Comments on: Troop Surge for Afghanistan? http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/07/17/troop-surge-for-afghanistan/ News & Commentary on Warfare, Policy and Counterterrorism Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:47:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Herschel Smith http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/07/17/troop-surge-for-afghanistan/#comment-26207 Herschel Smith Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:49:09 +0000 http://www.captainsjournal.com/?p=1208#comment-26207 Well said. Also, there is negative reinforcement. We should be the best in the world at this, but are reluctant to use our influence to any avail. We must find ways to marginalize the extremists - financially, ideologically and in every other way. Saudi Arabia continues, for instance, to fund the extremists and the madrassas which births these killers, but every administration has been unwilling to hold the House of Saud responsible for what they do. Our State Department, CIA, financial institutions, and every other part of both the state and NGOs must engage, or it will be a losing effort. Well said.

Also, there is negative reinforcement. We should be the best in the world at this, but are reluctant to use our influence to any avail. We must find ways to marginalize the extremists - financially, ideologically and in every other way.

Saudi Arabia continues, for instance, to fund the extremists and the madrassas which births these killers, but every administration has been unwilling to hold the House of Saud responsible for what they do.

Our State Department, CIA, financial institutions, and every other part of both the state and NGOs must engage, or it will be a losing effort.

]]> By: Warbucks http://www.captainsjournal.com/2008/07/17/troop-surge-for-afghanistan/#comment-26206 Warbucks Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:06:15 +0000 http://www.captainsjournal.com/?p=1208#comment-26206 I agree with the Captain that the argument “we must educate the insurgent out of his extreme position” is not a substitute for winning. We ride the horns of the ancient dilemma of when to turn the other cheek and when swing the lethal sword of war. Our war machine is designed to deter threat with over powering response and to root out the enemy even in his own sanctuary. The enemy establishes his own fate and he knows how to find our mercy; the Eagle’s right claw is the hand of peace and the left claw the hand of war. We are not in “a war”, we are in “wars.” One war is violent, driven by fundamentalists isolated from worldly understanding, currently unproductive as a competitive society, dependent on two resources, oil and opium, and kept ignorant and hateful within a closed belief system driven and expanded by totalitarian suppression and its feeble, cowardly, and evil use of terror. The other war, the 2nd war is its belief system. The 2nd war will not be won on the battlefield, but it can be won. The 2nd war is Islamic Reformation. There are several paths to Islamic Reformation, and it pays that we help the war critic understand that on this point we agree, we must educate the not the insurgent, but the fundamentalist. The insurgent will be met with force and die. The fundamentalist on the other hand must be taught from within his own belief system (i.e. Islamic Reformation), a process that will take years. There are several ways of encouraging Islamic Reformation, but that is another subject. We can help continue the Islamic Reformation process, a process which requires another kind of courage that we can not indulge in on the battlefield to any great extent where force must be met with greater force. It is time to seek a symbolic and real closure on one battlefield as we transition into the next: Islamic Reformation I agree with the Captain that the argument “we must educate the insurgent out of his extreme position” is not a substitute for winning.

We ride the horns of the ancient dilemma of when to turn the other cheek and when swing the lethal sword of war. Our war machine is designed to deter threat with over powering response and to root out the enemy even in his own sanctuary. The enemy establishes his own fate and he knows how to find our mercy; the Eagle’s right claw is the hand of peace and the left claw the hand of war.

We are not in “a war”, we are in “wars.” One war is violent, driven by fundamentalists isolated from worldly understanding, currently unproductive as a competitive society, dependent on two resources, oil and opium, and kept ignorant and hateful within a closed belief system driven and expanded by totalitarian suppression and its feeble, cowardly, and evil use of terror. The other war, the 2nd war is its belief system.

The 2nd war will not be won on the battlefield, but it can be won. The 2nd war is Islamic Reformation.

There are several paths to Islamic Reformation, and it pays that we help the war critic understand that on this point we agree, we must educate the not the insurgent, but the fundamentalist. The insurgent will be met with force and die. The fundamentalist on the other hand must be taught from within his own belief system (i.e. Islamic Reformation), a process that will take years.

There are several ways of encouraging Islamic Reformation, but that is another subject. We can help continue the Islamic Reformation process, a process which requires another kind of courage that we can not indulge in on the battlefield to any great extent where force must be met with greater force.

It is time to seek a symbolic and real closure on one battlefield as we transition into the next: Islamic Reformation

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