Too many holes in the boat
Right across the planet, the geopolitical problems are mounting: Russian nationalism and NATO response; Iranian nuclear ambitions and Israel’s and America’s response; Pakistan’s rising fundamentalists and internal political and economic instability (and they have a nuclear arsenal); Afghanistan’s Taliban problem, potential NATO defeat there, and the option for spill-over into Pakistan; the rise of China and the growing shadow of Chinese Nationalism and a potential war to retake Taiwan (which would lead to war with America and Japan); and if that were not enough, the prospect for nuclear terrorism by state-less actors also looms.
The world has never been this unstable. Certainly pre-World War One was one such period, but there were 75 per cent fewer people on the planet and no nukes back in 1914.
In addition to nuclear weapons, there also exist today battlefield low-yield nuclear weapons that are tempting to deploy, tactical weapons which easily escalates into strategic use. Strategic use is, of course, a world-ender. We might survive it, but it wouldn’t be a pretty place to live in after a nuclear exchange with intercontinental ballistic missiles unleashed: subsistence farming, nuclear winter, nuclear fallout and radiation effects, “Mad Max” style survival, and the end of society as we have understood it to be.
Ron Suskind joined me today from Washington D.C., author of “The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope In an Age of Extremism”, as did Eric Margolis author of “War At the Top of The World”, to discuss our Afghanistan policy and the threat of nuclear terrorism.
Simply put, the enemy is better at predicting our response modalities than we are. They can see around corners when it comes to what we can do to them and how we react, whereas we, ourselves, can’t see where we are going, or where we have been, or what history means.
Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and Pakistan are winning. In order to survive, Ron Suskind says we have to emphasize more goodwill/aid efforts.
It was Machiavelli, the great Renaissance thinker who posited the notion in his great work “The Prince” that if you cannot destroy your enemies you must befriend them.
And we cannot destroy them.
August 22nd, 2008 at 11:20 pm
“And we cannot destroy them.”
You must have listened to one too many Obama the Arugula eater speeches and accepted premature defeat.
Our dear leader, John ‘Seven-House’ McCain will track down bin Laughing and strangle him while our predator drones bomb the Talibs back to kingdom come.
After all - if we accept defeat in Afghanistan, what’s to stop another batch of box cutting Saudi al-qaeda from blowing by NORAD and turning all our sky-scrapers into thermite laden dust?
August 25th, 2008 at 10:34 am
I was listening to your show this morning [ aug.25] and it sounded to me like you are very pro liberal . You certainly gave Scott Brison a free ride. You are so negative towards the Tories. Is it mandatory, to work for Rogers, that you have to be pro Liberal because Tom Young ,Richard Z, and Tyler MacLean sure sound like Liberals. I have been a liberal my whole life but I personally have gained much from Tory rule the last 2 1/2 years. Iam retired and the reduced taxes and income splitting have helped me tremendously The Green Shift program is a farce! It will cost me alot more money. Andrew, I ask you to be fair to both parties and ask the right questions to both so we can get the right answers.Enough already of being biased to the liberals! Hope to hear from you soon!