More Rubble, Less Brain Matter

I’m not sure it’s possible to be a poor man’s Glenn Reynolds — on its face, it seems as implausible as the existence of a more derivative, less inspired Lenny Kravitz — and yet I think Stephen Greene has achieved such status:

Imagine instead that Bush had actually waged the war in accordance with his own (correct) formulation of the Axis of Evil. The major sponsors of state terror were North Korea (chiefly as an arms merchant), Iraq, and Iran — and Iran’s junior partners, Syria and various Palestinian groups. North Korea, as a non-ideological foe, could be safely isolated by taking away its customers. Israel can — and mostly does — keep the Palestinian problem a local one.

As for the rest? An ultimatum, mid-2002, after ejecting the Taliban, to turn over all records, funds, and materials related to terror. If not, a long, rapid march from the beaches of Syria to the streets of Tehran, destroying all government buildings — and any military forces stupid enough to stand in the way. Then get our soldiers back on their ships in the Persian Gulf, with the stern message: “Don’t make us come back here again.”

1. Destroy a whole bunch of countries that had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. 2. ??? 3. ??? Sounds great! (I especially like the implication that terrorism could not possibly flourish in the wake of a demolished state.)

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