[lit-ideas] Re: Willie Pete's Role Reversal

  • From: Eric Yost <mr.eric.yost@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 02:09:35 -0500

Andy: My definition of defensive is a clear attack, like Pearl Harbor. In that case most likely everyone would want to participate in some way anyhow. 9/11 was a terrorist attack by an organization, not a state.

I think that's too simplistic.

Can a significant terrorist organization exist without state sponsorship? The original view on this was "no," and hence the invasion of Afghanistan sought to deprive the al-Qaeda varmints of their training centers and Taliban sponsorship.

As we have learned to our cost in Iraq, however, the answer to the question, "Can a terrorist organization exist without state sponsorship?" is "Sometimes it can."

But whether the US seeks to destroy state sponsorship of terrorism or (what should be the new task) discredit the ideologies and destroy the individual terror cells, it is a form of defensive war. And given the proliferation of WMD capacity worldwide, it's a vital defensive war.

Consider that if we continue with the idea of a pre-9/11 enemy, i.e., an attacking state, we will never be prepared for what is coming at us. For the time being, no country is going to declare war on us. But we will likely face:

(1) terror organizations such as Andy mentions,
(2) non-state terror agents acting with covert support of other governments, and
(3) free-floating franchised terrorists acting autonomously.


All three threaten a form of war, and responses to all three can easily be considered defensive wars. What most of us seem to be debating is the proper conduct of these defensive wars--police actions, counterinsurgency actions, clever foreign policy decisions, sustained public relations and propaganda campaigns, etc.



------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html

Other related posts: