Posted on 09/18/2001 10:48:55 PM PDT by The Duke
Identifying a good solution to the USA's "Bin Laden" problem can be as difficult a mental exercise as planning "the perfect crime". Even after extensive consideration, one finds oneself balancing the danger of an expanded conflict, the loss of lives of US troops, the potential of creating a marytr and sheer cost against the absolute need to defang terrorism.
This is a problem I've wrestled with since last Tuesday's terrorist attacks in NYC, and only this evening have I hit on an idea that addresses the many concerns. I must say that it is an unorthodox solution, but one that is worth at least debating academically.
My solution is to identify a new classification of criminal, "the terrorist mastermind" or "superterrorist", and to make such individuals subject to a special rule. The rule is that, while the superterrorist is not touched, all those with whom he/she comes in contact in any way are considered to be terrorists and are subject to assassination. Possibly rare exceptions could be authorized by the executive branch so as to not make us blindly hostage to the policy.
Suddenly Bin Landen's banker no longer returns phone calls, his Mullah's are no longer available for strategy meetings. Even the poor merchant in the city square will not want to sell him a morsel of bread. If they interact with him in any way, in person, via phone, via email, via fax, etc they immediately go on the CIA's hit list.
This approach has some advantages worth considering:
This is easily the most wrong idea I’ve seen yet on this topic. Not that I don’t understand sick and wrong ideas – I’ve had a few of them myself lately – but I respectfully ask you to reconsider what you are saying. The bankers and the mullahs will still do business with Bin Laden. Certain international bankers operate, for the most part, behind a wall of secrecy that, so far, has proven to be more reliable than the protocols of the CIA and FBI. There is no chance of identifying them only by their association with one of their clients. The mullahs are likely to be terrorists in their own right, and are probably already hunted; they have ways of getting their food. It’s only the merchant in the city square, who might not even know Bin Laden’s face, who will die. Please don’t take my characterization of your idea as a personal insult, just as a criticism of the idea.
Having said that, I suppose I am obligated to come up with some novel idea. I wish I had one. All I have are the same old ideas others have: issue a letter of reprisal for anyone who kills a known terrorist. Use the US military to disrupt states that sponsor terrorism. Arm US civilians, or at least end gun control, to aid homeland defense. More controversially, end the WOD to free up government resources, and bring current smugglers and manufacturers into the fold. Successful smugglers have been evading the US military for years, and many manufacturers are talented chemists. We might need them.
Spoken like someone who doesn't remember the Gulf of Tonkin and the Vietnam War.
In war, nothing ever goes perfectly. There is always the screw up element and unintended consequence.
Bin Laden isn't going to come out with his hands up just because we fire bomb Kaladran, or whatever the name of the town is where he USED to be. Noriega didn't, but we luckily finally did get him. The warlords of Somalia that dragged our servicemen through the streets and killed them didn't and we never got them. And Sadaam Hussein didn't and he's still out there helping to bring down the WTC, etc.
Osama (Usama, yo mama) moves every couple days. He has deep caves to hide in that are in incredibly mountainous terrain, and he participated in a war that defeated the Soviets in the same terrain.
In Vietnam, we went in where the British and then the French had failed, and then we failed. Now we're going to go in with typical American brute force again in another country where the citizenry are arising now fight us and other countries have failed with brute force.
It isn't that we can't be successful. But American brute force may well lead to an uprising of Islamic fundamentalists in not just Afghanistan, but also Pakistan, Jordan, Syria and topple governments that try to cooperate with us or even be neutral toward us.
You may not have been around when the Shah of Iran (a monarchy friendly to the U.S.) was toppled by Islamic fundamentalists.
Bin Laden himself used to be an ally when we were fighting communism by aiding the Afghans in resisting the Soviets who kept trying to conquer countries to get a warm water port.
Then we put our infidel feet on the holy soil of Saudi Arabia, the guardian of the holy shrines of Mecca and Medina, (when we moved military in during the Gulf War) and bin Laden went ape-s**t.
