[Rhodes22-list] Politics: Goals

[Robert Skinner]

brad haslett wrote:
> ...
> Vietnam became the quagmire it was because we didn’t
> have clearly defined goals.  We did not lose a single
> major battle there.  The enemy defeated us on our own
> streets, in our own homes becaused we lost the will.
> ...

Point well made, Brad.  This message is not about Bush 
vs. Kerry.  It is about national policy.

I'd like to see 3 to 5 well defined and achievable goals,
specific steps that will extricate us from the current 
mess, and a clear picture of a world where terrorists
are not motivated to harm a few to control many.

I probably share that feeling with several million of my 
fellow patriots as we watch the erosion of our 
constitutional rights in pursuit of shifting goals-de-jour.

Frankly, I doubt that it is possible to prevent terrorists 
from carrying out their operations in any but the most 
militant dictatorship.  Biological, chemical, and 
radiological weapons will eventually fall into the hands 
of the terrorists.

I, for one, prefer to take the risks and enjoy my freedom.

Our government has to stop constraining our own freedoms,
rebuild our alliances around the world, improve our
intelligence (both intellectual and covert), and carry out
a brutally effective program of assassination of those who
threaten us.

We cannot continue to punish whole populations for the 
acts of a few -- and especially we cannot act against our 
own citizens.

/Bob Skinner