Enough of lackluster non-leadership

The situation: global jihadist movement, that has the suicidal desire to inflict carnage on western nations, is at war with America.

This should be something that right and left can agree on.

Current Reaction: US needs to hit the enemy hard and where it counts. Unlike wars of the past that required massive engagements with land armies, navys, and massive air power, this war will only be won by winning small "quiet" battles. The right has a problem with law enforcement measures but this is really the only way these groups are stopped. In order to do this correctly civil liberties need to be realistic. We cannot stop jihadists without surveillance, and that has to be a series of nets going from broad nets to smaller nets. Filteration. Liberals hate this. So our war fighting capability is hamstrung by the right and left. The unfortunates caught taking up the slack is the foot soldier. The soldier, who may indeed by needed for small quite fights, is now over extended. Meanwhile the national threats still exist that would actually require large armed reponse. The Tiwan straight is still a potential flash point as is North Korea and even a neo-dictatorship in Russia. Large force deterance is at an all time low now since large potential national adversaries see us as bogged down in Iraq.

Path forward: Disengagement in Iraq is important for the afore mentioned reasons. However quick withdral is impossible and dangerous. An Afghanistan in the middle of the middle east is not a good thing. Even a totalitarian regime in Iraq would, in the short run, be better than anarchy. The best way to avoid this is to partner with neighboring states but this is problematice since they are dictatorships and theocracies. A large Egyptian/Turkish/Jordanian force would be more help. Such a force needs to be assembled under the auspices of the UN.

Intel gathering needs to be explained to the US citizen so they understand the scope, neccessity, and limits of what the government has to do. They also need to be given an end-game view so they know how the war is progressing. It must be unbiased and non-partisan. The American people are highly resilient and would be very willing to help their government if they thought they could trust it. Liberal and Conservative voices, and actions, have done nothing but destroy the citizens view of their national government.

More to come