Sounding The Horns Of Moria


"A Small Victory" Tantrum Alert Level =
Mecha Godzilla - High

ASmallVictory.net is a fascinating website. In between quaint, and often thoughtful reflections on her home life, the site's purveyor, Michele, unleashes angry, impassioned rants against liberals; accusing them of everything from being anti-American to being soft on terrorism.

In an effort to help our readers (if we have any) things fall apart will begin grading these tantrums in a method similar to that used by the Terror Alert Chart. However, rather than colors, this system will be based in Godzilla monsters (who know a thing or two about throwing a tantrum.) It goes as follows:

TANTRUM ALERT CHART

Godzilla - SEVERE
Mecha Godzilla - HIGH
Mothra - ELEVATED
Rodan - GUARDED
Gamera - LOW

Now on with the show...

Today, Michele issues a massive diatribe concerning the war on terrorism. In addition to making several Lord of the Rings references and spitting in the face of the latest report by The International Institute of Strategic Studies, she argues that the US is locked in a war of civilizations with the Arab world. Michele postulates that the single solution to this clash of cultures is an even more expansive military strategy, extending the theatre of operations for the war on terrorism all the way into nuclear-armed Pakistan. In short, she argues, war is the only answer.

It's the war that will, in the end, save us from doom. While all these forces are gathered in Iraq and Afghanistan and probably Pakistan, we need to let our troops loose to do the right thing.

Interestingly enough, while Michele's piece targets unspecified liberals, ("That includes you with the anti-war sign. And you, with your conspiracy theories", she quips) perhaps it is Richard Lugar, Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at whom her gripes should be directed. Mr. Lugar had this to say about the use of military influence in combating terrorism.

From the Boston Globe:

"Military action is necessary to defeat serious and immediate threats to our national security. But the war on terrorism will not be won through attrition, particularly since military action will often breed more terrorists and more resentment of the United States," the Indiana senator told an international audience of more than 300 students of diplomacy graduating from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

"Unless the United States commits itself to a sustained program of repairing and building alliances, expanding trade, pursuing resolutions to regional conflicts, supporting democracy and development worldwide, and controlling weapons of mass destruction, we are likely to experience acts of catastrophic terrorism" that could kill thousands if not millions, Lugar said.

"The United States, as a nation, simply has not made this commitment," he said. "We are worried about terrorism, but the evolution of national security policy has not kept up with the threat. We have relied heavily on military options and unilateral approaches that have weakened our alliances."

And from USA Today:

"To win the war against terrorism, the United States must assign U.S. economic and diplomatic capabilities the same strategic priority that we assign to military capabilities," he said.

...

Also Saturday, Lugar blamed the Bush and Clinton administrations for not adequately funding the foreign affairs budget, noting that the military's budget is more than 13 times what the nation spends for diplomacy.

Apparently, Mr. Lugar believes the pen, or in this case the dollar, is truly mightier than the sword.