Hawk, you're getting shriller and making less and less sense.
From your myopic and denialist perspective, I'm sure that I am...
I'm here discussing the global threat posed by the militant theocratic ideology of extremist Islamic terrorism and its inability to exist without the support of state and supra-national entities, and you bring up the DC snipers...
almost every expert has said that terrorism is not dependent upon "state sponsorship."
Standing by for you to start listing them so I can compare them to my list of experts who have said that terrorism of the type that threatens nation/states is usually state based (false flag operations), supported, (or tolerated).
Here's a small taste of what I'm going to hit you with:
ict.org.il
terrorism.com
Second; there is no threatening army of terrorists that is able to create the kind of terror that ... threatens to destroy our government, our economy, or our way of life.. Maybe you'd like to set out the methods you fear they'd follow to accomplish that ambitious goal?
Certainly... 9/11 clearly demonstrated that a relatively inexpensive terrorist operation can cause TREMENDOUS damage to our economic and political interests. It resulted in plummeting stock markets, an absolute halt to all civilian airflights, and ultimately, to the Patriot Act, which so many of your decry as an infringment on our civil rights.
One can only imagine what will happen if an even greater terrorist attack, possibly using WMDs such as chemical and biological weapons, is successfully perpetrated against the US.
WWII caused Hawaii to be placed under martial law (as well as Los Angeles for a limited time).. It resulted in US citizens of Japanese descent being sent to internment camps with the blessing of the majority of Americans who were living with a xenophobic fear of potential Niesei treachery and sabotage.
Educate those of us who don't fear they are massing on their side of the ocean and preparing to launch their ships and planes against us.
They don't need to invade us with convential weapons.. they use OUR OWN planes and ships to wage their war.. They live amongst us, using the opportunities our open society presents to them, to finance and support their acts aimed at destroying our system.
Are you so very blind that you can't visualize the means by which our nation can be attacked? Do you want to rely upon erecting tremendous barricades and battlements, political and legal, that the very essence of our ideals are placed in jeopardy?
Can you not see that this nation can be attacked economically, either directly, or via Militant control over the global energy markets, substantially decreasing our ability to confront them without waging all-out total war?
You cannot defensively fight an ideological war with a determined and ruthless opponent like the Islamo-Fascists. You MUST take the battle to their heartland, confronting and opposing their efforts to dominate and recruit more dispossessed muslim youths into their Jihad.
Third; the "big terrorism" that you describe in your post requires organization, communication, large transfers of money and a clear chain of command. After our efforts following 9/11, those are things of the past, even though you state,
Sure they have been affected positive via our responses to such activities as Muslim charities funneling money to militant movements.
But the very fact that you acknowledge that such organizations even existed clearly demonstrates that you agree that Al-Qaeda possessed tremendous resources, much of it sanctioned and supported by elements within various Muslim countries.
We will NEVER fully get a handle on such illegal transactions and financial diversions. The very fact that we have yet to break down the Hawala "banking" system is evidence of the difficulty involved.. At most, we can hobble it, make it more difficult for them to function within our own systems, and take direct, or legal action against them.. (so maybe you're the one who needs to "come up to speed here).
But it all comes at a cost to economic prosperity and our liberties.
Fifth; the more we use our military to suppress and punish the populations that feed the terrorists, the more we foster and feed terrorists. Terror is a tool of the weak against the strong. Terror is a tool of those who feel oppressed against the oppressor. Terror THRIVES under the threat of military force.
ONLY if we're not involved in providing a positive alternative and rebuilding their societies and economies. And that is not what I'm advocating.. We must use our military to "break down the barriers" to economic and political reform, namely totalitarian and dictatorial regimes. We must use it either directly, as in Iraq, or implicitly, as we are towards Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Iran.
The very fact that American forces are in Iraq is a signal taken by many moderate Muslims that we're serious about creating positive and modern change within the region. This will strengthen and empower their position over time, while forcing their hardliners, or militant sympathizers, to act more openly to defend their ideology (eg: militants in Saudi Arabia prematurely initiating major terrorist attacks within the kingdom).
Terror "thrives" under totalitarian rule. Because the terrorists believe they have just as much right to unilaterally rule and dominate the people as the existing government.
But terrorism FALTERS under democratic institutions where militants are marginalized, and forced to advance their ideological agenda via a free and fair political process and marketplace of ideas..
Sixth; the terrorist have some pretty damn good arguments to support their "cause" and we're giving their supporter more and more legitimate reasons to support them all the time.
Do any of those arguments include justification for blowing up fellow muslims with car bombs, or attempting to deny them economic prosperity by destroying their natural resources? Look at all the Iraqis who have died at the hands of fellow muslims claiming to be "resistance fighters"..
Look at all the non-Americans who died in the embassy bombings in Africa...
Choosing to fight our battle against Islamic militancy WITHIN muslim countries has revealed that these terrorists have few qualms about killing fellow muslims..
And that's a powerful psychological weapon for our side in confronting the belief that it's justifiable to kill infidels.
Seventh; we need to get out of the "attack Arab nations" mindset before we create hundreds of thousands of terrorists who rightly feel that we're messing with their religion, their national pride and their hive.
No.. we need to empower moderate and peaceful muslims so that THEY dominate the tone of their religious faith, and not just permit the militants to intimidate and oppress millions of muslims, and brain-washing them into becoming Jihadist martyrs.
The war on terror is actually a civil war between militant and moderate muslims. And moderates, being generally peaceful and responsible (having families and jobs) recognize they have much to lose, and little to gain, if they detect waffling on the part of Western society.
Hawk |
