Let’s hope Mr. Obama understands that it takes two parties to end a war … unless one surrenders

2013

Recently with regard to the war on terror, Mr. Obama said, “This war, like all wars, must end. “That’s what history advises. That’s what our democracy demands.”

As reported by the WSJ, the president approved new policies this week that appeared to stiffen requirements for strikes—stating, for example, that the U.S. will only target suspected terrorists who pose a “continuing and imminent threat to the American people,” rather those who pose a “significant threat to U.S. interests,” the standard outlined by the White House in 2012, according to administration officials.

No sane person can argue against ending a war, but ending a war on any terms may have long term adverse consequences … think North Korea. My judgement is that you cannot apply the experience of the past, such as Vietnam, to the present situation. The war on terror by definition is undefined, there are no fronts, no single enemy, no rational position or goal of the enemy to understand.

If for example, we could know that a total American withdraw from every Middle East country where we are not wanted would bring total peace, we may have something. But of course, that would also mean we would turn our back on any abuses we perceive occur in those countries that offend of sensibilities of human rights and social justice. North Korea continually threatens war and now even intimates a nuclear attack on the US; this from a country that we support with humanitarian aid in the light of their continual military build up. Our rational thinking in this regard is questionable.

Mr. Obama’s public pronouncements in regard to our strategy are irresponsible even if the policies were sound. There are terrorists in a score of countries and perhaps more bent on doing harm to America and Americans around the world based on some set of grievances that only they understand. The West sees Syria as a fight between the good guys and the bad guys, the bad guy being a dictator and yet one sect of Muslims fights to support the dictator against another sect of Muslims. Is any of this understandable to anyone outside the region? These are people who routinely employ suicide bombers to achieve their goals. But what we don’t seem to comprehend is the willingness of young men and women to be suicide bombers and what that tells us.

If our President could send emissaries to every terrorist group in the world and say, “Hey guys, enough is enough, we are taking a hands off position. You guys do whatever you want to whom every you want, but leave Americans alone and we will go way, we have had enough,” perhaps then the “war” would end. Even if that were not just fantasy, is that what Americans want?

Mr. Obama is playing politics again in my view and quite dangerously. Given we have no single enemy to defeat, simply declaring that this war on terror must end is appealing, but naive. To truly make this end, we must give the terrorists what they seek. The President should tell us what that is and what price we have to pay to capitulate. Until then we are doing what we always do, kick the can to the next generation.