There is a kind of shallow patriotism going around beating the drums of war and attacking all those who dare to question our military operations. Perhaps there is a deeper kind of patriotism. Perhaps, in the most hard-headed, realistic, non-politically correct analysis, peace, compassion and non-military aid are the most effective tools we have in combating terrorism.
If retaliation and violence were effective tools, then Israelis would be the most secure people in the world. Sun Tzu, in 500 BC, perhaps had the last new thing to say about winning war: “It is of supreme importance to attack your opponent’s strategy. The next best thing is to attack your opponent’s alliances. Next after that is to attack your opponent’s armies. The worst thing is to attack your opponents’ cities.”
The history of warfare is a history of countries in the blinding haze of patriotism, doing the exact opposite and suffering the severe consequences. The terrorists’ strategy? Unleash a war between a united Muslim world and the West. What are we doing to promote peace and understanding with the Muslim world? Their alliances? All those Muslims who hate the West and modernity? What are we doing to reduce the hatred directed at us by all those non-terrorist Muslims who admire Osama bin Laden and may be the breeding ground of a new generation of terrorists? Their armies – small, tightly knit, fanatical groups all over the world willing to commit suicide in jihad against the West? Why do we have so few intelligence operatives of Arabian descent able to speak the language and infiltrate these cells?
As far as I know there are no terrorist cities; they prefer caves and camps in the mountains. Why have we been bombing Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat and Kandahar?
Snohomish
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