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This is exactly why we remain uncommitted to defeat our enemies. Was not our viciousness in Europe as cruel as our enemies? Was not our execution of Japanese in the heat of two atomic blasts a cruel means to an end? Did all those "soldiers" not come home to their families and to our society with the intention of putting the war behind them? Was America's values destroyed as we went on to blast city after city with nuclear weapons there after? America has proven that we can get a job done by facing our enemies with pure power and viciousness while maintaining our most cherished values. And we have proven that we know when to apply a certain amount of power without sliping down that slope our critics always warn us about. But we have lost our way. Somewhere along the line our critics have imbedded themselves into our society and has weakened our resolve. We have become a society that needs to be warned about "imminent threats" before we can address a monster of a threat that doesn't wear a uniform or to simply pave the way for a better life of people that blame us for all woes. We have imagined ourselves a sense of PC "higher" morality that restricts us from looking at the world for what it is. For milliniums the brutal dictator has been accepted and in the past two centuries he has been encouraged as long as he killed selectively. Today, the consequences of a world being made wrong, threatens us.
"Radical Islam" and "religious fundamental" were unaccepted terms during the 90's. Today we have a President that talks about Radical Islam, but does he really understand what is going on out there? And what about all those politicians underneath them that are more inclined to pad their approval polls than to make the decisions "good" people don't like? And what is the face of Middle Eastern Islam going to look like as they inevitably attain nuclear arms? Our Washington leaderships had gotten themselves into a nasty habit of trying to defeat our enemies through the microphone. We had borrowed the tactics of Europe to ensure that cruelty thrives as long as a tyrant held the "peace" together by any means necessary through diplomatic deals that fatten the pockets of the defense industry and politicians alike. Today we are denying global events in a hopes that the problems will fix themselves in the absence of the colonial powers and American/Soviet influence. We look at Radical Islam today with and shoot off our mouths with the same irresponsibility of western Europeans that looked silently on Nazi Germany (which took two years of convincing for even the American powers to do something). A basic rule of warfare has been ignored long enough - never tell your enemy what you intend to do. Reflect on President Roosevet's words - "walk softly, and carry a big stick." President Clinton bragged that he would bring terrorists to justice but did nothing to fulfill his public promise. President Bush announced that he would bring terrorists to justice, but then he let his re-election campaign wreck us in Iraq in 2004 (where the administration hardly fought to win). And who can forget "Mission Accomplished" after Baghdad fell to America's best? Our enemy didn't forget it. Especially all those Baathist loyalists that never even saw an American. Everytime that we make such bold statements or that we promises to do something militarily only to fail to do it-ussually for ephemeral political reasons-we suffer a defeat far more serious than those who focus only on domestic opinion polls realize. By blustering, and then revealing ourselves as weak willed, we tarnish the image of irresistable American strength.
Partial victories are not real victories. Such things give way for back room deals that allow tyranny to maintain a presence. And anyone with a sense of warfare knows that wars are not necessarily won by the best equipped, or the best trained, or the biggest armies. They are won by those who persevere, whose leaders do not waver, who realize that today's "catastrophe" will look less fearsome by morning, and who are determined to win no matter what it takes, or how long it takes, or what accusations a restive press raises against them.
This isn't a Liberal/Conservative or Republican/Democrat global problem. But it is a Liberal/Conservative or Republican/Democrat encouraged struggle. If our politicians (who have never had to face an enemy or even worn a uniform) decide that we need to go to war, our military leaders must be allowed to decide the technical details of how to fight. We have the most loyal, obedient armed forces in history, but that is no reason for our elected officials to abuse our military establishment or risk the lioves of our troops unnecessarily. If an issue is so vital that we decide that we must got to war or otherwise intervene with military forces, we must have the common sense and decency to let our "soldiers" win. And our "soldiers" are Liberals and Conservatives.
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Well, I tried to keep this geared towards a conversation around the military and political Liberalism/Conservatism, but failed. Bickering is fine and encourages passion in writing, but not constructive when dismissing the topic. Instead of closing it I will just send this senseless bickering to the basement. 
