Politician's Purgatory

Since the Korean War, the United States has implemented a policy of confrontation of its enemies that has resulted at best in a stalemate. We are still keeping troops on the 38th parallel because of this policy, we retreated from Vietnam because of this policy and we are again stalemated in Iraq because of this no-win policy.
The concept of victory has become a far off vision that is only promised with no depiction of the actual results. We no longer know what victory looks like because we do not actively seek it. It seems it is sufficient to fight a war and not lose. When the wars become stagnant do we call for attack or retreat? The answer is obvious. We did not want to confront the harborers of our enemies so we were willing to settle for a draw or a withdrawal. Where are the voices that will not settle for anything less than total victory? What would victory in the war on terror look like if we were to achieve it?
Victory requires the complete submission of the enemy. It means that we will no longer be fighting because the enemy has been defeated. By defeated I mean the enemy no longer has the desire, the means and the allies to continue their aggression. Just as the Nazis and the Empire of Japan are not conducting insurgent activities so should be the result of our war with the terrorists. But the terrorists are being trained and funded and there are nations that are known to encourage them. But like China and Russia in the war in Korea and Vietnam we are placating the source of the terrorist activity with the excuse that diplomacy and bribery will convince these regimes to stop their support of our destruction.
In any conflict there are three possible outcomes. First there is victory which clearly establishes that aggression will not be tolerated in any manner and retaliation will consist of total annihilation if necessary. This is the reality of war. There is no compassion for the enemy. The enemy is bent on our destruction and the only way to victory is not to convince or cajole but to answer force with superior force. To not seek victory leaves only two alternatives. There is the stalemate where no one wins and the weaker has the opportunity to rebuild and fight again. This in essence is a slow loss. Finally there is the defeat option where the enemy builds even greater strength to completely annihilate us. Remember the rule of the Nazis and the Japanese in the countries they captured. There was no freedom. There was no opportunity. There was only submission and that is exactly the creed of our current enemy.
We talk of the importance of teaching our children and then we expose them to the ridiculous spectacle of creating and sustaining policies that have proven to be flawed. What do they learn from our unwillingness to learn the lessons of history? What chance will they have when we turn them into ground troops to seek out murdering thugs in dilapidated rubble? What do they learn from seeing the power of our weaponry mothballed in the name of a peace that never is achieved?
The false alternative of pulling out of Iraq or continuing to encourage the Iraq population to instill and promote our values is not the answer. Victory for us is the only answer and it consists of implementing as quickly and as effectively as possible a policy of attack. We need to wipe out the insurgents, their sponsors and any other misguided regimes that want to see our defeat. Make no mistake. Any nation that is doing anything that encourages any sort of terrorist activity is our enemy. And this includes any nation that encourages terrorist activity against our allies.
We have seen the corruption and ineffectual activity of the United Nations and since they do not stand with us then we must stand alone ( which we are doing while paying their bills ). There will come a time when Americans will not stand for this prolonged policy of stalemate and insist on victory. Americans know that the wars we won were not based on the flaws of “holding our position”.
If we are faced with an enemy who seeks victory why don’t we? Do we think we can convince them to renounce their ambitions? Do we think they will be satisfied with an equal or inferior position? And when and if we become a target for their superior weaponry how will we justify the loss of our superiority? The sad fatal fact will be that we did not seek victory.