Kinzer writes: "Interventions multiply our enemies. Every village raid,
every drone strike, and every shot fired in anger on foreign soil produces
anti-Western passion. Some are shocked when that passion leads to violent
reaction. They should not be."
US soldiers. (photo: Sgt. Rupert Frere RLC)
Blame the West's Interventions for Today's Terrorism
By Stephen Kinzer, The Boston Globe
27 November 15
Outside powers have been crashing into the Middle East for more than a
century. At first we presumed that people there would not mind, or even that
they would welcome us. Ultimately we realized that our interventions were
provoking hatred and violent turmoil. We took refuge in another comforting
illusion: that no matter how awful the reaction was, it would be confined to
the Middle East.
At least since the 9/11 attacks 14 years ago, it has been clear that this is
fantasy. Terrorism and mass migration are bitter results of outside meddling
in the Middle East. They will intensify.
Interventions multiply our enemies. Every village raid, every drone strike,
and every shot fired in anger on foreign soil produces anti-Western passion.
Some are shocked when that passion leads to violent reaction. They should
not be. The instinct to protect one's own, and to strike back against
attackers, is as old as humanity itself.
Horrific terror assaults cannot be justified as any kind of self-defense.
Their savagery is inexcusable by all legal, political, and moral standards.
But they do not emerge from nowhere. In countries that have been invaded and
bombed, some people thirst for bloody revenge.
It was never realistic for the West - the invading world - to imagine that
it is an impregnable fortress, or an island, or a planet apart from the
regions its armies invade. This is especially true of Europe, which is
literally just a long walk from the conflict zone. Now that Russia has
joined the list of intervening powers, it too is vulnerable. So is the
United States. We are farther away and protected by oceans, but in the
modern world, that is not enough. Blowback is now global.
Violent intervention always leaves a trail of "collateral damage" in the
form of families killed, homes destroyed, and lives wrecked. Usually this is
explained as mistaken or unavoidable. That does nothing to reduce the damage
- or the anger that survivors pass down through generations.
A new terror attack inside the United States is likely. When it happens, how
will Americans respond? If the past is any guide, we will clamor to fight
the evil-doers. This will be described not as aggression, but as reaction
and forward defense.
A strategy based on invading or bombing might make sense if the number of
militants were finite. It is not. Terror groups in the Middle East are
attracting recruits faster than they can process them. Killing some creates
more, not fewer.
Countries, nations, and peoples must shape their own fates. Often they do so
by reacting to oppression. Religion kept Europe in the Dark Ages for a
thousand years. Russians and Chinese accepted brutal Communist rule for
generations. Violent extremism in the Middle East will end only when people
who live there end it. That cannot begin to happen until outsiders leave the
region to its own people. The Middle East will not stabilize until its
people are allowed to act for themselves, rather than being acted upon by
others.
Watching cruel terror in Middle Eastern countries - or in Western capitals -
is painful. It stirs our emotions. We want to avenge the victims, and
imagine that in doing so, we will also be protecting ourselves. Too often,
though, we fail to realize that Western power, vast as it is, cannot smash
cultural patterns that have existed for longer than the United States or any
European nation. Emotion overcomes sober reasoning. It naturally intensifies
after horrific attacks. That is dangerous. Emotion pushes us toward rash and
self-defeating choices. It is always the enemy of wise statesmanship.
Fanatics are trying to draw the United States back into Middle East
quicksand. If we fall into that trap, we will not only intensify the war
that is raging there, but bring it home.
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US soldiers. (photo: Sgt. Rupert Frere RLC)
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2015/11/24/blame-west-interventions-for-t
oday-terrorism/8H8ft7lLVuIUxXjy8IHugM/story.htmlhttp://www.bostonglobe.com/o
pinion/2015/11/24/blame-west-interventions-for-today-terrorism/8H8ft7lLVuIUx
Xjy8IHugM/story.html
Blame the West's Interventions for Today's Terrorism
By Stephen Kinzer, The Boston Globe
27 November 15
utside powers have been crashing into the Middle East for more than a
century. At first we presumed that people there would not mind, or even that
they would welcome us. Ultimately we realized that our interventions were
provoking hatred and violent turmoil. We took refuge in another comforting
illusion: that no matter how awful the reaction was, it would be confined to
the Middle East.
At least since the 9/11 attacks 14 years ago, it has been clear that this is
fantasy. Terrorism and mass migration are bitter results of outside meddling
in the Middle East. They will intensify.
Interventions multiply our enemies. Every village raid, every drone strike,
and every shot fired in anger on foreign soil produces anti-Western passion.
Some are shocked when that passion leads to violent reaction. They should
not be. The instinct to protect one's own, and to strike back against
attackers, is as old as humanity itself.
Horrific terror assaults cannot be justified as any kind of self-defense.
Their savagery is inexcusable by all legal, political, and moral standards.
But they do not emerge from nowhere. In countries that have been invaded and
bombed, some people thirst for bloody revenge.
It was never realistic for the West - the invading world - to imagine that
it is an impregnable fortress, or an island, or a planet apart from the
regions its armies invade. This is especially true of Europe, which is
literally just a long walk from the conflict zone. Now that Russia has
joined the list of intervening powers, it too is vulnerable. So is the
United States. We are farther away and protected by oceans, but in the
modern world, that is not enough. Blowback is now global.
Violent intervention always leaves a trail of "collateral damage" in the
form of families killed, homes destroyed, and lives wrecked. Usually this is
explained as mistaken or unavoidable. That does nothing to reduce the damage
- or the anger that survivors pass down through generations.
A new terror attack inside the United States is likely. When it happens, how
will Americans respond? If the past is any guide, we will clamor to fight
the evil-doers. This will be described not as aggression, but as reaction
and forward defense.
A strategy based on invading or bombing might make sense if the number of
militants were finite. It is not. Terror groups in the Middle East are
attracting recruits faster than they can process them. Killing some creates
more, not fewer.
Countries, nations, and peoples must shape their own fates. Often they do so
by reacting to oppression. Religion kept Europe in the Dark Ages for a
thousand years. Russians and Chinese accepted brutal Communist rule for
generations. Violent extremism in the Middle East will end only when people
who live there end it. That cannot begin to happen until outsiders leave the
region to its own people. The Middle East will not stabilize until its
people are allowed to act for themselves, rather than being acted upon by
others.
Watching cruel terror in Middle Eastern countries - or in Western capitals -
is painful. It stirs our emotions. We want to avenge the victims, and
imagine that in doing so, we will also be protecting ourselves. Too often,
though, we fail to realize that Western power, vast as it is, cannot smash
cultural patterns that have existed for longer than the United States or any
European nation. Emotion overcomes sober reasoning. It naturally intensifies
after horrific attacks. That is dangerous. Emotion pushes us toward rash and
self-defeating choices. It is always the enemy of wise statesmanship.
Fanatics are trying to draw the United States back into Middle East
quicksand. If we fall into that trap, we will not only intensify the war
that is raging there, but bring it home.
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