Plan F

Perhaps the biggest problem this administration had in the aftermath of 9/11 was that it had absolutely no idea how to fight a GWOT and still doesn't. However, they did figure out a - very bad - way to conventionalize it. That they were gifted the backing of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan where the Taliban, initially, turned out to be not much more than a rag-tag militia and were easily swept off the battlefield only to morph into what we see today. And, that the only apparent or manipulated path forward from that first encounter with the ideology of islamofascist-ring-a-ma-ting was to find a predominantly secular, target rich environment and stay for awhile, completely ignoring what we had learned in Afghanistan about the cynical and barbarous nature of our enemy, remaining blithe to the emotional and tactical shifts of both those nations as a direct reaction to occupation, in parallel with alienating the international community - coalition of the willing notwithstanding - through roughshod treatment of pertinent alliances and existing treaties and blatant arrogance, we arrive where we are today, a mere Friedman Unit from turning the tide in Iraq - again - without still never actually having to confront the realities and consequences of the conflicts at hand and where these consequences will lead us to in the future.

There are many nations of the world very familiar and competent at dealing with both international and domestic terrorism within their borders, there are institutions and world bodies tasked with the collection and dissemination of information regarding terrorist entities, the players, their ideologies and their methods. There are enforcement agencies cooperating around the world with the infiltration and fighting of terrorist organizations, some with great success. There are proven - in the battlefield - models and strategies in existence that will help with the fight against terrorism. But, this administration chose to ignore that route, that skill-set of collective knowledge, strategies and techniques and chose instead to invade Iraq, an albeit prominent part of a self-styled 'Axis of Evil' and constant thorn in the foot of dear leader and his neocon cabal, but, for the most part, a contained and strategical non-entity, except that is for oil and as a showcase for crackpot theories and political sloganeering - winning elections and creating a permanent republican majority, that is - certainly not for anything honorable. So, not only do we rebuff the world - 'CoW' notwithstanding - and all the opportunities inherent with partnerships forged in collective and shared responsibility, we ignite a powder keg and strap it to our service men and womens back and talk of 'diminishing expectations'. It is self immolation on a grand and unforgiveable scale. It would be inconceiveable if it wasn't actually happening before our very eyes.