September 19, 2001

(Note: This is a rough draft of what was to be a longer essay.   Unfortunately, I don't have time to finish right now.)

Not to be the voice of dissent here, but has anyone thought about the ramifications that a long-term war on “terrorism” might have on the country and the world?

 We all know that this will not be a conventional war as we have had in the past.  There are no beaches to land upon, no countries or cities to bomb.  Instead what we have are select groups of individuals, some not even knowing of the other’s existence, operating out of various areas scattered around the world.  So the question becomes, how does one fight a war on these terms?   A friend of mine suggested that we will eventually create the American Sniper Force (you heard it here first folks).  These will be specialized groups of troops, similar to the green berets and seals that we use now.  Their one function will be assassination, pure and simple.  We will, in effect, be using similar tactics on the terrorists to foil their plans.   The down side to this theory is that it will take quite some time to eliminate enough of the groups to make a discernable difference. 

Another long-term problem is that unless America does something to change its relationship with these Middle Eastern countries, we will just be doing this forever.  As long as there are Palestinians who think that the US is giving Israel a break and them the shaft, they will throw rocks.  We need to make sure that while we are performing our “service to the world” that we don’t upset anyone else along the way.  In fact, we should bend over backwards to repair the relationships we have with these people, hoping that they will stop their violent behavior.

 So, that being said, what do I see as the best course of action to combat terrorism?  We have to begin slowly – with Bin Laden.  Finding him and eliminating his network should be our top priority.   This objective also probably includes the Taliban, since they seem to be as nuts as they come.  I believe that if we eliminate the Taliban that most of Afghanistan will say a collective “Thanks”.  If we then ensure that the next leader of Afghanistan is a stable person & assist them in building their infrastructure I think we will do a lot to repair our image.  Also, as we have seen in the USSR, once people get a taste for democracy and capitalism, they don’t want to go back to where they were before.

 As far as tracking other groups down and stopping them, I think that may be beyond our reach.   Everyone wants to help us now, when our wounds are fresh, but what do you think Palestine will say when we want to track down Hezbolah?  Or Iran when we ask to tour their country to ensure that there are no terrorist training camps?  I’m not sure that we’re going to have the same level of support on these issues.  However it turns out, we have a long road ahead of us.