Hi John,
Regarding the continuing presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, I think that you are correct in assessing the views and attitudes of the power elites both here and in the Mid-East and all I was trying to comprehend, speculate about and comment on was that the Islamic zealots of the region see it differently and are now taking matters in their own hands in the only way that a people without a military capability can go about exerting their will. I.e., by clandestine, tactically sophisticated and clever means of sabotage. When the little guy, so to speak, is given suitable training, has an unswerving belief system and a willingness to make the sacrifice of his own life, the targets in a technological world are a cornucopia of opportunities. This is the point I'm hoping to get across, that there is a new reality that nation states and corporations must face, and that is that the saboteurs have gained a quantum leap in sophistication since the first major episode of the current wave, which I'd probably place at the Munich Games of 1972. It's a whole new ballgame. One we are really not completely comprehending yet.
Re: The problem with warfare based on suicide is that you have to be continually recruiting to replace your ranks.
I made the same sort of statement upstream in this thread in a jesting fashion. The fact of the matter is, there is no shortage whatsoever of individuals willing to fill in the ranks to replace the 19 "soldiers" who made the ultimate sacrifice last Tuesday. I have no facts to back myself up on this, just some images of what it is like in the souk, the bazaar, the mosque and university and I'd be very surprised if there weren't 100 men willing to replace each of the terrorists lost to the cause last Tuesday. I take no comfort from the notion that they'll eliminate themselves.
So you see, they now have to go after more targets in order to keep things going. I predict that the plans they have in mind for other countries will soon be executed to keep their PR machines well oiled.
Agreed, but unless I misunderstand the situation, there was an ominous note in the news today about the death of Ahmed Shah Massoud, leader of the opposition forces in Afghanistan. His assassination was carried out last Sunday, and I would guess that it was in anticipation of the events of Tuesday, if one is to accept the conventional view that Osama Bin Laden is the mastermind of the plot to destroy the WTC towers and cripple the Pentagon. Taking out Massoud effectively throws the opposition in Afghanistan into disarray. We have no useful friends in the country now, TTBOMK.
So, I see this as a very wicked game of world chess we are now playing. By distancing themselves from the U.S. plan for action, France and Germany have reduced their risk of an "action". So the main target remains the U.S., and possibly Britain. Not, as you suggest, "other countries". I believe Bin Laden is clever enough to play a "divide and conquer" strategy. We remain the best target for further action. He'll do all he can to fracture any sort of coalition organized against him.
As an armchair general, I'd say we should, without hesitation, detain as many known and suspected terrorists and their associates and hold them on any pretext for as long as possible. I'm a fan of forever. Only by decimating the ranks of the Bin Laden's cells will we be able to cripple him from further sabotage.
The world view of these people is so twisted that to ascribe rational response to them is naive and foolhardy.
Funny think is, when I read Bin Laden's words, they sound almost exactly the same. Were you a zealot, you could just as easily be describing the Great Satan. This dismissive attitude will serve no purpose in the battle. We are faced with a clever, highly sophisticated adversary. We must analyze him as such in order to predict, as best we can, his next moves. To be dismissive is to miss the point that we are now minus two of the most important symbols of capitalism on the planet, the WTC towers, and the nexus of the U.S.'s military might has been compromised for the first time in history. No small feat. The next round will prove interesting.
Best, Ray |
