Charlie Steiner
Footballguy
President Biden ordered his first airstrike yesterday.
I'm not interested in comparing numbers from any previous administration and will concede that this is more or less a variation of Theodore Roosevelt's 'Speak softly and carry a big stick'; my 'concern' is that even though the stories are reported, they seem to pretty quickly fade into the background yet are the events that form the image the folks in those parts of the world have of us. As much as I'd like to tear apart the story as reported, I think that would only derail any constructive discussion about the subject of the level of violence our foreign policy relies on way too often.
TBH, I don't know what my point really is, other than reminding everyone that regardless of who is in command, the tactics don't seem to change much, so while we quibble all day long about one side vs. the other, actions like this should underscore that the rest of the world--especially those on the other end of our gunsights--probably won't see much difference between the two when they're sifting through the rubble and swearing revenge.
I don't have any alternatives, and I'm not a 'dove' by any stretch, just sadly calling our collective attention to yet another example of how the horrific has become mundane for us.
I'm not interested in comparing numbers from any previous administration and will concede that this is more or less a variation of Theodore Roosevelt's 'Speak softly and carry a big stick'; my 'concern' is that even though the stories are reported, they seem to pretty quickly fade into the background yet are the events that form the image the folks in those parts of the world have of us. As much as I'd like to tear apart the story as reported, I think that would only derail any constructive discussion about the subject of the level of violence our foreign policy relies on way too often.
TBH, I don't know what my point really is, other than reminding everyone that regardless of who is in command, the tactics don't seem to change much, so while we quibble all day long about one side vs. the other, actions like this should underscore that the rest of the world--especially those on the other end of our gunsights--probably won't see much difference between the two when they're sifting through the rubble and swearing revenge.
I don't have any alternatives, and I'm not a 'dove' by any stretch, just sadly calling our collective attention to yet another example of how the horrific has become mundane for us.