Neither fish nor fowl, crime nor war

And we are ill equipped to deal with it.

Wars are large scale acts of aggression carried out by nation states against other nation states. In war, you know who your attackers are, where they live, and what they want. The attackers generally attack with discrimination to achieve strategic advantage. Because the boundaries of the conflict are along national borders, wars are best fought by governments.

Crimes are acts by individuals against other individuals. They are seldom coordinated, they are localized, and damage is limited to a few individuals or perhaps a corporation. The attackers generally attack with discrimination to achieve personal gain. All participants in crimes typically share a locality of influence making them amenable to efforts of local authorities.

Terror is neither. It is large scale acts of agression carried out against individuals indiscriminately, by organizations that are dispersed and do not recognize geographic or national boundaries. As the attackers are not aligned with any particular geography or physical infrastructure, they are not well suited to techniqies commonly employed either in war, or in law enforcement.

The bottom line is we need to change the game plan and find out who and why, then begin fighting them with the same kinds of weapons they use to build support. This is propaganda, long standing resentments, victim-hood, religion and other superstitions. The only sure way to end terrorism is through peace, love, and understanding of the terrorist's personal world view.

Sadly, a bunch of jack-booted, no-compromise, black and white neocons will never succeed at such an enterprise. Instead, they will continue their death grip on ineffective but self-righteous feel-good policies (Cuban embargo anyone?) right into the ground dragging us all down with them.

Post #214,069 by tuberculosis 7/8/05 5:19:50 PM Reply	Neither fish nor fowl, crime nor war - it is something else And we are ill equipped to deal with it. Wars are large scale acts of aggression carried out by nation states against other nation states. In war, you know who your attackers are, where they live, and what they want. The attackers generally attack with discrimination to achieve strategic advantage. Because the boundaries of the conflict are along national borders, wars are best fought by governments. Crimes are acts by individuals against other individuals. They are seldom coordinated, they are localized, and damage is limited to a few individuals or perhaps a corporation. The attackers generally attack with discrimination to achieve personal gain. All participants in crimes typically share a locality of influence making them amenable to efforts of local authorities. Terror is neither. It is large scale acts of agression carried out against individuals indiscriminately, by organizations that are dispersed and do not recognize geographic or national boundaries. As the attackers are not aligned with any particular geography or physical infrastructure, they are not well suited to techniqies commonly employed either in war, or in law enforcement. The bottom line is we need to change the game plan and find out who and why, then begin fighting them with the same kinds of weapons they use to build support. This is propaganda, long standing resentments, victim-hood, religion and other superstitions. The only sure way to end terrorism is through peace, love, and understanding of the terrorist's personal world view. Sadly, a bunch of jack-booted, no-compromise, black and white neocons will never succeed at such an enterprise. Instead, they will continue their death grip on ineffective but self-righteous feel-good policies (Cuban embargo anyone?) right into the ground dragging us all down with them. "Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect" --Mark Twain "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." --Albert Einstein "This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses." --George W. Bush
Post #214,085 by Andrew Grygus 7/8/05 9:01:13 PM Reply	I don't think that'll work. "The only sure way to end terrorism is through peace, love, and understanding of the terrorist's personal world view" will be interpreted as a sign of weakness. This will continue to escallate until WMDs are used and the dead number in the millions - then there will be a slaughter of Islam and the dead will number in the hundreds of millions. [link\|http://www.aaxnet.com\|AAx]
Post #214,086 by ben_tilly 7/8/05 9:03:07 PM Reply	You're depressing me. I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
Post #214,253 by inthane-chan 7/11/05 3:05:13 PM Reply	Well, that's backwards.
Post #214,087 by boxley 7/8/05 9:14:55 PM Reply	Appears to be working somewhat in Yemen they gather up the fuckwits, sit them in front of a real imam who clearly explains that they are being taught fuckwittery. The guys go "whoops sorry!" and appear to give up their ways. No, the clear method is to destroy maddrassa's wahibiism either with or without the saudi royals assistance and then get stuck in on the shiites. thanx, bill Just call me Mr. Lynch \\ Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 49 years. meep questions, help? [link\|mailto:pappas@catholic.org\|email pappas at catholic.org]

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