WHAT IF BUSH HAD NUKED TORA BORA?

I have believed from the start that Bush should have nuked Tora Bora in 2001. The GWOT would have ended right then and there. It would have sent the right message: Don't Tread On Me!

Instead Bush has has the USA wage a war with one hand behind our back, a war of half-assery. That's why I have long said that "Dubya stands for wimp " and that I would have never voted for him again except if he ran against any Democrat.

Nuking Tora Bora with a few small tactical nukes would have killed the entire al Qaeda leadership and warned everyone - terrorists and the nations which aid or harbor them - that they shouldn't fuck with us. Had Dubya done this the Bush Doctrine ("you're either with us or against us") would've has some teeth - and some positive effect. Now it's too late; what we could've done then in righteous reprisal can not be done now. Not until we are attacked here in the USA again.

MY BOTTOM-LINE: The real asymmetry in the GWOT is this: the enemy is willing to do anything to win and we are not.

Nukes were on Vanderluen's mind they other day; here's what he posted, GVDL:

I think we need to have the people of the world focus like a laser on the table stakes of going beyond these little patty-cake wars we are currently diddling around with and look, really look, at what can actually happen with one little slip.

What we need to do this is: "The Live Demo." By this I mean we need to find a small island or deserted space somewhere on the planet and sacrifice it for the greater good by setting off one, just one, low-yield thermonuclear device in the atmosphere for all the world to see.

Think of "The Live Demo" as a remedial educational moment for the entire world; a kind of slap upside the head coupled with a large shout out of: "PAY ATTENTION!"

I THINK THIS WOULD ACCOMPLISH NOTHING.

• REMEMBER, IT TOOK TWO NUKES TO CONVINCE JAPAN TO QUIT.

• THE FIRST "DEMO" ON A REAL LIVING CITY DIDN'T DO THE TRICK.

• BESIDES: THE REAL POWER OF USING THE BOMB IS THE MESSAGE IT SENDS: "WE WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO ANNIHILATE YOU IF YOU ATTACK US!"

• WHEN WE APPEASE THE ENEMY, AND FIGHT WITH ONE HAND BEHIND OUR BACK - WHEN OUR POLITICIANS SAY THEY WOULD TO RETREAT WITHOUT VICTORY - THIS SENDS THE OPPOSITE MESSAGE - ONE WHICH EMBOLDENS THE ENEMY.

• OUR NEXT PRESIDENT, BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA, PROMISES TO DO THINGS WHICH WILL EMBOLDEN THE ENEMY, AND WEAKEN OUR CAPABILITIES TO INTERCEPT THEIR PLANS AND RETALIATE.

HOW SAD... THERE WILL BE MUCH SUFFERING DUE TO OBAMA'S ANTI-DEFENSE PRO-APPEASEMENT OUTLOOK.

HOW EFFIN' SAD.

[BTW: TRUMAN'S USE OF THE BOMB WAS NECESSARY, PROPER AND HUMANE - SAVING PERHAPS 20 MILLION JAPANESE LIVES. MORE HERE.]