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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (32928)	6/24/2002 12:13:42 AM
From: tekboy	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 281500

if all of foreign policy wonkhood knows this is dumb, why do we have to listen to pronouncements from various state departments and prominent officials (particularly in Europe) about how the Palestinians bombers are "desperate" and "have no choice" and therefore we must address the "root causes" of terror? 1. most smart wonks, and most people who know a lot about terrorism and how the study of it has evolved over time, know this is dumb. unfortunately, there are some dumb wonks too, and they might not have heard yet or figured it out. 2. the Euros are often off in their own world, or have other agendas in play. 3. re terrorism and root causes, most intelligent wonks, I think, would argue that in practice what works best is coming down very hard on actual violent militancy and terrorism while at the same time trying to coopt the moderate parts of the population at issue by taking steps to address some of their main concerns and grievances. Thus the Indians should fight the insurgents in Kashmir but also provide more autonomy and better governance to the Kashmiris, the Turks should do the same for the Kurds, etc. The application of this approach to Israel would be, come down hard on specific terrorists and the groups that launch them but also take steps to end the occupation, improve life for ordinary Palestinians, etc. The root causes are important not because they inspire terrorism per se, but rather because they create sympathy and support for the terrorists among a broader general swath of the affected public. tb@Igettodefinewhichwonksareintelligentandwhicharen't.com