The Mullen War Strategy » Publications » Family Security Matters

The Mullen War Strategy » Publications » Family Security Matters: "Recently the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said there are “new ways of deterrence that address those factors that make individuals vulnerable to coercion…”. In a speech delivered at the Hoover Institution, Admiral Mullen noted that the Taliban, Hamas, Hezbollah, and al Qaida can be deterred by a traditional method of military retaliation and by nontraditional means of attacking extremism at its core. “Attacking the humiliation, the hopelessness, the illiteracy and abject poverty which lie at the core of the attraction to extremist thought will do more to turn the tide against terrorism than anything else,” he announced.

Presumably an understanding of the Koran, rather than an interpreter’s view, a higher standard of living and understanding wives and friends will convert swords into plowshares. It would seem that even military leaders are vulnerable to Opry-logic.

Surely Admiral Mullen must be aware of several incontrovertible conditions: Muslim leaders who espouse violence are often from wealthy families, vide: Osama bin Laden; being able to read doesn’t translate into understanding; sitting on a couch with a psychologist who identifies with your angst may be comforting, but as a strategy for peace it lacks staying power."

See original work for more on this and other stories.