American optimism and experience.  That's how we got here.

Nation-building has put all of our former enemies and their victims (and ours) back together.  It must be noted that with the exception of the Japanese, virtually all of them were of the Christian persuasion.  That means that an all-important ethic and moral underpinning was common to victor and vanquished alike.

After that, there came Latin America.  Success there was wide and far.  Dictators, left from the foreign-adventuring Spanish, were able to effect democratic changes under the influence of the American barbarian — the same barbarian who pulled Europe's fat from the fires of Nazism, fascism, and the scourge of the USSR

No wonder the U.S. did not hesitate to unleash the barbarian in the fight to make things better, no matter where.  From 1917 through 1945 and beyond, from Flanders Field to the Philippines to El Salvador and beyond, the tradition has held.  Holding also was the inability of the American politician to stay a course.  Indeed, some noted politicians were actually engaged at cross purposes to the government they supposedly served. 

Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, among any number of others whose personal ambitions were their only concern, whined and moaned our way out of lasting good effect — wasting, by the way, the sacred gift of lives offered in the name of the greatest invention in the history of the world, the United States of America.

The tragic flaw (necessary for any tragedy): Failure to recognize cultures that are so far from our view of rationality that our methods are utterly lost on them.  Within cultures, however, there are individuals worth helping.  One fears, though, that it must be done from without, through example and whatever social pressure can be brought.

What then to do with those who actively seek our ineffectiveness if not defeat?  A proposal: 1. Admit that actions rational by our reckoning are not working in Muslim countries.  2. Recognize that those same countries are inimical to the U.S. and to all peoples not of the faith.  3. Remember that it is exactly in those countries (some minor exceptions) that enmity towards us (the U.S.) is rampant, that lying to the infidel is approved, that conquest by immigration is encouraged, and that outright murder of those not of the faith is routine (never mind centuries of coexisting).  4. Determine that military intervention to resolve military or paramilitary transgressions may be necessary.  5. Reconcile that long-term military presence in such countries is counterproductive.  6. Resolve to redeploy troops entirely as soon as the extant transgression is squashed.  7. Send presidential and official correspondence to each leader outlining the following: a. America gives up on the two-state solution to the so-called Palestinian Israel situation and vows to support any action Israel takes in retaliation for hostile Palestinian actions against Israel.  b. Any harm to any American citizen or citizen of an American ally or citizen of your country not of the faith attributed to your nation in any way will be answered by a deliberate, targeted attack on you personally, with no regard for so-called collateral casualties or damage.  c. Leave this letter in your upper right-hand desk drawer for your successor.

'Nuff said.

E.T. Gwynn's Bio/C.V. is found at www.reddawnrange.com in the Instructor section.