Quoting:
>> But politically, how brutal is the U.S. in a position to be?
Right now we're in a serious bind. We're under a lot more constraints than they [the Taliban specifically, terrorists generally] are. For them, public opinion doesn't matter. They'd be willing to kill large numbers of civilians. So the fact that we're not doesn't mean that they respect us more. They respect us less for it. But we can't operate the way they can, there would be a loss of public support. So it's going to be very difficult.
What's going to impress the Taliban and the Pakistanis is our ability to be tough and not be dissuaded by the fact that here and there we accidentally kill civilians. What Americans can't face is that one of the reasons that the Russians and the Chinese were so impressed with us during the Cold War was the fact that Nixon and Kissinger went on bombing despite public reaction. That's the kind of thing the Taliban respects. I think we're going to need significant patience.
<snip>
Do the American people have the stomach? I think that the more vulnerable they are, the more stomach they'll have...Now, imagine if we were attacked again in a big way. I think that would move the U.S. population to an even greater war footing in terms of public opinion. In that case, I think the American people simply aren't going to care about the significance of civilian casualties. <<
I think this is all true. We've heard so much from various pundits about how our bombing (particularly if it's successful, as it undeniably has been) will only result in creating more terrorists and further terrorist acts. But if that's the effect (and it's not the simple given it purports to be), then the converse is just as true: any further successful terrorist acts, in the wake of 9/11, will only unite us further and make it more possible and more likely to respond even more aggressively, and even more unilaterally if necessary. So the bind will be lessened and the constraints we face, as far as domestic opinion is concerned, will be fewer to whatever extent al Qaida or any other groups continue to act and "succeed". Any additional "success" approaching the magnitude of 9/11 bears the seeds of its own destruction, and I think even far lesser acts now will be met with less relative "indifference". |
