War is the only Solution

Here's another rhetorical trick you might use. State the problem in strong terms. Propose a solution. At the appearance of any other proposed solution, reiterate the problem and suggest that this proposed solution is the equivalent of doing nothing. This is similar to what magicians call a force, where you give the mark what he thinks is a choice but it's really nothing of the kind.

Thomas swell, who is usually a more reasonable guy, uses this technique to somewhat chilling effect in his latest article. In it he postulates how a future America might look back at this crucial time in our nations history, and they will wonder, apparently, why we didn't take the opportunity to be even meaner and crueler to our Muslim prisoners and why we didn't invade North Korea and Iran.

What will the generations of the future say if we allow Iran and North Korea to develop nuclear weapons, which are then turned over to terrorists who can begin to annihilate American cities?

Our descendants will wonder how we could have let this happen, when we had the power to destroy any nation posing such a threat. Knowing that we had the power, they would have to wonder why we did not have the will -- and why it was so obvious that we did not.

That is definitely a call to action. But not, apparently, to diplomacy. He quickly mocks the idea of using diplomatic methods, and, as mentioned above, equates them with doing nothing. So one is left with the assumption that Mr. Sowell is calling for some kind of military action with Iran and North Korea.