Hat tip to Jihad Watch
Note to Moderators: I searched both the author's name and the article's title before posting this. No hits on either term ensued, so I would like to share this vital essay. I'm hoping you will consider leaving it intact, or at least abridging it to Page 49. If this has already run here at Rantburg, please delete this post. Thanking you in advance.
All: This is a MUST READ work that provides the definitive analysis of why Iran must be defeated at the soonest opportunity. Lewis' writing is lucid, cogent and factually based. His conclusions are clear cut and explicit. I have yet to see a more compelling argument made for crushing the Iranian mullahs. This is a long piece but, once finished, no one will dispute the time spent reading it.
| Please don't post long articles in full like this. The beauty of the web and weblogs is the link. Provide the link and the first few paragraphs. This isn't an article, this is a treatise. Thanks, AoS. |
By: John Lewis
The Greek historian Thucydides, writing about the calamitous war that had destroyed his own world, made an important observation about the causes of historical events: Even though circumstances may change, human nature remains the same; and certain human elements—especially moral and psychological factors—are at the root of all wars. We can disagree with Thucydides about the identity of those factors, and reject his pessimistic view of human nature, but we will benefit from accepting his challenge to rise above particular circumstances and focus on the principles of human action that are common to all time. Differences in technology, politics, or economics will always remain secondary to the ideas that motivate aggressors to launch bloody attacks and that empower—or restrain—defenders opposing those attacks.
In that spirit, let us begin by considering an event of cataclysmic proportions, a deadly attack against Americans, and then examine two possible responses to it. This approach will show us that the crisis we face today—a series of highly motivated attacks against the heart of civilization—is not unique, can be understood, and can be ended—if we choose to understand and end it.
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