Monday, July 26, 2004
"The threat is not terrorism...."
Haven't posted much news & political stuff in a while. I missed the stories like:
- Bush's surreal desire to be regarded as the "Peace President" now that the Iraq war is rapidly losing currency as a winning election issue. (One Thousand Reasons)
- the US military finally admitting, after months of denials, that they had taken custody of prisoners held by the vigilante kidnapper/interrogator/torturer Jack Idema and his crew (The Toronto Star) and
- the admission that at least 39 prisoners had died in US Army custody even though they contradict Taguba's now infamous report that the abuse and torture was systemic and not random or isolated in a recently-published army inspector general report. (The Guardian)
The big news during my break last week though was the release of 9/11 Commission Report which has been all over the media (and #1 at Amazon) since then. You've probably already read as much about it as you already care to but just in case here's:
- The New York Times summary for the impatient from their "Page Two" column in the "Week In Review" section (NB: temporary link)
- Richard Clarke's view:
Had [the commission's recommended] changes been made six years ago, they would not have significantly altered the way we dealt with Al Qaeda; they certainly would not have prevented 9/11.From "Honorable Commission, Toothless Report" (New York Times)
Even more important than any bureaucratic suggestions is the report's cogent discussion of who the enemy is and what strategies we need in the fight. The commission properly identified the threat not as terrorism (which is a tactic, not an enemy), but as Islamic jihadism, which must be defeated in a battle of ideas as well as in armed conflict.
We need to expose the Islamic world to values that are more attractive than those of the jihadists. This means aiding economic development and political openness in Muslim countries, and efforts to stabilize places like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Restarting the Israel-Palestinian peace process is also vital.
Also, we can't do this alone. In addition to "hearts and minds" television and radio programming by the American government, we would be greatly helped by a pan-Islamic council of respected spiritual and secular leaders to coordinate (without United States involvement) the Islamic world's own ideological effort against the new Al Qaeda.
Unfortunately, because of America's low standing in the Islamic world, we are now at a great disadvantage in the battle of ideas. This is primarily because of the unnecessary and counterproductive invasion of Iraq. In pulling its bipartisan punches, the commission failed to admit the obvious: we are less capable of defeating the jihadists because of the Iraq war.
I also missed the whole Linda Ronstadt brouhaha which jumped off the day I was traveling to Toronto to celebrate my parents' 40th wedding anniversary but Aaron at pop (all love) has a good summary of the media coverage.
It doesn't seem like that much of a mystery to me but Rick Perlstein examines why conservatives love Bush in "The Church of Bush." (Village Voice)
"12th Man on the Deal Team, part 2": JibJab's "This Land" has probably gone around the internet twice already but I didn't see it until yesterday morning on The Chris Matthews Show (warning: was loading slower than a muh'f-cker on my PC which has a DSL connection).
