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Since we are bogged down, some say, in the legendary realm of Rudyard Kipling, a quote from him might be in order:
"If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
The relentless media chatter, often by those who know less than they should, may be obscuring fundamentals. The CNN reporter who confuses Afghanistan’s Iran border with Iraq, a Fox News “parachuted-in” expert who confuses ethnicity, linguistics, tribal affiliation; a lovely, young blonde CNN anchor woman who announces bombing or anthrax with the gusto of a Miss American candidate — these may be the greatest obstacles to successfully pursuing a difficult strategy in the U.S. effort to end an outbreak of an ancient, if varied, phenomenon — murdering fanaticism.
With the flood of information and misinformation that washes over the American people daily, the ultimate bearers of the sacrifices of war, it might be a good idea to step back and look at some fundamentals:
1] Rooting out the international terrorist network was never going to be easy or quick. In part, that is the nature of the beast: diabolically clever international conspiracies hatched over years to destroy lives and the fabric of contemporary industrialized societies.
2] The U.S.’ vulnerability has been exponentially increased by refusing to recognize the challenge, particularly during the Clinton years’ preoccupation with domestic social discrimination, absolute belief in compromise for intractable international issues, and complicity in a general “dumbing down” of standards.
3] An open society such as ours cannot be impregnable without destroying itself. Therefore, the logic of our situation is to accept the death threats of our self-proclaimed enemies and meet them before they destroy us, to enforce security precautions within the constraints of a free society but understand that we will take casualties at home as well as abroad.
4] “Understanding why” the enemy commits these atroicities is irrelevant to the moral issue of the moment. Spanish Prime Minister Aznar has said it best: “We in Spain have always wanted people to understand that all terrorists are the same. No misunderstood idealism, no conflict in need of a solution, no real or imaginary wrong can serve as a pretext to justify terrorism. To say the opposite — to give even the slightest justification for terrorism — is tantamount to turning the victims into the guilty.”
5] The propaganda line that we are constructing a wide coalition — even including states who have sponsored terrorism — must never obscure our understanding that minimal cooperation will be forthcoming, and that even our friends will have to be wheedled constantly to collaborate.
These concepts have practical application. It is shocking to hear a Pentagon spokesman publicly admit that he is surprised by the Taleban’s tenacity. Public communication requires more sophistication about the last 30 years of Afghanistan‘s history. The use of a Middle East-based TV network’s coverage without publicizing about its allegiances is unacceptable. It is not to be defended with shibboleths about the free press. It’s been said, but worth repeating, we would not have given Adolph Hitler airtime. Any Washington veteran could have predicted Govenor Ridge’s difficulties with coordinating homeland security in a turf-oriented bureaucracy, even in wartime. Congressional legislation laying out the parameters of his authority ought to have immediately followed the President’s initial executive order. The frustration of a bloated press corps in Pakistan — without a photographable war because of distance and security considerations — leads to video at any price. When will a public spokesman [or better still, a more honest and perceptive media] explain how demonstrators by the thousands [with English-language signs among largely illiterate participants] can be brought together cheaply and quickly out of enormous, impoverished populations?
Comparisons with Vietnam come easily these days — again a complex political situation in a region about which Americans are largely ignorant, an experienced guerrilla enemy, frustration that technology may not solve all problems, political restraints on using maximum fire power, etc. There is one simple and persistent difference: we were attacked, at home, and we can be again from the same sources, at any time.
But, again, in the words of Kipling’s ordinary British soldier, Tommy Atkins [his bittersweet loyalty to Empire in another era, make him a decidedly un-PC source] we have an answer:
“Just send in your chief and surrender — it's worse if you fights or you runs:
Sol W. Sanders, (solsanders@abac.com), is an Asian specialist with more than 25 years in the region, and a former correspondent for Business Week, U.S. News & World Report and United Press International.
He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:…
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And — which is more — you'll be a Man, my son!"
“You may hide in the caves, they'll be only your graves, but you can't get away from the guns!”