Unfit for Duty

In a discussion on the commitment of Bush to prememption, Hugh Hewitt has more clearly enunciated why Kerry is unfit to lead than anyone else I've read.

John Kerry is not so committed. In his acceptance speech he said "[a]ny attack will be met with a swift and certain response." This is not the question, and by refusing explicitly to answer the question of when if ever he would act preemptively, we can only conclude that Kerry will not move preemptively against gathering threats. Like Clinton, he will judge the intelligence too vague, the country insufficiently prepared for battle, or the undeniable costs in the lives of Americans and American dollars too great.

George Bush is trying to kill the terrorists before they kill more Americans. He will not always succeed. But I think fewer Americans will die from such attacks if Bush wins reelection, far fewer in fact.

Hugh's right. Failing to respond to a direct attack is almost treasonous. I'm not worried about that, though I do worry about the nature of our response - do we overthrow the Taliban or send missles into the desert. The bigger questions remaining though is to what extent is Kerry willing to go to kill them before they kill us. As George Patton once said

To conquer, we must destroy our enemies. We must not only die gallantly; we must kill devastatingly. The faster and more effectively you kill, the longer you will live to enjoy the priceless fame of conquerors.

Of course, Patton also said

We'll win this war, but we'll win it only by fighting and by showing the Germans that we've got more guts than they have; or ever will have. We're not going to just shoot the sons-of-bitches, we're going to rip out their living Goddamned guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. We're going to murder those lousy Hun cocksuckers by the bushel-fucking-basket. War is a bloody, killing business. You've got to spill their blood, or they will spill yours. Rip them up the belly. Shoot them in the guts. When shells are hitting all around you and you wipe the dirt off your face and realize that instead of dirt it's the blood and guts of what once was your best friend beside you, you'll know what to do!"

Replace German and Hun for Muslim and Islamist and I think it is also applies.