See his post at http://www.juancole.com/2004_09_01_juancole_archive.html#109470928365123509.
Its the 51st state morons. The ones who used to locate Brownsville Texas adjacent to Nicaragua and now site it on the eastern side of Lake Med.
He concludes with this: If I had been a younger man (I am 51) I would have gone to fight al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
I still think that Rep. Barbara Lee (D, Berkeley) has the better view -- criminal investigation, not military operations, was possible after the 9/11 conspirators carried out their crimes, with less risk to the United States, and with a greater probability of success, than a series of botched military missions in Central Asia. I don't think Professor Cole's age is any barrier to his participation in the prosecution of al-Qaeda, the real barrier to his participation was the policy to use comat arms, men in the 19 to 35 age range, and, in the military context of the Taliban's force structure and the available oppositional forces on the ground (chiefly the Northern Alliance), absurdly exotic weapons.
Professor Cole's real disability is his intellect and his disinclination to follow orders that are tactically, and strategically dumb, and frequently cross the line drawn at Nuremberg.
Speaking of which, I came across a wicked good quote this morning: in the infantry, the cheapest hardware to replace is personnel.
Posted by EBW at September 9, 2004 10:30 AM | TrackBack