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David E. Meadows is a retired mustang U.S. Navy Captain and the author of numerous military thrillers such as Sixth Fleet, Seawolf, AMERICA, and Tomcat. His eighth novel, JOINT TASK FORCE AFRICA, was released March 2005. He recently signed a 3-book contract with Penguin Group. His ninth novel, DARK PACIFIC, is due for release March 2006.
Meadows is recognized for his accuracy in showing what today's events mean for the future. Such noted authors as Stephen Coonts, Joe Buff, Robert Gandt, Victoria Taylor-Murray, and W.E.B. Griffin to the noted political figure and author Newt Gingrich have praised his writings. He has been a guest and lecturer at numerous professional and literary events.
During his Navy Career of 37-years, David Meadows spent nearly 10-years at-sea on a variety of warships where he qualified as a Surface Warfare Officer. Some of the ships included USS Gearing (DD-710), USS Perry (DD-844), USS Mispillion (AO-105), USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25), USS Spruance (DD-963), and flying off a variety of aircraft carriers. He has over 5000-flight hours with aircrew wings in three different reconnaissance aircraft (EC-121M, EA-3B, & EP-3E) and Naval Observer Wings in the EP-3E. He enlisted in the Navy in December 1967; made Chief Petty Officer in 1977; and was commissioned in 1980.
David E. Meadows has a Bachelor of Science degree in Arabic/Middle East Studies with a minor in French. He speaks neither language well as evident by the French offering him unlimited libation if he would never-ever speak their language again. He also has a MBA and a MS in National Resource Strategy. He has served ashore in Rota, Spain; Athens, Greece; Sabana Seca, Puerto Rico; Bureau of Naval Personnel; London, England; Norfolk, Virginia; San Diego, California; Corry Station-Pensacola, Florida; the Joint Staff; and his last tour of duty was as the Deputy Commander of Naval Security Group Command.
He loves basketball, but the sport no longer loves him with many pickup games preferring to play five against four rather than have him come off the bench.
He is a native of Newnan and Coweta County Georgia, growing up in the small cotton mill of Sargent, Georgia. He and his wife live in Western Maryland. He is married to the amazing Felicity Bellis of Manchester, England, who has received many accolades for remaining with him all these years. Their daughter Sara and son Nicholas are grown and pursuing their own careers.
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August 22, 2005
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Enough already! The idea that the West is ever going to win the war on terrorism by chasing and killing terrorists -- who are forever in our face, on websites, posing for Aljazeera press, and blowing themselves up -- is only part of the solution. In fact, I am very much in favor of them blowing themselves up. The sooner they do it and the more who do it, the tighter the supply chain becomes. But, they need to do it with those who believe in their cause; helped them reach the point where blowing themselves apart is a lot of fun; and, since they love their fellow radicals so fiercely, they should take them with them in a blinding flash of pain, blood, flesh, and disintegration.
We, on the other hand, should encourage them to hurry toward their heaven, post haste.
Seeing a dead terrorist before he or she commits his or her act is the more rewarding part of the war on terrorism. But, it's short-lived with the knowledge that the dead terrorist was groomed in a long process that begins when they are children. That process is alive, functioning well, and spreading outside the Muslim world.
Tony Blair is the first Western leader to actually take action on the back half of the supply chain producing the adult terrorist. Unfortunately, Western morals temper what Western leaders do. He should be praised for his iron will in leading the way, but he is only partially right in throwing out radical thugs who refuse to respect the British way of life. These are the same thugs who encouraged, blessed, and approved of terrorist acts from 9/11, to 3/11, to 7/7, to a failed 7/21 (is there some rationale to the odd numbers?).
Deporting preachers and teachers who glorify the acts of terrorism and promote violence against non-Islamic believers only nudges the supply chain elsewhere. Rightly so, it does nudge it out of Britain.
To win the war on terrorism, the terrorist has to be considered a weapon system. And the entire weapon system process of building a terrorist must be included in the war, or our grandchildren will be fighting this war long after we are gone. And, the war will have grown so much that we'll be fighting it more and more on our home shores.
Winning the war on terrorism means not only capturing and killing the ones hurrying to their death on the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan; it means taking actions to dry up the source of this never-ending chain of young men and women who want to kill huge numbers of innocent victims when they blow themselves up. If we don't stop the makers of these weapons, they'll keep on churning out these warped minds that believe death is their quickest way to heaven.
If you drive armed robbers to a 24-hour convenience store where things go to hell in a hand-basket -- resulting in a victim's death -- then you're going to have those wrists slapped together with a set of plastic straps and perp-marched right down a process that can lead to death row. You are as guilty as the one who pulled the trigger and all your complaining, whining, and crying isn't going to convince the wheels of justice you're innocent.
The same basic justice should be every radical teacher and preacher who twist the blank slates of young Islamic minds to believe in a future where their inevitable death is a preordained act of terrorism. They are as guilty as the young men and women committing the act of terrorism. Treat them as such -- incarcerate them, bring them to justice -- and take whatever the appropriate penalty.
It's good military planning to disrupt an enemy's supply chain -- it shortens the war. Eventually we are going to be forced to do just this. For now, if we do nothing or too little and fail to take actions against the whole terrorist supply chain to break this human weapons production cycle, then we need to prepare for heavy rolls on our own shores.
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© 2005 David Meadows. All opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of Military.com.
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