The terrorists presumably look at it strategically, and amorally.
I suspect that the terrorists look at it as war, and that their actions are amoral, immoral, or evil to the extent that war is amoral, immoral, or evil.
Tactics aimed at sowing death and terror among the civilian population of an enemy nation are as old as war itself, and have been practiced by every nation that ever went to war.
I don't know that this war is any less moral than any other. It seems less so to us, simple because the tactics aimed at sowing death and terror among civilians are aimed at us, to which we are not accustomed, and because the force with which we are at war is not a nation, and is therefore difficult to attack with the means to which we are accustomed.
We can hardly plead surprise, though: OBL has been declaring war on us, loudly, for the better part of a decade. We didn't take him very seriously, because we thought we were immune. Now we know that we are not, and that we are in fact at war.
The causes of the war are fairly simple: OBL & Co. believe that America and all other infidels must be driven from territories they regard as Islamic. America insists on maintaining a presence in these territories and in promoting our interests in these territories, because they are strategically important, because they possess natural resources we consider essential, and because of our emotional attachment to Israel.
We are at war for these reasons, reasons of conflicting interest. There may be better reasons to go to war; there have probably been many worse ones. When two groups take positions that are not compatible, and neither is willing to back down, conflict ensues. Thus it is and thus it has always been. Our position is no more "moral" than theirs; it is a simple matter of national interest. We are not in the middle east to promote truth, justice, and the American Way. We are there because of the oil. We want it. So do they.
OBL declared war, and attacked. We were warned, and we knew his methods. Our defenses and preparations were inadequate. Do we rant about "evil" and "immorality", or do we acknowledge our error and go about the business of winning the war, a business that will almost certainly require us to do things that are immoral, amoral, and evil?
Is there any fundamental moral difference, in war, between carpet-bombing a city that harbors the enemy's civilian supporters and economic base, napalming villages that harbor the enemy's civilian supporters and economic base, and flying a hijacked airliner into a city that harbors the enemy's civilian supporters and economic base?
As I have said before, I do not support blanket attacks on Islamic nations, invasions of Afghanistan, or similar tactics. This is not for reasons of morality, it is for reasons of efficacy: I simply do not believe that these tactics will be effective. The people we are fighting are not stupid or inexperienced. Long before they struck they would have anticipated our response, and moved key people and resources out of target zones. You can bet your last dollar that OBL has designated a successor and arranged a system by which that successor will be able to tap his money and contacts if he is killed. You can bet your last dollar that the designated successor is not in Afghanistan. We risk spending billions and immersing ourselves in a massive quagmire to attack people who probably aren't even there, and all the while we will have an enemy network of proven capability attacking us from the inside.
Our primary target is not the terrorist network inside the Muslim nations. Our primary target is the terrorist network outside these nations, the network that allows our enemy to strike at us. It doesn't take an abacus to figure this out: if the enemy has an offensive capability, aimed at you and based outside their home refuge, you want to dismantle that capability first, then move in on the refuge. The only reason to take any other strategy is the emotional desire for violent, visible, and immediate retaliation. The question: do we want to satisfy our anger or do we want to win the war as efficiently as possible?
Ok, all ye readers, go ahead and flame. It's something for everyone to talk about. I'll drop by in a few days and read the responses. |
