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April 18, 2006

Something Else You Should Read

I'm sorry I didn't get to this great post by John until now.


...If the US, rather than the USSR, had fallen to impotence in the Cold War, I would now be backing the Soviets against the Islamists, because the Soviets shared fundamental worldviews with us that, although twisted by a corrupt system, could have been reformed. I do not see the same humanity with which I can find a common ground in the medieval Salafists. The first time I was in the USSR, one of my friends (an ex-paratrooper) said in a drunken, midnight conversation that he was glad that he and I were sharing a glass of samogon, and had not first caught sight of one another over the sights of our rifles. I can not imagine one of Osama’s troopers saying that to me if I were to travel to Tora Bora and did not submit to the superiority of Islam.

I did not engage in flag waving or in putting yellow ribbons on my car after September 11. I see the war as a sad necessity, like shooting a beloved dog that has contracted rabies. It has to be done, but in the process we are destroying life and wounding a piece of our own collective soul. However, no person and no nation can get through any length of time on this Earth with an unsullied conscience, and to insist otherwise is to remain a mental child and shirk adult responsibilities and their attendant compromises and consequences. So I do see much reason for pride in stepping up to the task of fighting Salafism, and not farming it out to someone else or pretending that a threat does not exist – and for defending the interests of a modern way of life that benefits the entire world...

Go read the rest.

Posted by Mr. Bingley at April 18, 2006 09:01 PM

Comments

Excellent read, thank you for sharing.

I guess instead of calling this a crusade against terrorism, Bush could have offended fewer people by simply saying "Remember the Main!".

Humor aside, we did excacerbate this problem by being extremist in our approach to the Russian/Afghan war. I too support our finally doing something to sort all this out, without any yellow ribbons or harping on September 11.

Seriousness aside: What is going to be the title of PJ O'Rourke's thinly veiled bigraphic screenplay of Rupert Murdoch? Will Larry David win the Oscar in this breakout film debut?

I too, see the war as a necessary evil, like shooting a dog that has contracted rabies. Unfortunately for all of us, it's Dick Cheney with the gun.

All right, I won't bore you with my bad humor.

I'll cower in the corner, remaining a mental child and shirking adult responsibilities.

Posted by: azbballfan at April 18, 2006 10:31 PM

Had Bush shouted that, the only folks who would be offended are all voters now in South Florida...

Jimmy Carter, noted extremist...

Posted by: Mr. Bingley at April 18, 2006 10:39 PM

Too funny, which begs the quetion:

Who is going to be the next great inFidel to rise up in power in the Middle East?

Posted by: azbballfan at April 18, 2006 10:57 PM

Thanks for the link. It didn't start out to be a post about our current war, but writing about Afghanistan leads one inexorably to that subject.

Posted by: John at April 19, 2006 08:27 AM