There are a lot of people in that part of the world that have a totally different view of reality than we do and can rise up in outrage if we start bombing civilians, interpreting our actions as an attack on their religion, and it can spread like wildfire throughout the Muslim world, which is extensive, including Indonesia.
It isn't that there aren't effective things that we can do, but they are probably more in the Delta Force league, not the brute force league. And I sincerely hope that between Powell and Cheney and Bush and Rumsfeld and the people still alive at the Pentagon that we are coming up with some crafty measures, not brute force measures.
No reason that the country that invented guerrilla warfare can't return to the concept. Remember us shooting from behind the trees at the British marching in bright red uniforms in nice even rows during the Revolutionary War?
I say, forget the fire bombs, and prepare for muliple Delta Force missions.
One of the main reasons this has happened is that for far too long we have treated terrorism as a criminal (law enforcement) matter instead of what it is: a matter of national security.
Law enforcement is exactly what it says, enforcing the law. There is no realistic expectation that law enforcement personnel will always be there to protect you from crime. Their primary job is to protect the law. They find the perpetrators after the injury has been done and remove them from society so our courts can hold them accountable to the law. It's a completely different function and, more importantly, mindset than national security.
These terrorist attacks are not a matter for law enforcement nor the criminal justice system. These attacks were an act of war. And just like any other enemy in war, you must hunt them down and kill them. You must destroy their lines of suppy, their communications, their infrastructure, their industry and their will to fight. And you must destroy them.
So I wholeheartedly disagree. Quite the contrary, we need to stop treating this as a law enforcement matter and begin treating it like what it is: a threat to the security of this nation and all freedom-loving nations across the world.
Regards.
I understand what you're advocating, however, and your theory is sound, but IMHO out of context. It continues to address the problem in the context of law enforcement jargon and passing laws and defining levels of criminal action that may or may not inhibit said actions.
Again, IMHO, this is not the way to address this problem. We must stop comparing these terrorists to and thinking about them in the way we would think of, say, organized crime. That still falls under law enforcement's purview. That should not be case with these people, ever. They want nothing more than the annihilation of Western civilization in general and the United States as the foremost western power, in particular. That is not a circumstance that passing laws and characterizing classes of criminality will deter.
The only deterrence will be their annihilation. Any remaining elements that may survive to reorganize must also be annihilated, over and over and over, just as you would continue to kill every cockroach that keeps coming into the light. Never again must we deal with these people with the justice system. Not the terrorists, nor the people who aid, abet or harbor them. They must be destroyed, over and over and over again, throughout time immemorial (you can see how little faith I have that they will ever get the message).
Every time they show themeselves in any way, shape or form, they must be destroyed. Only then do we possibly have the chance of their ultimate destruction one day.
This is war. They have declared it, and we must put into place a system that will continuously deal with these people as such.
And I do realize that you're FOR the annihilation of the Taliban. As you can see, I would go much further.
Pray for GW!
We can kill terrorists while enjoying the biggest boom in history.
BUMP
When the shooting starts, the safest places for these terrorists, not to hide, but to survive, will be the territories of Western democracies. They'd only risk being "detained" or perhaps arrested which would cause them some inconvenience lasting a few years at the most. What to do?
In traditional wars, saboteurs and foreign infiltrators were shot if not on sight then after brief military court martials. Can we implement similar procedures in our "multicultural" society?
Bomb the bastards!
There are 10s of thousands of refugees massing along the Afghan border, and according to the UN, they will all be starving within weeks.
Launch "Operation Infidel"!
Carpet bomb them with ham sandwiches and cold beer. Throw in some smut magazines and those folks should be ready to rock and roll!
These folks may be religious fanatics, but they are human after all (I think).
Collaborate with Israleli intelligence.
Trust Bush.
End illegal immigration.
Believe in the power of prayer.
The best way I can think of, is for special combat units to do covert operations, swoop in, grab the nut and his upper-echelon minions, swoop out. Lawrence of Arabia type thing. Get down with the sand and all that bullsh$t. And nobody, nobody, knows about it 'til it's over with and he's gettin' mop-handle love in the hoosgow.
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