The Cold War
The Soviet Union launched the Cold War because Communism is unsustainable in world with Capitalism in it.
Capitalism functions just fine in a world that has Communists in it. Same thing with Socialists, Islamists or even Democrats. It is preferable for a capitalist society to have more trading partners, but the method of government for those partners does not affect the life in the capitalist society.
This is not the case in tyrannically ruled societies. The reason Iran hates the United States and Israel so badly, is because the thing that tyrants fear most, rebellion by the people, is inspired by seeing others living a better life. If the whole world were a dictatorship, there would be no options, no hope and no rebellion.
The Soviets meant to change the Western way of life. The Islamists mean to do so too. This isn’t a war about oil. It’s a war about ideology. It is indeed a war.
The Soviets meant to kill Westerners. The Cuban missile crisis was not a joke. It was not a stunt. The Soviets sold nuclear missiles to Castro and were sending them to Cuba for deployment. The United States could not allow this to happen. A major naval confrontation ensued. The armies of Central Europe were ready…on both sides. This looked like the beginning of World War III. A General for the Russian army said that his group of 50 thousand tanks had a plan of attack. It did not have orders to attack, but it did have a plan. The Soviets were ready and so was NATO. The point, for those of us spoiled enough to be 40 something or younger, is that this really was the brink of war.
We have lived our entire lives without tasting war. Vietnam was conveniently swept under the rug. Nobody wanted to talk about it. The Gulf War was like a video game. Of course we won, we are the Good Guys. No one takes that thought back to what happened in Vietnam though. The good guys don’t always win. The US pulled out because the casualties were unsustainable politically. Several thousand US soldiers were killed. After the pullout, literally millions of South Vietnamese and Cambodians were slaughtered.
The North Vietnamese were a proxy army for the Soviet Union. The Soviet and NATO forces could never face off directly or that would have indeed led to WWIII. Both sides used proxy armies to fight, but the Soviets picked the most fights. Vietnam, Korea and Cuba were a few of them.
The US won the showdown with the Soviets in Cuba. Castro does not have nuclear missiles. However, that stand-off didn’t end the Cold War, or the reasons that caused it. The Cold War has been won, but the reasons remain.
Iran will continue fighting the United States and Israel using its proxy armies. Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Hamas and now al-Qaeda are allies of Iran. Iran funds and supports these terrorist organizations in every way, enabling them to attack the enemies of the Iranian mullahs.
Take out Iran and end this stage of the War on Global Terrorism.
Tuesday June 27, 2006 - 10:12am (MDT)
Capitalism functions just fine in a world that has Communists in it. Same thing with Socialists, Islamists or even Democrats. It is preferable for a capitalist society to have more trading partners, but the method of government for those partners does not affect the life in the capitalist society.
This is not the case in tyrannically ruled societies. The reason Iran hates the United States and Israel so badly, is because the thing that tyrants fear most, rebellion by the people, is inspired by seeing others living a better life. If the whole world were a dictatorship, there would be no options, no hope and no rebellion.
The Soviets meant to change the Western way of life. The Islamists mean to do so too. This isn’t a war about oil. It’s a war about ideology. It is indeed a war.
The Soviets meant to kill Westerners. The Cuban missile crisis was not a joke. It was not a stunt. The Soviets sold nuclear missiles to Castro and were sending them to Cuba for deployment. The United States could not allow this to happen. A major naval confrontation ensued. The armies of Central Europe were ready…on both sides. This looked like the beginning of World War III. A General for the Russian army said that his group of 50 thousand tanks had a plan of attack. It did not have orders to attack, but it did have a plan. The Soviets were ready and so was NATO. The point, for those of us spoiled enough to be 40 something or younger, is that this really was the brink of war.
We have lived our entire lives without tasting war. Vietnam was conveniently swept under the rug. Nobody wanted to talk about it. The Gulf War was like a video game. Of course we won, we are the Good Guys. No one takes that thought back to what happened in Vietnam though. The good guys don’t always win. The US pulled out because the casualties were unsustainable politically. Several thousand US soldiers were killed. After the pullout, literally millions of South Vietnamese and Cambodians were slaughtered.
The North Vietnamese were a proxy army for the Soviet Union. The Soviet and NATO forces could never face off directly or that would have indeed led to WWIII. Both sides used proxy armies to fight, but the Soviets picked the most fights. Vietnam, Korea and Cuba were a few of them.
The US won the showdown with the Soviets in Cuba. Castro does not have nuclear missiles. However, that stand-off didn’t end the Cold War, or the reasons that caused it. The Cold War has been won, but the reasons remain.
Iran will continue fighting the United States and Israel using its proxy armies. Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Hamas and now al-Qaeda are allies of Iran. Iran funds and supports these terrorist organizations in every way, enabling them to attack the enemies of the Iranian mullahs.
Take out Iran and end this stage of the War on Global Terrorism.
Tuesday June 27, 2006 - 10:12am (MDT)
posted by BoiseJag at 5:17 PM
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