[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: Time to step down, to spend more time with my family..

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Posted by Mary Madigan:
Time to step down, to spend more time with my family..
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1173201417.shtml


   [cross-posted at [1]Dean's World]

   It's time for me to take Dean's offer of voluntary retirement as I
   have no side to take in the current ideological war.

   Dean often says that we should 'talk to Muslims'. I have talked to
   Muslims, here and abroad, and from those discussions I've realized
   that one of our government's biggest mistakes was to classify our
   current war against terrorism as an "ideological war."

   The government and the media talk about this ideological war, but they
   are never clear about what ideology or holders of said unidentified
   ideology we're fighting. How are we supposed to 'fight' this
   not-clearly defined ideological war? How do we know when we've won, or
   lost? Who knows? Ask 100 people and you're likely to get about 200
   opinions.

   Ask it on the internet and you invariably get a flame war. Somehow,
   this war has turned into the modern equivalent of 'how many angels can
   dance on the head of a pin'? If you 'win' the discussion, if you argue
   nicely or if you're rude, what effect does this have on the price of
   tea in Waziristan?

   Without clearly defined enemies or goals, all 6 billion people out
   there are left in the wilderness, left to provide their own
   definitions of what we're fighting. Given that terrorists claim to be
   fighting in the name of Islam, it's not surprising that both Muslims
   and non-Muslims define our enemy in the GWOT as Islam.

   When President Bush said:

     "From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or
     support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a
     hostile regime."

   That was his FDR moment, his call for a clearly defined war against
   definable political and/or military organizations, a war that could be
   definably 'won'; a war based on established actions, not ideology or
   dogma. If he'd had the courage of his convictions, we wouldn't be
   spinning our wheels discussing ideological and religious issues that,
   in the end, have little influence on whether the GWOT is a win, a loss
   or a draw.

   I think we're fighting a bunch of gangsters. Why do they ('they'
   defined as the military and financial infrastructure of the billion
   dollar underground terrorist network - not Islam) hate us? Because
   they're greedy pigs who resent anyone who has more money, power and
   influence than they do, and they're willing to manipulate and kill
   people to get it. The fact that they're using morality and religion as
   their cover makes them even more vile than most who have gone before
   them, but that shouldn't change our focus. We can't fight gangsters
   with philosophy, religious outreach programs and political
   correctness.

   We also can't fight them by classifying everyone who is in their
   religious group, or everyone who has kissed the Don's hand, as the
   focus of the problem. Both the Islamophobes and the
   Islamophobe-watchers do that. This leads to poorly conceived, poorly
   planned strategy. If we refrained from shutting down the Mafia because
   we were afraid that doing so would offend all Italians, Gotti would be
   president and Gambini would be head of state. If we fought the Mafia
   by arresting everyone in Little Italy, pulling over every olive oil
   truck and raiding Arthur Avenue, the result might have been the same.

   This ideological war seems to be an issue that Dean wants to focus on.
   That's his decision. I can either say goodbye now, spend more time
   doing things that matter to me or I can spend vast amounts of time
   spinning my wheels by arguing that both sides are wrong.

   I choose the latter. So, Dean, thanks so much for asking me to post
   here and enjoy the debates. I don't mind that there's no golden
   parachute.

   Speaking of parachutes, if you and yours ever visit New Jersey,
   there's a great place to jump - and there's even some scenery beyond
   the Turnpike. Don't be a stranger.

References

   1. http://www.deanesmay.com/