[Jayems]

Originally Posted by HOZ

Here is an article from John Robson on the subject. We are fighting and idea. Not poverty.

As students of history know, John Maynard Keynes was right that "soon or late, it is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good and evil." It's why doctors try to bomb nightclubs and airports. Clearly.

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Not everyone gets it. At a Wednesday press conference, NDP leader Jack Layton said we should label civilian casualties in Afghanistan "unacceptable," distance ourselves from the Bush administration, withdraw our troops and initiate a "comprehensive peace process" because "nobody could advance the idea that there's a military solution ultimately in Afghanistan."
Since the Taliban see an obvious military solution, shooting their way back into power and killing everybody who taught girls, I asked him: "When you talk about your comprehensive peace process, what's the offer to the Taliban?" Mr. Layton blithered that "Students of history will know that all major conflicts are resolved ultimately through peace-oriented discussions ..."

Unfortunately for him I am a student of history with three university degrees in the subject from two different countries, so I said: "And by the armies marching into Berlin and an atomic bomb dropped on Japan. That's how World War II ended and students of history know that." He responded: "Well I beg to differ that if you study the precise processes that took place most of the conflicts in the world you'll see that there are always negotiations that take place. And that's what needs to happen here."

And in a kind of a related way, from Andrew Sullivan's view on Live Earth

Good article. I enjoyed it.