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June 24, 2004
Random Thoughts on the War
Random Thoughts on the War on Terror
Here's an account of the May Khobar attack that mirrors my earlier post.
The terrorists are now claiming that they had help from sympathizers the Saudi security forces. Stories here and here.
It may be, however, that we're turning a corner. The Guardian reports "... a growing revulsion in the Muslim world against the random atrocities committed by its self-appointed champions and sees in it a promise of terrorism's defeat" It's worth 10 minutes to read the entire story.
As usual the best analysis can be found at the Belmont Club. If you want to understand what's really going on in the War on Terror that site is a must-read. Wretchard (the author(s?) nom de plume) exposes the shallowness found in most of the "analysis" one finds in the media. From their June 20 post:
The bulk of Western media attention has been focused on Iraq and Afghanistan and on curious side-shows like Abu Ghraib while Al Qaeda makes a bid for Pakistan, with its nuclear weapons and Saudi Arabia with its oil. The press cannot recognize these events as a long-held alternative Islamist strategy to power because it would undermine their principal contention that all terrorist events the world over are consequent to the Iraqi campaign; that Operation Iraqi Freedom represents the Year Zero, before which nothing happened and after which all terrorist history began.
Exactly. It is proper to investigate the abuses at Abu Graib and discover how far up the chain-of-command responsibility lies. It is not proper to splash headline after headline across daily newspapers. Reports are that many in the Middle East now believe that the sort of abuse that went on at that prison is part of our MO. If there is any good news in this, it is that some sensible Muslims in the ME will stop and wonder; why is it that the U.S. will prosecute their own while such investigations never happen in my own country?
The small minds of those who dwell on Abu Graib for political show will be dealt with by historians 20 years hence. When they write their analysis they will discuss it only insofar as it affects our relationship with the "Arab Street", or the reelection chances of Bush. They will not say it was a new Watergate-style scandal, or a that it shows "who we really are".
Posted by Tom at June 24, 2004 11:00 AM
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