"cavelamb himself" wrote in message
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Ed Huntress wrote:
"cavelamb himself" wrote in message
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So are we in a war, or a squabble?


We're in a war, but not with a country. There is no recognizable
political entity at all; trying to identify one is what led us to invade
Iraq. If we can only take on and beat a *country*, the thinking goes, we
will have asserted our position and dismantled an antagonistic state.
(But we still don't want to *declare* war, or we'll be at war with the
people of that country, as well as the "evil ones." That could be
messy.)

But the enemy wasn't really a state. So now we have a generalized,
amorphous, indeterminate war. Welcome to the new world.

--
Ed Huntress

Sorry Ed, but it sounds like the same old ****.

How are we supposed to know when we win?

Or lose?


What is it you want to win? The old things -- stopping a country's
threats of violence, etc. -- aren't available anymore.

--
Ed Huntress

Then it's perpetual war?

Maybe. Or maybe something else. What's it's not is old-time war.

--
Ed Huntress