What Will It Take?

          I have some serious work ahead of me for an upcoming post and separate paper for (hopeful) publication!

          As I was reading this morning's paper, I was reminded of some training I received while serving as a US Marine.  The subject was terrorism, and the presentation was by an intelligence officer.  There were several categories of terrorists, not the least of which were the religious fanatics and the "crazies".  These are the ones who have absolutely no regard for their own lives; they then have no regard for anyone else's life.  For them, life is cheap.

          Our current situation in Afghanistan and Iraq is dire, to say the least.  In my humble opinion, staying the current course will mean nothing more than that we will continue to read the same stories everyday for who knows how long.  Nothing will change because the "course" we are staying is a dead-end road.

          It is evident that the course for those we are doing battle with includes suicide bombings.  Make no mistake: just because one is willing to die for a cause at the expense of innocent life does not make them any less a MURDERER!  There is a reality here, though, that seems to be ignored.

          If it is true (and I think it must be) that these "crazies" or "religious fanatics" are indeed as willing to be killed as they are to kill, then our current course will change nothing.  So what to do?  We cannot overpower an enemy that has no fear of death.  There is no nation with which to negotiate peace.  They have already been convinced by their leaders of the West's "crusade" against Islam.  So what is left?

          This is what I hope to discover very soon.

Comments

[John]

What then can we do to prevent these lunatics from coming to our shores and killing our people here?

[Michael]

John,

I wish I knew. Taking the battle to them is not a problem for me. It seems, however, that we're doing nothing much more differently than before. Do we become more aggressive? Maybe. Do we back off to outside parameters and give more over to the Nationals? Maybe. It is clear, however, that "force" does not frighten them. What next? That is my question.