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Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor
Personally I could care less if we just said to heck with the rest of the world because it proably wouldnt affect me. It would most likely affect my children or grandchildren. All I am saying is do we just ignore these radical regiem like history shows usually happens or do we tackle it now?
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Well, clearly it's not an either/or proposition. Bush's choices with Iraq were never "invade or do nothing." Same thing with Afghanistan, though an argument could be made that his hands were much more substantially tied in that case. Interestingly, Afghanistan isn't part of PNAC's plan for US global policy--which is why (as so many people in this thread have pointed out) the US has devoted so many more resources to Iraq than to their efforts in Afghanistan--people like Paul Wolfowitz saw Afghanistan as a distraction, and a much less winnable situation in the long term. History will tell if he and his ilk are correct.
But I don't think "pulling out" of either Afghanistan or Iraq is a very realistic prospect at this point. There needs to be an exit strategy that allows for greater stability in the region, not less. I think this can be done, but it will probably take years, not months. And if we get antsy every time an article about Islamic radicals in our midst is posted on the internet, it's going to be a long few years indeed.
But as to your specific question: personally, I don't think a blanket policy for how to deal with "radical regimes" is the answer. In part, I worry that an attitude like yours confuses Islam itself with Islamist governments--or with extremist Islam, which are very different shades of the same religious beliefs. Think of it this way: most North Americans are Christians, in one way or another. Very few of us are Fred Phelps--and wouldn't appreciate being tarred with the same brush.
But it's clearly the case that different circumstances call for different responses. Iran calls for a very different approach than Iraq did, especially given the wisdom that experience gives us--though it remains to be seen what difference that will make in the long run. Experience is only useful if you can learn from it.