No.. Containment won't work in this case Win, imo.
No matter fervently anti-communist our rhetoric may have been in the past, it was still evident that the Soviets could be negotiated with, and had no desire to commit suicide by facing down the US in a nuclear holocaust.
But in the case of Muslim Extremism, we have a cause for which death and martyrdom are the order of the day. We cannot negotiate with a person who is brain-washed into believing their physical sacrifice will bring them eternal reward (and 72 virgins) in the afterlife.
And there's no way we can "contain" the demographic trend either, when some 400 million muslims are currently below the age of 18. This group of young muslims will provide a large recruiting pool of disaffected young men who can't find a job, afford a wife, and little to live for.
No Win, it's going to require a much more aggressive stance such as the US was forced to take with Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany. Either that or millions of moderate muslims are going to be sujugated to theocratic tyranny.
And the best way to accomplish that is to remove the sources of terrorist logistical support in the world, namely the governments of Iraq, Iran, and Syria, as well as the Wahabbi leadership in Saudi Arabia.
Take out Iraq and the moderate Saudis will have sufficent "motivation" to curtail extremist activities in their own country, lest the US feel compelled to do it for them. Especially if they perceive King Abdullah and the Hashemites gaining political advantage that undermines their continued control over the Hijaz and muslim holy sites.
Remember.. Saudi Arabia is the head of this extremist beast. They either provide tacit support for, or pay financial tribute to, extremist groups throughout the region, which then proceed to destabilize local governments.
We must either stiffen the spine of the Saudis by taking out the tyrannies in Iraq and Iran, or replace them.
But in other circumstances, I would agree that containment would be an agreeable solution. But the thought of Saddam with WMDs freaks me out. It would provide him tremendous esteem in the region and accelerate the Arab-Israeli confrontation (since the Israelis would likely pre-emptively strike).
Hawk |
