OT: Counter-Terrorism is a Farce

[PvK]

Lebanon is a nation too, even if there happen to be radicals there firing rockets into Israel. The Israeli attacks on targets in Lebanon looks extremely close to the suggestion Renegade 13 exageratedly made, except perhaps worse in that Israel attacks towns where they claim rockets come from, even if the attackers don't come from that town, but just stop there to fire rockets before moving on.

Israeli tactics would get a lot more sympathy from me if, when Lebanon fails to stop rocket attacks from within its borders, it duly notified Lebanon and then sent in men to find and shoot the actual attackers, instead of deciding to treat practically the entire population of Southern Lebanon (as well as UN observers...) as if it were hostile.

[Renegade 13]

Will, as someone not familiar with American culture or history like I should be...who was "Ike"??? I've heard the name before, but in reference to what, I can't remember.

Also, I think your plan could work, but I think it would take longer than 30 years. Maybe 50. There's bound to be some massive snags along the way.

[Will]

Renegade 13 said:
Will, as someone not familiar with American culture or history like I should be...who was "Ike"??? I've heard the name before, but in reference to what, I can't remember.

Whoops. Probably most people in the world over about the age of 40 would recognize the nickname "Ike"... but that still leaves out the majority of the world

Ike was the nickname for Dwight D. Eisenhower. Supreme Commander of American forces in Europe during WWII, 34th President of the United States, among other notable positions. He famously warned in his farewell address to the nation that the growing military-industrial complex in the United States posed a major threat to our way of life.

Also, while the year count is fungible, I think that 30 years of ... all that stuff, would be a conservative estimate. I'm not looking for utopia here, I'm just saying after that amount of time, it would be reasonable to expect that there will be no national conflicts and no discernable threat of national conflicts in the area. There won't be an ending to attacks and bombings by militant fringe groups, but those still exist in the US and Europe, as well. As I see it, 30 years is enough time for two generations to go through a minor cultural shift where it becomes difficult to convince young men to kill people and blow themselves up. A span of 50 years would basically flush out most of the population that had their formative years during the time before the plan's implementation. I do not have much personal experience with Arab, Turkish, or Persian cultures to know how much of an influence the elder population has, but I would guess it is not sufficient to continue wars when the younger population fighting those wars are finding it harder to believe the reasons for fighting said wars.