Shaun Kenney | Politics and Religion in Virginia's Public Square

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Thursday, April 22, 2004 Appeasement and the War on Terrorism Ron Smith is an international relations professor at Waikato University in New Zealand. His article concerning Iraq is nothing short of excellent: From at least the time of the Prussian theorist Clausewitz, some 200 years ago, it has been recognised that the use of violent means for political ends (war) is an uncertain business, replete with misapprehension and mistake, as well as tragic loss. It is thus essential that the media (and the publics they serve) keep their eyes on the broader picture and understand the strategies and objectives of the various parties and particularly the significance of how they, the media, respond. In relation to the war in Iraq, it was obvious from the outset that the adversary parties (al Qaeda or Saddam loyalists) could not cause the United States and its allies to withdraw by defeating their forces. They could achieve this end only by causing them to leave through some other factor. Most obviously this could happen through political pressure following unacceptable losses of service personnel, or because of apparent human-rights violations in the way they fought. In both these cases, the essential conduit is the media and it is noteworthy that from the outset (from the first military death), Western media were conjoining reports of the event with questions about whether the US would now pack up and leave. Of course, the fact that they made this connection only reinforced the adversary in his strategy. posted by Shaun Kenney \| 4/22/2004 12:13:00 PM \| 0 comments 0 Comments: Post a Comment Home
	RedStormPAC $ About ShaunKenney.com is one of Virginia's oldest political blogs, focusing on the role of religion and politics in public life. Shaun Kenney, 30, lives in Fluvanna County, Virginia. Contact E-mail RSS/Atom Feed Links Bacon's Rebellion Deo Vindice First Things Google News Hiron's Blog Instapundit J's Notes Jaded JD Jefferson Mammoth Republitarian Save the GOP VCAP Virginia Centrist Virginia Club for Growth Virginia Progressive Virginia Virtucon Vivian J. Paige Waldo Jaquith The Jeffersoniad China Freedom Blog Alliance China e-Lobby Democratic China One Free Korea ShaunKenney.com Previous Posts Abortion Rights March Could Bring Thousands Eve... The Church as Culture Might be a repost, but if... Grandmother My maternal grandmother is doing ve... Scientist Predicts Earthquake by Sept. 5 If you... Last Words Of A Hero: 'I'll Show You How An Italia... Netscape Registration?! I just had to register ... Beltway Bezerkers? I know that many people on s... Society Won't Let Us Skin Our KneesThis analogy is... The kind of leadership we need from Catholic Bisho... Ezekiel 25:17 One of the greatest lines in movi... Search VA Blogs BlogNetNews.com	JEFFERSONIAD POLL: Whom do you support for Virginia Attorney General? 1) John Brownlee 2) Ken Cuccinelli View Results Recent Music Archives March 2002 April 2002 May 2002 June 2002 July 2002 August 2002 September 2002 October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 April 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008