[lit-ideas] Re: Europe's September 11 ?
- From: Scribe1865@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2004 11:16:06 EST
In a message dated 3/15/2004 3:45:41 AM Eastern Standard Time,
omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx writes:
> > In my opinion, the US--regardless of who's
> > president--would only consider
> > negotiating with al Qaeda after many terrible
> > options had been expended.
>
> Hi Eric,
>
> Many terrible options have been expended - the
> invasions on Afghanistan and Iraq, remember ? They did
> not stop the Al-Quaida and they seem to have brought
> it into regions in which previously it was not active.
>
>
Omar, hi to you too. I meant really terrible measures. The (by comparison)
polite, media-friendly actions in Iraq and Afghanistan were not what I had in
mind. Iraq and Afghanistan were leisurely, not desperate actions. If al-Qaeda
were to degrade US interests over an extended period of time, it is possible
the
US would undertake more indiscriminate actions both domestically and
internationally.
Withdrawing some US forces from Saudi Arabia also seemed more a measure
designed to shore up the corrupt Saud regime rather than a response to any
secret
dealmaking.
> One of
> the differences between the AQ and the IRA is that the
> IRA has been around for a while and it has largely
> transformed into a criminal organization, so that its
> willingness to stop the terror activities may stem
> from the wish to protect its 'businesses' in drug
> dealing, racketeering and the like. Al-Quaida does not
> seem to be interested in money for now, only in
> political power, and that only the US could supply.
>
But, Omar, the al-Qaeda is criminal. Besides murdering people, they deal in
drugs, smuggle diamonds, etc. Given its structure, it may even be a mistake to
refer to al-Qaeda as a monolithic organization with a coherent set of demands
or goals. (Gore Vidal, in his essay on Timothy McVeigh, describes the networks
of loose associations among terrorists of all persuasions--such as have
brought known IRA bombers into collusion with rebels in Colombia.) Al-Qaeda may
be
more like a McDonalds franchise of killing people, rather than a goal-specific
group like the Tamil Tigers.
Besides, who would the US negotiate with? It would only take a single
loose-canon cell to violate an agreement and send any negotiation down the
tubes.
Regards to all,
Eric
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