Re: Atlantic: "Coming to Grips with Jihad"

From: Charlie Stross (charlie@antipope.org)
Date: Fri Sep 14 2001 - 15:08:40 MDT


On Fri, Sep 14, 2001 at 10:10:33AM -0700, hal@finney.org wrote:
>
> There are a couple of things I would disagree with; most importantly,
> the assumption that we are going to win this war, that we will subdue
> those countries that are supporting terrorism. I don't know that we
> have the will or, frankly, the ability to do so.
 
I simply don't want to believe that we're going to lose to fanaticism
and what, for want of a non-racist term, I'm going to call Jerry Fallwell
Values (be they Christian, Moslem, or any other creed).

> A recent historical example is Khadafi of Libya. At one time he was
> highly respected in the Arab world, attracting men and money. The US
> killed some of his family, nearly killed him, and destroyed much of
> his equipment. He lost credibility and hasn't been a threat since.
 
Er, I'll stick my neck out and assert that the situation with Libya
is rather more complex than most people realise. Libya actually has
a smaller population than Israel. And it's unique in being near-as-
dammit the only attempt since the Spanish Republic to institute a
national-scale government based on the creed of Anarcho-Syndicalism.

As a syndicalist state it's a failure, tending towards the state of
a typical middle eastern despotism; but I suspect its unpopularity with
the US State Department had a lot to do with the eeevil bogeyman
of "anarchism" rearing its head. Certainly, there were and are states
with a much worse record of sponsoring terrorist groups that didn't
get a visit by F-111's.

> Saddam Hussein represents an example of a different sort. He was left
> standing after the gulf war and was able to cast that as a victory
> of sorts. This has allowed him to retain some strength as a leader,
> although the constant battering of American bombs has held him back.

And he's a really evil piece of work. I don't use that word, "evil",
lightly. (Suggestion: if you don't believe me, go read Samir Al-Khalil's
book "Republic of Fear".)

-- Charlie



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