I couldn't reach the link to the professor, and so perhaps he notes this attribution. However, I believe the first reporting of this resonant link between the two 9/11s was made by James Carroll in his book, The House of War.
Posted by Joseph at September 10, 2006 06:51 AMOne of the dominoes that falls when a Country no longer has world respect is its ability to negotiate. The Stimson name has another larger than life member, Dorothy Stimson Bullitt. http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=677 Her strength of character was unrivaled. She was a Democrat in the very best sense of the word. My point is, that when a person or a country loses its strength of character then simultaneously it degrades its abilities to resolve the issues on the table. Thanks for reminding me of Mrs. Bullitt, I think there's a movie clip of her somewhere in front of the 1945 Dem Convention introducing the platform and adding in child welfare.
Posted by mainsailset at September 10, 2006 08:19 AM The Case for Capturing Osama bin Laden
99.9% of all species are now extint. How are we supposed to join them unless everyone has a nuke?
Posted by TIKI AL at September 10, 2006 10:35 AMMan, soccerdad, I'm on your side, And I'm not sure that I could get behind that. Stalin was a brutal sonofabitch who was willing to exploit any weakness by anyone to his advantage. Kruschev, Gorbachev, Andropov, and even Lenin I might entertain that proposal seriously. But Stalin?
The right-spinning wing-nuts are gonna have a field day with this one.
Posted by idiosynchronic at September 10, 2006 11:47 AMidiosynchronic
I agree but make the following point. You would attempt to work with them using negotiation. You are certainly not going to give up anything on you side until its clear its safe. But by rejecting the path outright you are sure to not get a better outcome. If you try and negotiate in good faith and it fails its not clear you are in a worse position.
If Bush goes ahead with his war of civilizations, Bush's name will end up with that of Stalin as a mass murderer, since the only way Bush can fight a larger war is by using extreme force including tactical bunker busters.
Posted by soccerdad at September 10, 2006 12:34 PM
soccerdad, Bush's negotiation tactic reminds me of low bid buyers. When you always make your purchases based on low bid, sooner or later it dawns on you that all you'll get in return is a cheap product. His insistence on using Bolton & Condi as his non-negotiators invariably forces our military into a position of cleaning up after them. If only he would throw a little quality into the negotiating team.
Posted by mainsailset at September 10, 2006 01:44 PMThe Bushites are not about negoiations. They believe that they have all the answers and diplomacy is just a formality that must be addressed so that cover can be provided for their true intentions. And apparently, their intention is to start a new crusade against the islamic world that will quickly turn into World War III.
Posted by herbal tee at September 10, 2006 01:52 PMherbal speaks with strait tongue. Heads up Iran, please throw bush a bone before he does something really stupid....again. He is entirely capable of it, more so now that he's become "legacy challenged".
Just ask Sadaam if he would do things differently.
Posted by TIKI AL at September 10, 2006 05:35 PMStimson wanted to give Stalin the technology? Okay.
Posted by Daryl at September 11, 2006 02:15 PM