Originally Posted by
Legio XX Valeria Victrix
I think this thread brings up a good point, and something that our nation has done in nearly every war we have ever fought, barring perhaps the Revolution. We consistently uderestimate our enemies, and ignore the tried and true rule of conflict, "know thy enemy." I would argue that we have never faced a conflict in which that idea is more important, and yet we seem to be totally ignoring it, instead preferring to slander them as insane, cowardly, and any other negative adjective that can possibly apply to them. We will lose this war if we don't change that ignorance. All it takes is putting yourself in the opposite position, but instead the American govt. and people accuse you of being a traitor if you do that.
If you were a Middle Eastern citizen, and your life was ****-poor, mostly as a result of American policies that, throughout recent history have led to the life they lead. Now, we may say that is not our fault, and certainly we are partially right. But we have botched some Middle Eastern policies in the past, and ignoring that fact will do us no favors in the long run. But anyways, assume for a moment that you hated America so much that you wanted to fight it anywhere and everywhere you could. How would you go about doing that? Fighting it conventionally would lead to your death faster than you could even imagine it. So you must improvise. Few nations will take on America, but groups of people will, shrouded by secret organizations comprised of many nation's citizens. It's safe to assume that many of the terrorists assume that they will die in the struggle, and many in fact wish to do so, but they don't want to die for no purpose fighting a conventional war that will only give America more power. They want their own deaths to advance their ends to some extent, however small. So to make the most of their deaths, they strap bombs to themselves, kill many enemy civilians or soldiers, and instill fear in the survivors. That's how they try to win. Their deaths and the lives they take, while tragic, are just the means to an end. The fear they instill is their real weapon, not the bombs they strap to themselves. The more hysterical our society and media and politicians become, the more Patriot Acts, the more color-coded warning levels we create as a result of that fear, the more we let them win. The more sovereign nations, like Iraq, that we invade to further our War on Terror, is another victory for them. I would say that this administration has done everything wrong as far as the prosecution of the war should go, but that is my own humble opinion. We have, so far, played right into their hands. Very seldom in our history have we needed a change in strategy so badly.
Make no mistake, this is a clash of cultures, and it will test whether a democracy can endure the spectre of fear that these people are trying to ruin us with.