This morning I had a long IM chat with a friend of mine whose politics have been somewhere left of Teddy Kennedy. We have had some rousing arguments over the years.
Now she has leaped immediately to the right of Attila the Hun. I even went so far as to take a crack at what Weenie Bill would have done in this situation. And she didn't flinch. She even volunteered that she was glad we have a Republican in the White House right now. I almost fell off my chair.
My point is that in times like these the American people rally around a central cause, no matter what squabbles we may have had in the past. We did it after Pearl Harbor, and we will do it here.
To paraphrase what Bo just posted, the sleeping giant is now awake. This enent will show us what Pres. Bush is made of, and I, for one, am thankful that he has Colin Powell at his side.
Assuming that bin Laden/Afgahistan is behind this, here is my unlearned opinion as to what our respose should be.
1. Enlist world wide support.
2. Give Afganistan 48 hours to hand over bin Laden. And if they don't.........
3. Pummel the hell out of them with conventional weapons, including massive cruise missle, B-52, and B-1 airborne raids. And sustain them.
4. And finally (and I'm going to say it), if they still haven't had enough give strong consideration to the use of tactical nukes, as repugnant as that may be.
These bastards, and any other of their ilk, have to be made to understand that the world community will no longer tolerate such behavior. The retaliation has to be swift and painful. And I hope that we borrow a page out of Teddy Roosevelt's book and don't pay any attention to the legal niceties.
