Les Jones: John Howard

July 15, 2005

Quotes > John Howard

"[T]hese people are opposed to what we believe in and what we stand for, far more than what we do. If you imagine that you can buy immunity from fanatics by curling yourself in a ball, apologising for the world - to the world - for who you are and what you stand for and what you believe in, not only is that morally bankrupt, but it's also ineffective. Because fanatics despise a lot of things and the things they despise most is weakness and timidity. There has been plenty of evidence through history that fanatics attack weakness and retreating people even more savagely than they do defiant people."
-- Australian Prime Minister John Howard

Posted by lesjones

Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys.. linked with I *was* gonna do a milblog linkfest...

Comments

Right ON!

Posted by: Matt Groom at July 15, 2005

Right ON!

Posted by: Matt Groom at July 15, 2005

As a "liberal," I can wholeheartedly agree with the point of not retreating and recognizing the terrorists for what they are - enemies of humanity. Even if there was any merit to their notion of an Islamic caliphate, and their isn't, their willingness to kill innocent civilians belies their true nature.

However, just because we believe in Democracy and justice, doesn't mean we don't need to examine our acts and contemplate the consequences. When it comes to combatting terrorism, we need to critically examine our assumptions about our foreign policy and military strategy. We shouldn't give a flip if we "appear" strong. Instead, we should worry about being ruthlessly efficient and lethal in disrupting the capabilities of AQ and like-minded thugs. If it's clear that our current tactics aren't working, then we need to adapt. That's what they do. We need to swallow our pride and our political differences and beat these fuckers. Right now, more energy is spent arguing about who is to blame for obvious mistakes or who gets credit for successes, rather than applying ourselves to the problem at hand.

Posted by: lobbygow at July 17, 2005