War Of The Words

Osama bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahri made an invitation to our President: "I congratulate him on the success of his security plan, and I invite him on the occasion for a glass of juice, but in the cafeteria of the Iraqi parliament in the middle of the Green Zone." Polite enough, but maybe he wasn't being completely sincere. He described the the Democrats' bill, so recently vetoed by our President, as evidence of our failure and frustration. "This bill will deprive us of the opportunity to destroy the American forces which we have caught in a historic trap."
Seems courteous enough. Hard to know which way to go exactly. That's why it would be nice if someone had a clear vision about how to proceed. Welcome the sage wisdom of Rudy Guliani: "I believe America needs at least ten new combat brigades above the additions that are already proposed by President Bush and are already in the budget." For some quick perspective, Defense Secretary Robert Gates recommended in January that the Army increase its active-duty soldiers by 65,000 to 547,000 over the next five years. Giuliani would raise that limit to 582,000. This was during a commencement address to the Citadel, which he concluded by saying, "The reality is that in this world today, there are people — terrorists, Islamic, radical terrorists — who are planning as we sit here at this graduation, who are planning to come here and kill us."
Or maybe both of them need to read "All Quiet On The Western Front" - perhaps for the fist time. Specifically, the words of Paul Bäumer: "You still think it's beautiful to die for your country. The first bombardment taught us better. When it comes to dying for country, it's better not to die at all."