Tuesday, October 30, 2007

12 Myths of 21st-Century War

A good read by Ralph Peters over at The American Legion Magazine is 12 Myths of 21st-Century War
  • Unaware of the cost of freedom and served by leaders without military expertise, Americans have started to believe whatever's comfortable
  • Myth No. 1: War doesn't change anything.
    Myth No. 2: Victory is impossible today.
    Myth No. 3: Insurgencies can never be defeated.
    Myth No. 4: There's no military solution; only negotiations can solve our problems.
    Myth No. 5: When we fight back, we only provoke our enemies.
    Myth No. 6: Killing terrorists only turns them into martyrs.
    Myth No. 7: If we fight as fiercely as our enemies, we're no better than them.
    Myth No. 8: The United States is more hated today than ever before.
    Myth No. 9: Our invasion of Iraq created our terrorist problems.
    Myth No. 10: If we just leave, the Iraqis will patch up their differences on their own.
    Myth No. 11: It's all Israel's fault. Or the popular Washington corollary: "The Saudis are our friends."
    Myth No. 12: The Middle East's problems are all America's fault.
I'm betting you've all heard most, if not all, of those myths by any number of the anti-war crowd. Ralph addresses each one in a very coherent and logical way. Check it out.

Linked via Small Wars Journal blog

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