Diplomacy is only as good as the Diplomats
Reader comment on item: Israel and Syria going to war?
in response to reader comment: Diplomacy and Mid-East don't mix.

Submitted by Chris G. (United States), Jun 30, 2007 at 23:44

I have to respectfully disagree with your belief that the way Bush is handling the war on terror is the right path or the only path to take. My background on this issue is that I am a cultural anthropologist (and have a BA in psychology) who specializes in developing alternative methods of counter-terrorism. I have lived in or traveled to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and Indonesia and have 8 years experience in the US Army Reserve.

Lets look at the victories you mentioned:

1. Saddam Hussein is gone and dead. Yes that is a GOOD thing. However, as much as we hated Saddam Hussein, there still exists no solid evidence of links between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda. He was a thorn in our side, but he also was a powerful enemy against Al-Qaeda as they were a threat to his power.

One thing many Americans (and our leaders) fail to understand is that democracy in the Middle East is not necessarily a good thing. It can't be forced upon people and can be very dangerous for us if they elect politicians who are extremely hostile to America. All through modern Middle Eastern history, generally speaking, dictators of that region have usually suppressed Islamic radicalism unless it was to their political advantage.

Now that we see Saddam gone and are now occupying Iraq, we have given a HUGE gift to Al-Qaeda by first giving them a huge rallying cry for recruitment (driving out a non-Muslim invader in a Islamic nation) and by creating a power vacuum in which they can thrive. The recent foiled bombing attempt in London, England showed hallmarks of insurgent style bombs used in Iraq most likely courtesy of training received there. Iraq has essentially become the absolute best training camp possible for Al-Qaeda. Only the best and smartest survive going up against the United States military. You might call it "social darwinism" in action. We are no facing a much more lethal brand of terrorist because of it.

2. Zero terrorist acts in the USA?- That also has zero to do with the war in Iraq and more to do with excellent law enforcement work that has foiled several terrorist plots. It also has to do with the fact that our Muslim population here in the U.S. is not as fanatical as the ones in Europe. That has largely to do with economic conditions. We also have some popular Muslim scholars like Hamza Yusuf and Zaid Shakir who have done an excellent job of appealing to youth and speaking out against terrorism and extremism,. I have also run into countless other Muslim Imams (clerics) who regularly speak out against extremism and terrorist ideologies in their mosques as well as in private Qu'ran/Hadith studies amongst their pupils.

3. In Afghanistan things are changing radically. The Taliban is far from eliminated. In some areas they actually drove out NATO troops. What is more troublesome is that while traditionally, the Taliban did not support suicide bombing against civilians, now more and more Al-Qaeda style bombings are being done randomly against Afghani civilians. They have also murdered many Afghanis in many towns such as women who tried to go to school as well as dozens of teachers. Overall, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in that region are now better supplied and better trained the ever. Part of this may be due to training and combat experience received in Iraq.

4. Pakistan is indeed largely to blame, but don't point the finger solely at their President (Musharraf). He is playing a deadly game of politics. On one side he truly has made some moves to crack down on extremists, however on the other side he is limited to how much he can crack down on them because he if he is too tough and incites a full scale rebellion. he could start a civil war in Pakistan in which his political opponents (other generals, etc...) would quickly overthrow him. Then suddenly overnight we could be faced with a nuclear-armed radical enemy in that region. That is why it is wise not to push Musharraf too hard on cracking down otherwise we could stand the chance of making things much worse.

5. The Israelis have not always failed in peace with Arab nations. So far the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan are holding up well despite many challenges. The main problem is with the Palestinians who are political hay for Middle East politicians. In that case however both sides are to blame for many of the failed negotiations and broken cease fires.

Chris G.

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