Thursday, October 22, 2009

Emulate FDR in this, Mr. President

Clifford May, NRO, former foreign correspondent, NY Times, "Disconnecting the Dots":
German Nazis, Italian Fascists, and Japanese militarists — all had grievances. They sought to redress those grievances — and gain power — through war and conquest. President Roosevelt’s response was not to pursue “conflict resolution.” His goal was to defeat them — utterly and unconditionally. (After that, the U.S. could — and would — assist in a robust reconstruction effort.)

Roosevelt understood, too, that he was not fighting one war in Europe, another war in the Pacific, and a third in North Africa. He grasped that these were separate theaters in a single struggle to defend the West, to protect the fragile democratic experiment from those aiming to destroy it.
Franklin D. Roosevelt:

Our national determination to keep free of foreign wars and foreign entanglements cannot prevent us from feeling deep concern when ideals and principles that we have cherished are challenged.

*****

When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck to crush him.

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