You are preaching to the choir. How do you think a guy like me feels about these matters? Afghanistan was always the "Vietnam." It was never Iraq. Pakistan has revealed itself to be a true enemy to us on many levels, yet we continue to cut annual allowance to them and call them an ally. Almost half of the men killed in Afghanistan this year have been from cops who have turned on their handlers, yet we ctaer to Karzai's accusations and demands for annual money. Saudi Arabia is the source of hatred for most Arab radicals and serve to remind the faithful why they are supposed to hate everything except the House of Saud, yet we keep them in business and call them friends. I'm not confused.
I am one of those who see our enemy throughout the region between Cairo and Islamabad. I also believe that like 9/11, Osama Bin Laden is merely a symptom of a larger disease. My enemy is that radical parent who teaches his children that Israel and the West is the culprit for all their problems. My enemy is the complete lack of general education throughout a region. My enemy is also a piece of Islam that is set so deeply in brittle concrete that it strangles the life blood out of families and society as their leaders use oil money for personal subsistance. But identifying the sysmptoms is more manageable isn't it? Putting a terrorist face to the event is far easier on the politics than accusing a failed civilization of it's inability to contribute to the modern world. We ignore the countless religious organizations throughout the region with members that hail from all over the region declaring grievances about everything from the existance of Islrael, to the West's intrusion on their cultures, to Japan's Pokemon as a character that leades children away from God. And make no mistake, the Middle East is getting worse. This "Arab Spring" may be the last effort of a people to reverse the path they are on. Of course, if they fail and prove to the world that a civilization of Arabs are unable to function in the modern world while keeping their brand of Islam unchanged, then they will lose the little bit of sympathy that too much of the world offers them today.
As far as "nation building," I also believe in the British's tactic of old called "punitive strikes." Nation building works only if the population gets behind it for its own good. Obvious examples were Germany and Japan. But we aren't dealing with such civilized societies these days are we? The Middle East offers us societies that are struggling greatly with terms such as Nationalism, Democracy, Religion vs. State, Dictator, Caliphate, etc. You can't nation build a nation that is absolutely conflicted about what it wants. But we can simply punish and move on.
Well, many innocent people die in war.
