The title is supposed to make you think about the goal of war not being the enemy laying down arms but in the end-state that we desire. In other words, what should peace look and feel like to you? I have posted, some have said ad nauseam, Winning the Peace OPs before but my previous focus was on operationalizing the DOD’s Foreign Area Officers (FAOs). Those arguments for improving and revolutionizing the tactics, techniques, and procedures of FAOs are still in play, but now I want to discuss winning the peace through energy independence.
Cannot an argument be made that the house of war is at particular risk only if and when the house of peace is financially prosperous? If that is the case then shouldn’t our federal government’s strategy be to starve the Islamic supremacists of petro-dollars? Delightful side effects might be even greater instability in Muslim nations if their rulers were to find themselves unable to maintain social tranquility by means of free bread and circuses for the masses.
Could we not win the peace by becoming the world’s greatest exporter of energy? What do we have to lose? Energy independence should be our strategic goal and would also inhibit Russia’s ability to export mischief. If our nation’s leaders could actually think outside of the box and play hardball too, then we could probably also slap China back into line at the same time. Win – Win – Win.
Finally, I suppose that from time to time the price of oil would drop to a level to make fracking impractical. That ebb and flow would probably have the impact of denying petro-sheiks and therefore Islamic supremacists as well with sufficient funds to threaten the house of war. Our energy policy should promote oil, gas, coal, solar, wind, nukes, all of the above, and etc.
Frack them until they beg for mercy!
ST UnWoked & UnVaxxed! 
Trump did this, and Biden is undoing it. But, Trump says that he may well run again in 2024, and Delta Airlines publicly supports the election reform law in Georgia. Fly Delta 🙂
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Wisdom, ST, also proof that no prophet is without honor except in his own country….
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Ain’t that some shinola.
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I was going to write exactly what Judy did. Under Trump we became a net energy exporter. Now,Ol’ Jo{k}e’s plan to create jobs is to put people to work capping off oil and gas wells.
We were THERE! we had “peace through strength “! We had a president who simply said: ‘Dont try to overrun our borders. We won’t let you in and if you get in, we won’t let you stay.”. It worked! . We had a president who believed the reason our military exists is to be ready to defend our country by force, if and when necessary. Under Ol’ Jo{k}e, as under B. Hussein, it’s a club you can join to get the taxpayers to pay for cosmetic surgery, self-inflicted mayhem, and lifelong hormone/pharmaceutical support, and the only new ‘designs’ he’s interested in are women’s hairstyles and “maternity flight suits”.
Has it Even. Fucking. OCCURRED to anybody else that every policy the Dems support is designed to flood our “military” with the WEAKEST, MOST PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY COMPROMISED individuals?
There is such a thing as “peace through weakness”. It’s what happens when you’re so obviously decrepit and addled that the world just leaves you alone. It no longer cares what you think or what you do, you are impotent. It will take from you anything it wants, and give you…well, maybe bare subsistence, if you’re lucky.
That’s the “peace” to which the Dems (and, apparently, a slim majority of Americans) presently aspire.
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I have nothing to say and I will say it anyway.
BTW: I’m pretty sure I stole the above from somebody.
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“Delightful side effects might be even greater instability in Muslim nations if their rulers were to find themselves unable to maintain social tranquility by means of free bread and circuses for the masses.”
This is what I believe needs to happen; let them destroy themselves and get the damn pipeline built to make us more independent. Of course I realize the jackass in the WH nixed this but we can still work with Canada and even Mexico who have plenty of oil. In the meantime, maintain our relationship with the House of Saud who although it runs an evil empire itself, is somewhat controllable by the desire to maintain its opulent lifestyle. We are good customers and that has engendered some cooperation on their part; the establishment of madrassas aside.
To sum it up, I want out of the Mid-East entirely and all defense funds directed at self-preservation. Nothing will change a culture that refuses to leave the 16th century.
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You do say we maintain our relationship with Saudia Arabia, and I agree. We should work with moderate Muslims when and where we find them, but they are a mighty scarce breed. Where I just came from is heavy Muslim.
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One disagreement, ST: I don’t believe in “moderate Muslims” because I didn’t hear a foxtrotting peep from any of them after 9/11. I only agree to maintain a cordial relationship with Saudi Arabia because capitalism drives them to support us.
In the meantime, in this country, if you look cross-eyed at a person, you’re attacked as a racist, sexist or homophobe. This is an equally ridiculous approach to government and will eventually take us down if the Don doesn’t get back in charge.
Where oh where is sense and sensibility?
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“I don’t believe in “moderate Muslims” because I didn’t hear a foxtrotting peep from any of them after 9/11.”
Ergo my “but they are a mighty scarce breed.” I think the unicorn is the only thing even more rare. There are more viable sightings of Sasquatch.
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