Posted by
Boris Tiraspolsky on Sunday, December 09, 2007 1:24:19 AM
"There is no doubt, that the War on Terrorism is very different from all known battles in the history of the mankind. But what are exact objectives of the War on Terrorism, courageously conducted by the United States?"
Uncertainties in characterizations of enemy in the War on Terror
Islamic terrorists waged a war against the United States. It is the war to exhaust the Nation’s human and economic resources and to brake the Nation’s will to resist Terror. The United States is forced to take a part in the total war in which terrorists employ as a weaponry ideology, economics, conventional, and non-conventional arms in order to obliterate the United States.
In spite of that, there is still no clear understanding of what Terrorism is, who terrorists are, and what goals they pursue. Appearance on the historical stage of a so-called Islamic Terrorism made that understanding even more difficult. Consequently, there are no unmistakably defined realistic objectives, and there is no developed effective strategy in the Global War on Terror.
Some say the War on Terrorism is a conflict between States supporting Terrorism and fighting Terrorism. For instance, Afghanistan in 2002 standing behind terrorists on one side, and the International Coalition led by the United States fighting on the other one. This assumption is not necessarily true!
Bloody terrorist acts and anti-terrorist operations in Ireland, Chechnya, Philippines, Indonesia, and some other troubled countries are in fact variations of Civil Wars between different parts of the same nations. Quite the opposite, terrorists operating all over Europe come from different countries, but they all united with the same ideology of Islamic fundamentalism.
In contrast, the terrorist attack using a biological weapon that occurred in 1984 in the United States, for instance, was committed by members of the Rajneesh cult, and their philosophy blends Western and Eastern traditions, with special emphasis on Zen Buddhism.
Sarin nerve agent in the Tokyo subway was released in 1995 by members of Japanese cult called Aum Shinrikyo. Let’s not to forget that the second worse terrorist act in the history of the United States in Oklahoma City in 1995 was not conducted by people of Islamic believes either.
There is a widely spread “politically correct” notion that Terrorism is just a radical form of rebellion that derives out of a lack of “democracy“ and “prosperity“. In other words, inhuman terrorist acts are means to get “human rights“ and establish “democratic” States. Thus terrorists appear as some sort of “freedom fighters”.
Mass murders committed by terrorists and justified with both ideological and social motives closely and unmistakably remind of Bolsheviks and Nazis. Both terrorist organizations had established own States and threatened with a total obliteration the rest of the World throughout the 20th century.
It is obvious that Terrorism historically had, and Islamic Terrorism is not an exception, an infinite number of different faces and masks in order to cover up own evil nature, brutal goals, and bloody actions. There is no doubt, that the War on Terrorism is very different from all known battles in the history of the mankind.
But what are exact objectives of the War on Terrorism, courageously conducted by the United States? Who is precisely the deceitful and sinister enemy ranged from Islamic jihadists attacked the Nation on the 9/11, 2001 to "homegrown terrorists" attacked the U.S. population the way it happened in Oklahoma-city in 1995? These most crucial questions are still not clear and remain to be answered.
There are fundamental principles of warfare that can be neither obsolete, nor ignored. An accurate definition of war objectives and clear characterizations of enemy are among axiomatic truths in conducting battle. They are essential for developing a coherent strategy and effective operational art for the War on, or rather against Terror too.
Boris Tiraspolsky,
Founding member of
American Ideological Society