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The real secret weapons against terrorism??


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Its an interesting thought - Neocons believing representative government and economic opportunity remove the root causes of the Jihad,

I think of neocons as deeply cynical and interested in only what is good for their country [themselves] and which sometimes means representative govts are a pain in the arse. If it is your own Govt. you skirt around it and if it another county's you subvert it.

However taking the cartoon idea for Iraq where there was a solid society the means for organising more effectively against Saddam might have been a handy by-product whilst demonstrating how the world moved on. And shed-loads cheaper than a war : )

Even with adding satellite links for their internal use within the country.

However for Libya, which has hte consumer electronics, I am slightly disappointed that the US and UK do not actually provide some weaponry. Perhaps Egypt and Tunisia are working on that. :)

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I would be actually surprised if in the end the US and UK are not in the air patrolling no-fly zones, at a minimum, or on the ground providing some measure of security with NATO, at a maximum, in Libya.

As to your view on "neocons" it is somewhat flawed, but then you are in England,which I view as a place that is always rainy,probably since the only times I have been there, seemed like it did that, so, I can understand if the only "neocons" you have met...if you have met any at all.... perhaps gave you that impression. I think that you would probably find alot of them are not so different from you...general mistrust of government, and generally wishing it would just stay out of the way...really, not bad people, and not a bad idea :P

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"deeply cynical and interested in only what is good for their country [themselves] and which sometimes means representative govts are a pain in the arse. If it is your own Govt. you skirt around it and if it another county's you subvert it."

Diesel, what you describe is actually realpoltik, (per Henry K) "No friends, just interests."

I do credit the early creators of what became known as the Wolfowitz doctraine, I'm thinking specifically of George Schultz and Dick Armitage, with a view toward a more principled approach. Where it went astray, well lets just say Rum's the word.

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Oh yes it's been thought of - I got an official reprimand from my bosses for posting an email just after 9/11 that suggested the ultimate anti-hijacking weapon woudl be a naked woman walking up the aisle of every aircraft before departure leading a pig.........not that I thought of it - it was jsut doiggn the rounds.....

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Oh yes it's been thought of - I got an official reprimand from my bosses for posting an email just after 9/11 that suggested the ultimate anti-hijacking weapon woudl be a naked woman walking up the aisle of every aircraft before departure leading a pig.........not that I thought of it - it was jsut doiggn the rounds.....

Would also be a good reason to raise airline ticket prices..I'd pay extra for that flight :)

Heeyyy, I'm just sayin'....bacon AND an in-flight 3-d movie.....

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neo- prefix, denoting new, or a new form; modern.

ETYMOLOGY: From Greek neos new.

Blimey I thought it meant more dangerous!

BTW when looking at the US these days I always look at the fancy titles of the research institutes, business organisations, family groups, etc to try and work out who is pulling the strings. Neo-con really means a new way to con you : )

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Back around the time of the Vietnam War, someone wrote an article titled "Waging Peace" whose central premise was that instead of dropping bombs, the U.S. could instead deal with insurgencies by air dropping food, seed, shovels, picks and light agricultural implements, thus dealing with the problem directly. Frankly, this seems to be a riff on that concept.

Regards,

John Kettler

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Back around the time of the Vietnam War, someone wrote an article titled "Waging Peace" whose central premise was that instead of dropping bombs, the U.S. could instead deal with insurgencies by air dropping food, seed, shovels, picks and light agricultural implements, thus dealing with the problem directly. Frankly, this seems to be a riff on that concept.

Regards,

John Kettler

There is of course merit in the thought, but the idea that any war can be won simply by airdropping stuff (whether bombs, batteries or beans) is the problem. You still need boots on the ground. Even if it's just advisors and political commisars leading indigenous forces. Too much of what went wrong in the early days of this Afghan campaign was because too much reliance was placed on shovelling cash at proxies like the Northern Alliance and asking them to get on with it, rather than actually shaping them into a desireable tool.

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