Bomb everybody! (Reuters)
In an interview with Fox News, Sen Joe Lieberman warned that Yemen is likely to become the site of the next American war unless the government takes preventive measures to stop the spread of al-Qaeda.
According to Lieberman, a government official in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a told him, "Iraq was yesterday's war, Afghanistan is today's war. If we don't act preemptively, Yemen will be tomorrow's war."
Lieberman cited the cases of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan and attempted airline bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab as evidence of growing extremism in Yemen. Hasan was linked to Yemen-based radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, and Abdulmutallab allegedly "reached out to Yemen" earlier this year before his attempted attack last Friday.
The failed Christmas attack has mobilized opposition to repatriating Yemeni Guantánamo prisoners and could delay plans to close the prison.
Lieberman --joined by Democrat Arlen Specter-- also added that the Obama administration should not release the 90 Yemeni prisoners currently held at Guantánamo Bay.
You want the government to take preventive measures? Sounds like that's what we've been doing for the past year, Joe, or haven't you been paying attention? His source is an official in Yemen's capital? Really? Did he tell you who's gonna win the Super Bowl, too? And this guy chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee? How about we just drop Lieberman in Yemen? He's as much a threat to the health and well being of Americans as any terrorist.
Wait, here's a better idea: Let's start a trillion dollar war with a country that never attacked the U-S so we can "fight them over there" instead of over here. As one reader put it, "that would prevent any terrorist from even thinking about setting his crotch on fire over Detroit." Whaddya think, Joe? You were a big supporter of that Iraq invasion, weren't you? Look how great that worked out at putting an end to terrorism? Maybe we oughtta start wars in ever downtrodden nation on Earth, one after the other. That oughtta do it.
One hopes Senator Lieberman doesn't think putting Yemen on some "Axis of Evil" list and then invading them or bombing them is the answer to eliminating terrorists. That kind of thinking is precisely the problem.
We're in an asymmetrical war. There's no such thing as a front. Stopping terrorists is like playing Whack-a-Mole. We're going to be fighting terrorists long after Lieberman is dead. He's not only out of the loop since Yemen has been on the radar screen for at least a year, but it sounds as if his tactical thinking is already obsolete. Attitudes and strategies need to adjust to new realities. This ain't WWII and John Wayne ain't comin' to save your behind.
Comments
Fifteen of the 9/11 hijackers were citizens of Saudi Arabia. When is Joe Lieberman I(srael) CT going to advocate bombing Riyadh?
NYC: I'm sure he would if we didn't need their oil. Lieberman's an idiot.
When will America stop fighting proxy wars on behalf of Zionist communist Israel?
Maybe zionist like LIEberman should stop trying to tell the US to be Israel's lackey. How many Israeli men and women are losing their lives in Afghanistan right now? It's high time to stop wasting our AMERICAN MEN AND WOMENS lives for this tiny miniscule country who could care less about the US. How much money do we send these blood-suckers year after year while people in the US are struggling? Stop fighting Israel's wars period and destroying American lives for a country who has no loyalty to the US whatsoever.
Kind of strange when we have people in Washington like LIEberman all for sending our brave men and women over to protect Israel's borders but yet these same people could care less about our borders here at home. Weird huh?
Island Hopping War
Secret wars are well and good, but
they don't provide the muscle to get the job done.
I believe in regular forces over special forces.
Why?
Simply because this war is going to go on for generations
and last for many, many years.
I don't want to be the world's psychologist.
Let the State Department be the world's psychologist and charitable organization.
I would rather see the US Military do it Iwo Jima style,which means; get in with overwehlming force, kill the enemy, and leave as soon as possible, even if we have to do it three or four times. It's a whole lot cheaper then organizing a nation building project under a massive US occupation force.
Yemen is the next front on Al Queada
and I want to hit them as hard as humanly possible.
Good Luck
And so Steve Real you and some of your family will be fighting I take it?
The only problem Steve is that what you want to do costs money. Iraq is pushing a trillion dollars, all of it borrowed, and more cost to come to treat the many returning veterans for the rest of their lives --the cost of the war is far more than the up front costs.
Do you want to do more of that? How do you propose to pay for it? Do you favor a war tax? Who will fight? Would you favor a draft?
There was a time a certain country proudly liked to say "The sun never sets on the British Empire." One reason that didn't last was because they couldn't sustain it, neither in cost or manpower. That risk is in play here. Yemen's government is working with the United States, but it's a country with multiple issues that are, in part, conducive as a host for renegades like a terrorist group. This is not as easy as it looks, and far more expensive than we likely can afford. Let's get past the drum beating and address the practical concerns. How do you propose we do that?
Well, Bruce we could always send Obama over to give them a big bow. Maybe that would help. Or better still, why don't we pay them to leave us alone. Oh, that's right, we can't because we're broke. Well, gee, maybe we can apologize, that outta do it.
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