[lit-ideas] Re: Defining the enemy

Lawrence, I finished Podhoretz's book last week and my next book will likely be Tim Weiner's Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA. I heard Mr. Weiner being interviewed and he said:
"Let me suggest to you that the war we are now in may last as long as the Cold War. And to quote Mike Hayden, General Hayden, head of the CIA, this is an intelligence war. We are not going to win this war with fighter jets or nuclear weapons or aircraft carriers. We are going to win it with intelligence and information and ideas. IF that is true we need to cultivate a generation of Americans who speak [foreign languages] and those people need to know not only the languages but the histories and the cultures of the countries where those languages are spoken. And then we can go out and win this war."
As you'll see Podhoretz agrees that the battle of freedom over Islamofascism's tyranny (World War IV) will likely last as long as the Cold War (World War III) and believes key element is something that is near and dear to your heart. Labeling the enemy properly. I think you will also enjoy the discussion of the Bush Doctrine contrasted with the realist and liberal internationalist schools of thought. 

Best,
Brian

On Sep 25, 2007, at 7:42 PM, Lawrence Helm wrote:
A couple of weeks ago we discussed Ian Baruma’s review of Norman Podhoretz’ World War IV, The Long Struggle against Islamofascism. I subsequently bought the book and have just read the prologue.

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