tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post3915260912948658355..comments2024-03-22T05:20:44.167-07:00Comments on The Disaffected Lib: Okay, Next.The Mound of Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-47805719581058830982016-05-26T21:34:43.745-07:002016-05-26T21:34:43.745-07:00The Taliban are not all created equal, just as bor...The Taliban are not all created equal, just as born again Christians are not all like Glen Beck, Jimmy Swaggart etc.<br />Obama seems very simplistic in his response to a complicated problem.<br /><br />TrailblazerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-58330960312897719772016-05-25T18:48:21.677-07:002016-05-25T18:48:21.677-07:00I get the feeling that America has "lost the ...I get the feeling that America has "lost the script." This seemed to result when military force displaced diplomacy as the principal instrument of foreign policy. Even AfriCom, the Pentagon's newest global command, has jostled the state department into second place.<br /><br />What makes this shift all the more worrisome is that it's happening at a time when "All the King's Horses and All the King's Men" are consistently incapable of delivering successful outcomes.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-85228889026284497052016-05-25T17:12:58.155-07:002016-05-25T17:12:58.155-07:00They need to be scaled back, and operated in ways ...They need to be scaled back, and operated in ways that do not undermine the governments of, for example, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq or Pakistan. Drone strikes blatantly undermine the sovereignty of governments the US is ostensibly trying to help, and create popular sympathy for radicals. They do nothing to encourage peace or moderation.<br /><br />There was much to hate about the US policy in the seventies and eighties, propping up right-wing dictators and turning a blind eye to human rights abuses. But repeated nudges and well targeted carrots and sticks did result in most US supported Latin-American dictatorships evolving into more democratic and tolerant governments. There may be wishes for democratic and respectful governance in the mid-east, but US policy as practiced by Bush and Obama just breeds chaos, and doesn't advance their stated goals one jot. In many US allies there has been severe backsliding. crfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10726414637021391906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-5806354339904857112016-05-25T14:58:06.152-07:002016-05-25T14:58:06.152-07:00"counterterrorism' as "magical ritua..."counterterrorism' as "magical rituals." I wonder if that makes Obama a witch doctor.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07842215982128591742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-18865622444047929412016-05-25T14:52:52.161-07:002016-05-25T14:52:52.161-07:00Nicely put.
I've always viewed counter-terro...Nicely put. <br /><br />I've always viewed counter-terrorism programs as kind of David Copperfield show - full of colour and grand gestures meant to trick people into looking one way while the magician did something entirely different. Before we realized it, we had a lawless surveillance state that would have made Erich Mielke drool with envy.<br /><br />CapAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com