I spent some time at Fort Brag. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on who you talk to) I was only 4 or 5 at the time, so I could not become the bad ass I know I could be. Seriously, I can still remember going to the base sometimes with my dad. I can still remember how different it seemed (in a good way) than being off the base. I was only an army brat for 2 or 3 years, but I still have good memories of that place even though I was really young.
Powell is known as the "reluctant" warrior. He's beginning to remind me of another reluctant warrior; George B. McClellan, first commanding general of the Army of the Potomac. I can appreciate Powell's disdain for conflict. In fact, I share it. I do not care for war, and I wish it were unneccessary always. But, some things are worse than war. Like living in a world where Saddam Hussein and others like him kill and burn and destroy and destabilize whole regions with their insane hegemony. Sometimes, enough is enough and you've just got to put your foot down. And he'd better get ready to stomp, because the wider war to completely eliminate radical Islamic terrorism and all other destabilizing influences in the world has barely begun. And either he's fully on board or he's not. Powell served in Vietnam and was instrumental in drawing up the battle plan that eradicated the vast majority of the Iraqi Army in the First Gulf War. I know he knows how to fight. His emphatic statement just prior to that war ("Our plan to defeat this army is very simple. First, we're going to cut it off, and then we're going to kill it!") was fulfilled to the letter. We are going to need men like him if and when push comes to shove with Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and/or (God forbid) Red China. But if he is not committed to making this world a better and safer place, even if it means bloodshed and conflict (and nothing in this world worth fighting for was ever gained by NOT fighting for it) then he needs to decide right now if he's in or if he's out. No half-measures will do.
China is actually doing a wonderful job of doing our bidding in terms of neutralization of North Korea at this point. Also, the example we've set has already convinced Gh(or is it Kh)adafi in Libya that he needs to just call it a day and stop raging against the dying of the night... The terrorist nation states and those who harbor those terrorists will soon learn that the amount of international sovereignity they'll lose as a result of their actions will far outweigh any acclaim they receive in "Islamic street cred"... Money will talk, and bullsh!t will walk...
