Re: Should we know our enemy?



Olly Mensch wrote:
> PH - whatever our military and administration know NOW about the enemy -
> the many diferent terrorists/insurgents,from different countries and
> cultures -is what they are using to formulate their strategies; they are
> well familiar with the enemy and his culture. They know it now already;
> no need to study further; they are applying whatever tactics are
> warrantged - based on their knowledge of the enemy.
> Olly

I lived many years in the Med and travelled a lot. I have many Muslim
friends. I travelled to Turkey the most (coordinating with their
military). One thing that struck me repeatedly, my friends feared the
religious extremist a great deal.

One friend, Zewar el Azim, an elderly Syrian who's family ruled Syria
for generations had fled Syria and was reduced to near penury, living
in his 17 room Summer place in The Lebanon. I met him in Greece thru
friends. Interesting fellow and very personable. He had one quirk (as
do we all, at least one). He once said, "Before I die, I just want to
kill just one Jew). Highly educated and quite intelligent...yet.....
Our support for Isreal has cost us a lot, yet..what are our choices???


I think to assert that we don't understand the cultures of the
countries in the Middle East is simply wrong. We do have a great deal
of difficulty understanding their particular form of fanaticism.
Remember the consternation over the Kamakazis the Japanese fielded? We
cherish human life so much that we simply cannot understand people
who're willing to die killing whoever happens to be around just to make
a political statement. I'm not sure that understanding them is nearly
as important as killing them before they strike.

Much has been said, at one time or another, about the need to
"understand" and "work to alleviate the poverty, etc. " in those
nations in the belief that this will somehow stop the fanaticism and
attacks on us. I don't buy it. Oh, helping the citizens of those
nations is worth doing for its own self, but ... reflect.....the Saudis
who took part in the 9/11 attack were neither poor nor uneducated.

I think that what we need to understand is that the despotic rulers of
those nations use us as an external enemy to distract their citizens
from their misery. I am also convinced that the Mullahs use us for
much the same purposes and in order to keep their own rice bowls
filled. Because of this, I think the strategic goal of setting up a
viable and representative democracy in that area (Iraq) to serve as
both a guiding "Beacon of freedom" and in order to force the despots to
move toward better treatment of their people or face revolution, is
worth doing.

For decades this nation followed a policy of appeasement. We used
foreign aid (enriching the despots). We provided military aid making
the despots more secure on their thrones. We ignored massive human
rights violations and open support of terrorism. Bush is trying
something different. I think that's a good idea. The best definition
of insanity I know of is to keep on doing the same thing and expecting
different results.

Have we made mistakes? Certainly. Are there things we might well be
doing better? Probably. Is it easy? Obviously not. Could we have
avoided the conflict? Yes, we could have but, in the long term, would
things have ever gotten any better? I don't think so......... The job
isn't finished and the future is uncertain. It was, I think, Queen
Victoria who opined "I don't like wars. There outcome is always
uhcertain". Still, Bush has taken a risk that, if successful, might
well result in a far more stable and free Middle East.

I don't mind those who object to Bush's policies. I don't mind those
who propose different policies or actions. I don't mind those who
object on humanitarian grounds. I have, however, little to no patience
with those who decend to name calling and the assumption that our
purpose is "evil". And, to my regret, I am often short with them.

Whatever one's opinion as to why we got there, we ARE in a fight to
secure Iraq and help them set up a representative government. Since we
can't change the past (altho there are those who prefer to rail about
every step that got us there) the real question is, "What now?" There's
lots of criticism. Where're the suggestions????????

cheers

bob

.

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