Comments on: Useful Exercise

By: HokiePundit (RDB) W&M 1L

HokiePundit (RDB) W&M 1L — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:38:11 +0000

If another American city is attacked, can we bomb Paris or Brussels? Maybe at least with stinkbombs?

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:22:41 +0000

No responsible Commander in Chief will allow themselves to be hogtied into a nuke-or-nothing response. I think we might re-invade given the right circumstances and motivation. After all, it hasn't been that long since Desert Storm.

And we didn't abandon Desert Storm after a collapse of poliical support. Otherwise I think this is a good, succinct statement of why it would be imprudent for us to withdraw from Iraq before it's a lot more secure than it is now.

By: Bryan Costin

Bryan Costin — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:12:12 +0000

No responsible Commander in Chief will allow themselves to be hogtied into a nuke-or-nothing response. I think we might re-invade given the right circumstances and motivation. After all, it hasn’t been that long since Desert Storm.

Long term, the constant Congressional sniping and second- guessing against the President will have the opposite effect from what they expect. Whoever the next President is, they’ll go into office knowing that Congress wants to run the military, and that if they want to run a war successfully they’ve got to start by locking Congress out of it. The traditional deference that the President has shown to Congress brings no benefit and carries impossible risks. Executive power will end up stronger, not weaker.

By: Paul S

Paul S — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:02:24 +0000

I’m with Dave Schuler. In the event of another serious attack on US soil, I think a Dresden like response is far more likely than an attempt at nation building.

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:50:36 +0000

I also think that if a nuke went off in San Francisco that we’d probably nuke Tehran. But I seriously doubt that we’d invade.

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:49:33 +0000

I think that those things would provoke a bombing attack, John, but not an invasion.

I continue to believe that, once we've gone, we've gone. And that's why I think it would be very imprudent for us to leave until things are a lot more secure in Iraq than they are right now.

Re-invading Iraq would incur responsibilities (just as invasion did, although it looks like an increasing number of American politicians are willing to ignore that) and I don't see any way, once we've left Iraq because we don't want to deal with those responsibilities.

By: John_B

John_B — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:18:09 +0000

How about a nuke going off in SF, or a major chemical attack on Philadelphia? How about a half-dozen attacks–each with half-dozen perps–on the major shopping malls in the US?

Or maybe just an assassination of a President or a few members of Congress, say the Jewish ones, just to make sure that everyone understands that this is religiously motivated terrorism….

By: TallDave

TallDave — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:37:39 +0000

No, no, that didn't work so well as 'motivation' for kicking terrorist ass.

Hmm? We invaded Afghanistan right after.

I'm certainly not saying we should let them do it. But leaving AQ sanctuaries in Iraq will allow them to plan such attacks.

By: TallDave

TallDave — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:35:57 +0000

how do you (or do you at all) square that statement with the recent reports that aq is stronger now than it has been at any time since 9/11?

There are conflicting reports. It appears they're talking about AQ generally. Also, even if AQ-I is stronger in an absolute sense, the ISF have grown much faster, so AQ can still be weaker in a relative sense in Iraq.

The great underpublicized accomplishment in Iraq is that we have 350,000 Muslims fighting AQ with us.

By: Elisha Feger

Elisha Feger — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 15:34:26 +0000

I’m imagining… the World Trade Center here… In ruins… hmm… No, no, that didn’t work so well as ‘motivation’ for kicking terrorist ass. Unless you’re saying we should let a skyscraper get knocked down every year or so – and that’s verging on Truther territory.