I agree the article is great. The one thing I hope that India does not do is emulate the US and elect leaders based on fear, instead of on the quality of the leader. We have given up many of our freedoms "to protect our freedoms." It is quite ironic. India is on the verge of economic greatness and needs good leaders who can maximize the potential of India. And the US needs leaders that will not cooperate with corrupt leaders that are found is certain countries where terrorists are based. The support of the US has only led to more arrogance by one leader, who does almost nothing for the peope of his country and also shelters known terrorists. I have yet to talk to a single person from that country who thinks they have honest leaders.
I agree, Andy, that we need good leaders that can maximise the potential, etc. We have the oppposite problem to yours ... while your president is very gung-ho about taking on real and perceived enemies, we have a government filled with traitors that would rather appease certain groups in India, rather than provide security and law and order. After all, the first two reasons any citizen pays taxes is for security - external and internal. And, what do we get instead, blather about how they condemn the heinous acts. What have they actually done about it? Nothing ...... Worse than nothing, we have 'Maulana' Mulayam Singh, Chief Minister of our biggest state Uttar Pradesh, saying that SIMI is actually fine, only some bad apples in it. This, after this organisation is banned through out the country and the Bombay police saying that SIMI provided all the local logistics to the Lashkar terrorists who planted the bombs. Now, I hear that the govt has banned some blogs which were criticising its actions (or rather lack of it) post the blasts .... that is the way, Mr PM, ban the blogs. Now we are all secure. Faugh!
Whether you like it or not, the thing that I really like about the USA (or Israel for that matter) is this fact: If you hurt us or any of our countrymen in any manner, we are coming after you with everything we have. And, that's a promise.
And, while we are on this topic, here's a speech that I was reading recently. General Patton speaking to his troops:
A General Talks to His Army
“Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. Men, all this stuff you’ve heard about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans traditionally love to fight. ALL REAL Americans, love the sting of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, the big league ball players, the toughest boxers.
Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn’t give a hoot in Hell for a man who lost and laughed. That’s why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. Because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. Now, an army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap.
The bilious bastards, who wrote that stuff about individuality for the Saturday Evening Post, don’t know anything more about real battle than they do about fornicating. Now we have the finest food and equipment, the best spirit, and the best men in the world.
My God, I actually pity those poor bastards we’re going up against. My God, I do. We’re not just going to shoot the bastards, we’re going to cut out their living guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. We’re going to murder those lousy Hun bastards by the bushel. Now some of you boys, I know, are wondering whether or not you’ll chicken out under fire. Don’t worry about it. I can assure you that you’ll all do your duty. The Nazis are the enemy. Wade into them. Spill their blood, shoot them in the belly. When you put your hand into a bunch of goo, that a moment before was your best friends face, you’ll know what to do. Now there’s another thing I want you to remember. I don’t want to get any messages saying that we are holding our position. We’re not holding anything, we’ll let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly, and we’re not interested in holding onto anything except the enemy. We’re going to hold onto him by the nose, and we’re going to kick him in the ass. We’re going to kick the hell out of him all the time, and we’re going to go through him like crap through a goose. Now, there’s one thing that you men will be able to say when you get back home, and you may thank God for it. Thirty years from now when you’re sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee, and he asks you, “What did you do in the great World War Two?” You won’t have to say, “Well, I shoveled shit in Louisiana.” Alright now, you sons of bitches, you know how I feel. Oh! . . . I will be proud to lead you wonderful guys into battle anytime, anywhere. That’s all.”
General George S. Patton, Jr.
3rd Army speech
England, 31 May 1944
6th Armored Division