war: we should not restrain ourselves from replying at least on the same level of warfare.

[banner]

Immediate relationship? No. A 'clear and present danger'? Yes

[mosinging1986]

Hm, interesting. I know nothing of war strategies and that sort of thing, so I'll just take it at face value.

The creepy thing is that you are describing what the scenario will be like when there IS another attack. Between our seeming loss of will to fight and the whining from every side about how mean we are for not negotiating with these monsters, this is the quagmire we'd end up in.

My God, what has happened to my country? When did we become such pathetic cowards?

[operations]

Sometime during the 60-70s. When the idiots behind woodstock started taking the only jobs that no-talent bums could get.

Public service.

[maxgoof]

o/~ All we are saying is give peace a chance... o/~

*ducks and runs*

[foibos]

Oh, it's a little too late for that now. I don't think your current array of enemies are going to let you off as easily as the Vietnamese did.

[jasolater]

But at least nobody would be complaining about Abu Ghraib, because there'd be no American jailers putting prisoners in embarassing poses. Instead, Saddam's goons would be raping their relatives and feeding the prisoners into plastic-shredders, which is for some reason that I can't quite grasp morally not as objectionable.

This is what bugs me the most. All the morally repugnant things done by Saddam and Islamic terrorists, and all some people can do is point to all the perceived injustices committed by America. It's very aggravating.

[cutelildrow]

I agree! It makes no reasonable sense, other than the perceived 'it's PC to hate America!' movement of thought I see spreading through the world / the US.

Which makes absolutely ZERO sense to me!

[headnoises]

It makes sense to me.

Who do the PETA jerks beat up, the little old ladies in fur, or the biker gang? They choose the one that won't kill them....

[jasolater]

Because Fear Breeds Respect.