Seems there are some heated debates flaring up here lately over security and foreign policy, with some of the more hawkish among us usually at the center of it.
If I can presume to touch off another one, I'd like to talk about why I hear constant accusations that the left doesn't "get it." Doesn't take terrorism seriously. Questions to follow..
First off, I'd like to have a good solid idea of what it is the left doesn't "get." Is this referring to a specific theory on the war in Iraq which connects it, conceptually, to a larger war on terrorism? If so, what precisely do some people not "get" about this theory? And I don't want to hear any cop-out responses that contend this is obvious and delve into ad hominems from there. (I don't actually expect we Kossacks to do much of that).
I suspect the theory goes something like: We are facing a clash of civilizations, pitting radical Islamism (or, if you kick it over on LGF, the entire Islamic world) against Western democracy. So, Al Qaeda is obviously on one side, and.. and.. Iraq. Here's one point where a real fuzzy theory absolutely requires clear explanation. If Iraq under Hussein was a totalitarian state, but not by any means an Islamic theocracy, and Al Qaeda had no connection to this country.. How does Iraq fit into this picture? Why was Iraq chosen to be made part of the larger war on terror?
Second, given the "clash of civilizations" theory about the war on terrorism that some folks "get" and some don't... does it mean that all those who don't buy into the theory, don't take terrorism seriously? Why do some insist that serious and deep concern with fighting global terrorism is contingent on accepting an ill-defined and highly debatable conceptual framework?
This is a real hangup for me precisely because of the often-vicious ad hominem attacks going around based on acceptance or denial of a very ill-defined theory. I hear that we're idiotarians. That we're in denial. That we're appeasers, we're not serious, we're delusional. Well, insisting ever more loudly that the "clash of civilizations" people live in the REAL WORLD and I don't just isn't going to cut it any longer. I want precision. Clarity. Logic.
Thoughts?