John Lewis Gaddis, in his A Grand Strategy of Transformation, discusses the source of terrorism: "...it's becoming clear now that poverty wasn't what caused a group of middle-class and reasonably well-educated Middle Easterners to fly three airplanes into buildings and another into the ground. It was, rather, resentments growing out of the absence of representative institutions in their own societies, so that the only outlet for political dissidence was religious fanaticism" and concluded that "Terrorism—and by implication the authoritarianism that breeds it—must become as obsolete as slavery, piracy, or genocide: "behavior that no respectable government can condone or support and that all must oppose."
Mr. Gaddis, the Robert A. Lovett professor of military and naval history at Yale University, agrees with Caleb Carr when he clearly identifies the source of terrorism as oppressive, totalitarian societies.
The Bolsheviks under Lenin, introduced into the world the concept of justified murder in the name of a cause, and from those beginnings, terrorism has grown into the primary tool of the extremist against his perceived "oppressors".
What common grounds do communism and fundamentalist Islam share?
A tad complicated perhaps, but nevertheless common ground in their ultimate goal of power over the people living within their grasps. Communism is an atheistic society that removes the personal relationship between the individual and his God, replacing Him with the State, as it transforms the State into the source of all Hope, shelter, and safety.
Fundamentalist Islam's theocratic totalitarianism interrupts the individual's personal relationship with his God, and sets the State as the intermediary between the individual and his God, thus creating a situation where all governmental dictates are considered to be "God's will".
Russia's total war on the Chechen people has created a veritable breeding grounds for terrorists; it has failed to achieve any results other than the continuation and escalation of the violence thus far, and will continue to do so. And as the people of Chechnya realize that their fate is death at the hands of Russian troops, or Russian bombs, they will engage in escalating acts of violence themselves. Additionally, it has created an opportunity for Middle Eastern State-sponsored fundamentalist Islamic terrorists groups to inject themselves into a very old conflict, create a new front for their war on the West, and inject religious fanaticism into the Chechen conflict.
In contrast, the US-led War in Iraq is seeing the terrorists turning on their own people; they've actually begun assassinating their own clerics, making the entire "war between faiths" idea a farce, and exposing Islamic terrorism as little more than geopolitically based warfare, waged by States via the use of shadow armies using religious fanaticism as a recruitment tool, and a weapon.
Good job on this, I truly enjoyed reading it.
A tad complicated perhaps, but nevertheless common ground in their ultimate goal of power over the people living within their grasps. Communism is an atheistic society that removes the personal relationship between the individual and his God, replacing Him with the State, as it transforms the State into the source of all Hope, shelter, and safety.
Fundamentalist Islam's theocratic totalitarianism interrupts the individual's personal relationship with his God, and sets the State as the intermediary between the individual and his God, thus creating a situation where all governmental dictates are considered to be "God's will".
I couldn't agree more. In both Communism and Sharia the ultimate authority is the state. The difference is that with Communism the state sought to become God while in Sharia God was only attained through the state. Ultimately little difference can be seen when you're just a peasant.
Nationalism and faith are both corruptable virtues when the "silent hand" of the state values consolidation of power over the sovereignty of the individual.
Russia's total war on the Chechen people has created a veritable breeding grounds for terrorists; it has failed to achieve any results other than the continuation and escalation of the violence thus far, and will continue to do so. And as the people of Chechnya realize that their fate is death at the hands of Russian troops, or Russian bombs, they will engage in escalating acts of violence themselves. Additionally, it has created an opportunity for Middle Eastern State-sponsored fundamentalist Islamic terrorists groups to inject themselves into a very old conflict, create a new front for their war on the West, and inject religious fanaticism into the Chechen conflict.
When I first read Carr's book the question that kept coming to my mind was, "How do you stop a gang-war?" Granted it's a thin metaphor but it did keep me thinking.
In the case of the Chechens they have to make a choice: do they support the soldiers that are part-time residents or the full-time terrorist residents who know them personally and know them by name and where they live? Although the proof of who exactly brought down the roof in Beslan is out, I can quarantee that the parents know and they'll act accordingly. And if terror continues we'll know how the people chose.
In contrast, the US-led War in Iraq is seeing the terrorists turning on their own people; they've actually begun assassinating their own clerics, making the entire "war between faiths" idea a farce, and exposing Islamic terrorism as little more than geopolitically based warfare, waged by States via the use of shadow armies using religious fanaticism as a recruitment tool, and a weapon.
Exactly. Not that the images aren't tough to deal with on a daily basis in an election season but you're right. I have noticed that the tactics of the terrorists in Iraq have turned from insurgency to terror of the local population. More Iraqis are dying now than during the war. It reminds me of the "popular" metaphor that Carr mentions. These "popular" insurgents are probably nothing more than a collection of dead-enders from the previous regime hanging on to the hope of potential power coupled with foreign terrorists flooding the region to attempt to fill the power vacuum and proclaim the next "base" in Iraq. It's not going to happen as long as brave men and women in uniform understand the difference between a belligerent and a citizen. And our folks are paying for the discipline daily. For that they are heros.
It's a pity that something so simple and elegent is so misunderstood in America but I guess it would be impossible to ask American parents to send their sons to Iraq with a target on their back, take fire, and have the patience to determine if the person trying to kill them is truly a bad guy.
Good job on this, I truly enjoyed reading it.
Thanks. I'm glad you did. Now go out and pick up the book. It's better than my feeble attempt to replicate.