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Originally Posted by Clutch
What, exactly, is the demonstrably bad plan you seem to attribute to the Republicans here, and how does it count as an actual plan, by the standards according to which the Democrats don't have a plan? One hopes this isn't just floating standards at work.
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When I wrote that, I specifically had terrorism in mind. The Democratic plan for combating terrorism is
as follows:
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Eliminate Osama Bin Laden, destroy terrorist networks like al Qaeda, finish the job in Afghanistan, and end the threat posed by the Taliban.
Double the size of our Special Forces, increase our human intelligence capabilities, and ensure our intelligence is free from political pressure.
Eliminate terrorist breeding grounds by combating the economic, social, and political conditions that allow extremism to thrive; lead international efforts to uphold and defend human rights; and renew longstanding alliances that have advanced our national security objectives.
Secure by 2010 loose nuclear materials that terrorists could use to build nuclear weapons or “dirty bombs.”
Redouble efforts to stop nuclear weapons development in Iran and North Korea.
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Taking the first point, the Republicans have made it clear that they are going to eliminate Osama Bin Laden and destroy terrorist networks
by implementing various domestic and international spying programs to locate the terrorist networks, and by applying military force overseas in order to kill terrorists and deny them safe territories. The Democrats and Republicans are on the same page until that part in italics. However, while the Republicans have something solid I can put in italics, the Democrats don’t. The part about eliminating Osama Bin Laden is a great goal, but there is no coherent explanation of how they would go about doing it. Is the second point supposed to be it? They didn’t connect it with the first, so am I supposed to assume that the Democrats believe an increase in Special Forces and HUMINT is going to eliminate Bin Laden and terrorist cells? At best, there are gaps that need to be filled.
On to the third point. The Republicans are going to eliminate terrorist breeding grounds by combating the economic, social, and political conditions that allow extremism to thrive. They will combat those things
by invading the countries they deem to be hotbeds of terrorism and putting into place governments that they believe will do a better job of making the people of the country wealthier and happier. Again, that part in italics is what the Democrats are missing. They point to it and bitch about it, but what are they replacing it with?
Moving on: secure loose materials? Is this something special that the Democrats are planning to do that the Republicans have ignored?
Redouble efforts to stop nuclear weapons? Well, the Republicans are trying to stop weapons development
by using economic sanctions, offering incentives, and military posturing. What are the Democrats going to do? Any information?
To borrow their rhetoric, this is supposed to be a part of a bold and comprehensive plan for providing real security. However, reading through it leaves me with far more questions than answers.