The Meat of the Matter

Rumsfeld Makes a Point

I just watched this: http://thinkprogress.org/2006/08/30/rumsfeld-war-critics-2/ I actually went to this news article, knowing what was there. I expected to react one way, but surprised myself by partially agreeing with what Rumsfeld is saying. At first I thought, "Feh! He's comparing war critics to those who mollified the Nazi regime! Feh!" And yeah ... feh ... that's bullshit on one level. I will get to that. But on another level, what he is actually warning against is something that many of us Liberals should probably listen to. The destructive capacity and intent of Militant Islamic regimes should not be underestimated. They hate us, they hate our way of life, and their own leaders are instructing their sheep to destroy us. Given the chance, they will. This calls for drastic measures, to be sure. And this warning should be heeded, and Liberals should make sure we have a plan on what to do. However ... the approach that Rumsfeld has taken was to attack a nation that was NOT part of this problem. His argument is rendered totally sterile because it assumes that the current course of action has been taken to address the problem he is describing. Earth to Rumsfeld: Occupying Iraq is not addressing the problem with terrorism.