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The War Against Terrorism

The War Against Terrorism

Author: Dr. Brooks A. Mick
Publication: The Conservative Voice
Date: August 5, 2006
URL: http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/16745.html

There was a book published twenty years ago which still holds much relevance for today. Gayle Rivers, a counterterrorism expert, member of the British SAS, wrote from first-hand experience about what was necessary to defeat terrorism.

The book was "The War Against the Terrorists," which I advise you to find and read. It could have been, with the changing of a few names, written yesterday. It was written as a plea to the president of the United States, Ronald Reagan at the time, to wake up and realize the growing danger that terrorism, especially Islamic terrorism, posed to the world.

I was especially impressed by a brief paragraph, calmly stated, which spelled out a major risk factor: Americans simply did not understand that terrorists had already launched the war agains them.

"Americans tend to be complacent about danger to their national sec urity from paramilitary forces. They still expect wars to be declared the way President Roosevelt did the day after the Japanese destroyed the fleet and ground installations at Pearl Harbor. Americans still expect that if an enemy force crosses a line, as the North Koreans did when they stormed across the 38th parallel, the President will be able to rally the Allies and stem the tide."

Too bad that Reagan, Bush1, and Clinton did not take the war on terrorism as seriously as Rivers requested. All tended to adopt a much too legalistic approach.

A local talk show host where I live still rants on occasion about the illegality and unconstitutionality of the Iraqi front of the war against the terrorists. There are two problems with the talk host's position: 1) The congressional authorization to the president to use any force of his choosing at whatever time and place of his choosing did constitute a de facto declaration of war. There is no specific wording specified in the constitution for a declaration of war. 2) The prior Gulf War I had been suspended by a cease fire and thus, when the conditions of said cease fire were broken by Saddam Hussein, the resumption of the war was quite legal.

But this illustrates what Gayle Rivers was exposing in his book: Americans are too inclined to consider fighting terrorists as a civil and legal matter, suitable more for police and SWAT teams than for soldiers. Rivers points out the dangers of treating terrorists as legal problems. Terrorists in captivity just become excuses for other terrorists to kidnap hostages and demand the release of the imprisoned terrorists. "The fact is that the American view of terrorism is still geared to a law-and-order mind-set." Far better, says Rivers, and quite convincingly, to just kill them all where and when you find them.

The media would bitch and moan, to be sure. Katie Couric might not approve. Chapter 8 of Rivers' book delineates the problems the media poses to right action in the war on terrorism. 1) It is not just the nexus of terrorists, rogue nations, and WMD which constitute the agents of evil, but terrorism, rogue nations, WMD, and the media. In the distant past, a terrorist could create havoc and fear in his own small area of the world. Now, with the advent of modern media, a terrorist act can terrify the world at large. It is the wide dissemination of information about the terrorist act which gives it much of its power. 2) Counterterrorism, by its nature, is clandestine, not filmable, and thus generally escapes the notice of the media.

Rivers suggests ways the media could help, if they wanted to. 1) Report on the political parentage of the terrorist group. 2) Documentaries on the evil side of terrorism--the suicide bombers who didn't really volunteer but were coerced or drugged, reporting images of the innocent killed by terrorists, and others. 3) Portraying the terrorist accurately, not as a hero or freedom fighter, but a vicious fanatic who has made violence against innocent civilians his end.

Rivers' primary revelation concerning terrorism and the media is this: "The terrorists' real objective when killing and maiming is to get you to report it." I have made a similar point in a previous column on this website. Many of the explosions one sees in the news media are Hollywood explosions, staged to show smoke and fire and look horrific on video.

Rivers covers the United Nations too. The good old U.N. was just as effective then as it is now. Regarding a hostage-taking by Muslim terrorists:

"On December 18th, the Security Coun\cil fo the United Nations adopted a resolution that condemned 'all acts of hostage-taking and abduction.' The vote was unanimous...The Security Council called for the immediate and safe release of all hostages and abducted people. Exactly nothing happened. Did anyone really believe that such an institution would be taken seriously by the terrorist world? It was another demonstration of impotence."

The U. N. Secretary General at the time, Javier Perez de Cuellar, said "We are living in another age of fanatics and we don't know what to do about it."

I believe the U.N. is still passing ineffective resolutions and that Kofi Annan' speeches have demonstrated that they still don't know what to do.

Rivers has chapters detailing the danger posed by technology and new weapons in the hands of terrorists. He dedicates a chapter specifically to the vulnerability of America and especially of New York City. He states what does and doesn't work in the war on terrorism. Appeasement doesn't work (This is likely a surprise to Democrats.) Retaliation doesn't work (This may be a surprise to the Israelis). Prevention does hold considerable promise. Most, however, you have to just go and kill terrorists and keep killing them.

I'm out of space to cover Haney's "Beyond Shock and Awe." But it has much good info, even if a bit more dull and dry than Rivers' book. Read it if you are interested in modern warfare and the fight against terrorism.


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