I have never been a fan of threatening. It is, generally speaking, either a coward's last resort, or a harbinger of certain decimation by a party who has a history of making good on threats -- his threats are promises, with a bit of very uncomfortable desperation and panic time between the message delivery date and the inevitable.
Repeated threats, never followed by action, ultimate have the opposite effect of what you'd expect or desire -- they invite counter-threats, challenges, and even provoke your adversaries to pre-emptive acts of aggression against you under the guise of "disarming a potential threat." That not only provides you, sitting in the seat of command, with a sudden deflation from offensive to defensive posturing and strategy, but it often provides your adversaries, with justification -- not only in the eyes and hearts of their fighting forces, but in terms of the court of world opinion.
A warning should suffice. If it fails to quell the problem, then you must not continue to amp up the threat -- you must swiftly and without a second warning (these are construed as idle threats) act. You are forced to execute on a promise. The excerpt which follows speaks volumes, as definitive action generally does.
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American commandos staged a daring raid in Somalia on Wednesday morning, rescuing two hostages, including an American woman, who had been kidnapped by pirates and held for months. Seal Team Six (U.S. Commando Elite Force Unit), the same organization which carried out the assassination of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, was engage for this mission. The article excerpt which follows appears courtesy of The New York Times. Please give it a scan, and when you've finished, hit the "BACK" button on your browser to come back here for some observations and commentary. I'll be holding my breath (just kidding)...
U.S. Military Frees 2 Western Hostages From Somali Pirates
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN, ERIC SCHMITT, THOM SHANKER
---------------Ultimately, a warning should simply be a cause and effect statement.
Something along the lines of "If you haven't stopped this within 10 days, we will consider it as an act of war, and will decimate your infrastructure. There will be no further warnings and no further discussion."
Melodramatic .... perhaps. But in sum, the world belongs to those people who seek first to reason (a discussion, perhaps followed by a warning), and then take action. Threats just add fuel to a fire that frequently creates blowback right into your own camp.
Douglas E. Castle for Taking Command!
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