Neo

Yes ... To Paris .... Right Bank, of course.

Tampa tonight!

I want to have a banquet with all of you. Can you imagine the waiter describing us to the cooks?

Waaaay beyond my expertise, but that's not always stopped me before. I think the French "invoke" it, formally or not. In other words, the allies will be briefed and assistance will be provided. My reading (inspired by your post) is that assistance can take many/any form. As a result, NATO will assist as they may, and invoke only if they decide invoking makes a statement helpful to their cause. Invoking won't alter the assistance. NeoPhyte. Thinking further - I'd invoke Article V. Let the world know NATO means something. Invite the Russians, Chinese, Saudis and Iranians in. More than bombs and $billions, solidarity defeats this scourge.

Notre Dame.

A remarkable post that warms me. Just when I think I'm alone on an island, I see land close by. Who knew? If you have friends and colleagues in Paris, you're much closer to it than me. You'll understand better than most how it absolutely got into my blood in only 11 days. The city and people are life changing to visitors. Beauty and perspective everywhere. I've not experienced anything like it. I sat in Rodin's gardens and touched the tomb of Voltaire. My daughter and I stood at the window Louis XVI stood at with Marie Antoinette as the revolution came to his palace. We had lunch at Les Deux Magots, as did Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Albert Camus, Pablo Picasso, James Joyce, Bertolt Brecht and Charles Sutherland. I stood over the desk where Hugo wrote Les Miserables and the typewriter where Heminway wrote The Sun Also Rises". A moveable feast, indeed. The French were gracious and welcoming. I'm not the same person. But, enough self indulgence. I'm happy those close to you are safe. I appreciate your balanced approach capturing hearts, minds, boots and bombs. Necessary, all, in my view. I'd look to fund and escrow the $Billion from the reluctant Sunni Saudis and Shia Iranians before I started.

Reminiscent of black lives matter and all lives matter debate, perhaps ....

Ad hominem.

ISIS: Targets chosen as places where the west enjoys life. Sporting halls, restaurants, concert halls. Deliberately provocative question. Would you water board a perpetrator you captured last night? Compatriots remain at large

Keep thinkin'. I'd enjoy both.

Under commented on here and elsewhere. Yes! I had a thought earlier when reading about economic opportunity as a heart and mind tool. Sunni ruled Saudi Arabia has plenty of "economics" to provide opportunity.

I'm not sure if I'm a hawk or not. My willingness to fight, or not, would lie solely in my assessment of fighting's probability of success. Success, by the way, doesn't mean I surrender anything simply to avoid a fight. In other words, I'm a willing hawk if I think it works. I still have to think. There are things in my life worth dying for. To your question, though. Yes and yes if it's time to fight. One of my sons went on his own volition. I don't think you'll find a hawk answering your question with a "no". Sacrifice isn't usually an issue with a hawk. I was thinking about Japan in a hearts and minds way all morning. The difference I see is that we didn't change the hearts and minds of coming generations until we extinguished the objective the current generation. A Marshall plan for the Middle East is attractive. The Marshall plan wouldn't have worked before Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now, because I'm wary of interwebs, I am not calling for fire bombing and nuclear bombs. I am referencing the extinguishing of evil to create the fertile ground investment needs.

Pope Francis: Third World War. ISIS: "Paris, the capital of adultry and vice". Nothing about intervention or ordinance dropped in Syria. ISIS: "Washington, London and Rome are next". Must be those imperialist Italians. I'm asking you ... Listen to their own words when you consider the "whys".

For old time's sake ... and as a measure of how far we've come.

[Edit]. Removal of a thought I had born in my Mis-reading of another's thought. On me! I was providing merely my understanding of another's set of words. “So, what do you think? You think a princess and a guy like me–“ Might be the best?

Gotcha. I'm thinking along your path - Education - for men and women, to include exposure to western and eastern literature, thought, and philosophies around man and his creator, atheism and agnosticism. The secular rule of law. Equal rights. Economics, including capital, labor, and innovation that replaces the old with the new. A positive purpose in life, regardless of whether or not you believe it serves a particular deity, or not. I understand your distinction among generations. I've not seen my "probability of success" needle move, yet.

I read it as follows: France is about to learn that America under President Obama is an unreliable ally. That bitter lesson is one America's learned about France in the past. This is my interpretation of the good sir's post, only.

I have a request. I'm trying to educate me, not change your view. What would a five or six bullet point outline of the "killed" idea or changed heart and mind, look like? If you or I were to deliver the tenants of our ideal heart and mind to ISIS/radical Islam tomorrow, what would be on the talking point briefing? Which of their ideas do we "kill" with persuasion and which do we substitute in their place? This is where I'm stopped when I consider this honorable approach.

*snip* for column inch conservation. To East: "Winning hearts and minds" isn't silly or naive. I don't reference it with snide intent. I just don't see (yet?) that radical Islam wants anything to do with our hearts and minds. When I hear "hearts and minds" I hear cackling laughter. It's not the laughter of US war hawks. It's the laughter of the the extremists. Important nuance. I agree.

I was fortunate enough to do a ride around in a police car for a full shift in Buffalo. I rode the east side in the backseat with two white officers. There is a fascinating dynamic. Many of the impressions, or points, we see on SabreSpace played out. My over-riding impressions are that it's a very tough job, humans see the world through lenses for legitimate reasons, and cops and citizens are good people. Lenses are different for very real reasons. Cops are at risk. Neighborhoods are disadvantaged. Substitute religion for race and the comparisons to Paris can be made. The comparison, in my mind, ends with the extent of barbarism and the assignment of accountability. I understand grievance and the responsibility of both sides to address it. I dont give a pass to barbarians. I don't blame those not aggrieved for responding to aggrieved barbarism forcefully. Now, not blaming those who are not aggrieved (France) for responding forcefully (aircraft carriers) doesn't mean it's smart. It doesn't mean it's dumb, either. The magic policy trick protects your values without trespassing on others. I will think, but I'm not aware of a route protecting the values our President articulated as recently as last night that doesn't offend Islamic extremists. There is an element of the grievance that stems from what the west has done (legitimate) and there is an element of the grievance that stems from what the west is (illigetimate). Extremists don't want us to leave them alone. They want us dead. That's not my assessment. That's their language and action. This conundrum makes the Middle East so intractable. We live in a world of polar opposite views that preceded American oil interests and European imperialism. We can co-exist with different views if we don't insist those with other views convert, die, or go away. My confidence in my own understanding stops here. I don't hate anyone or anything. I can't change my values. The President says my values are our values. I think he's right. These are my thoughts, by the way, and are not meant to imply yours are same or different.

To: WJAG - insight.

B-Lo: My bingo to nfreeman meant he got my question right, ftr. I have no troop suggestion. XB: Reasoned, as always. I am ruminating around your words. The next weeks will be interesting.

It's a good brain dump. I think the words made sense.

I was having fun. I'm outnumbered, here. I did like your article.

My question was, are you willing to endure nights like tonight to avoid military action? If you need to define military action, define it. Say, drop one bomb, invade with 400,000 troops, or something in between. I don't have a military proposal. I'm not willing to endure nights like tonight. That may LEAD me to a military proposal.