Arguments for ground war

Greg Schofield g_schofield at dingoblue.net.au
Thu Nov 1 16:55:27 PST 2001


Hakki you miss my point I fear, what happens to US soldiers is secondary.

The present siege is where the disaster is, and not just those killed by bombs. Either the siege is lifted by invasion of withdrawal they are the two humane choices. If the US won't leave then it should be pushed to invade.

Do you think I do not know that the soldiers are only ordinary folks in uniform and marched around a lot. But what has to be at the forefront is breaking this unholy siege.

Greg Schofield Perth Australia

--- Message Received --- From: "Hakki Alacakaptan" <nucleus at superonline.com> To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 15:07:18 +0200 Subject: RE: Arguments for ground war

Nothing like body bags to erode that 80% support and give the Afghans the revenge they are itching for, right? But is getting those poor grunts torn apart for their imperialist masters' folly a defensible cause for the left? Bear in mind that world opinion has swung sharply against this war and that the US is alone (except for Israel, which is not a party) from now on. Why not just stick to a morally unambiguous and simple opposition to this imperialist war when you have the whole world on your side? Unpatriotic? What does this pipeline war have to do with patriotism except in the mystified minds of the US public?

It's obvious to everyone that getting ObL is almost impossible and even if it were, it would just make things much worse. The Taliban are the only people who can deliver him and this war that Dubya was in such a hurry to start has made that impossible. The clique that ordered this war want a)a regime in Afghanistan that will allow the pipeline construction and ensure its safe operation b)ObL dead so that, among other things, he can't talk about his adventures as a CIA agent. Any movement that supports anything that will serve this clique's ends, such as a ground war, will be compromised and historically condemned.

The Ugly American is back and the world is getting those rotten tomatoes ready, so make sure you don't get any on your face.

Hakki Alacakaptan

|| -----Original Message-----

|| From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com

|| [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Greg Schofield

|| They (the US) have got themselves into a position where they

|| are stuck, we should unstick the problem, they are not allowing

|| us any other option. Having embarked on a military escapade it

|| must be continued as a ground campaign at least through the

|| coming winter.

|| 1)The reasons for this are that a military advance will allow

|| secure humanitarian aid (this is the most important aspect) -

|| it secures a route for aid and points of concentration.

|| 2) An on the ground campaign at least makes it within the

|| realms of possiblity to attain what has been desired (which

|| bombing will never do) - I am not saying how likely this is but

|| it does present a direct line between desire and action which

|| bombing does not.

|| 3) It takes direct responsiblity back to the miliary for what

|| is done (bombing attempts to throw responsibility to act on the

|| regime being bombed - it thus has no iniative), that is the

|| force is directly linked to the objective and what is done

|| falls within the sphere of that force (starving people become a

|| military responsiblity when both are on the ground).

||

|| Now I would add to this, given the state of play - the US will

|| get a very bloody nose and may well not succeed - but then as a

|| power it choose this route and should be forced to follow it

|| seeing it has cut-off all other routes and the current

|| conditions (bombing) is the worst case scenario (it will make

|| humantarian efforts impossible on any scale).

||

|| My hope is that it gets such a bloody nose it learns how to

|| behave and changes its way, alternatively it may secure Bin

|| Laden and the whole thing could be spun down quickly (...)

||

|| Greg Schofield

|| Perth Australia

||

||

||

||

|| --- Message Received ---

|| From: Chris Burford <cburford at gn.apc.org>

|| To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com (...)

||

|| Yes, if the war is just, let it be a ground war immediately!

||

||

|| Chris Burford

|| London

||

||



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