Comments on: Looking Beyond Al Qaeda

By: Joe Elliott

Joe Elliott — Mon, 30 May 2005 11:44:44 +0000

It surprises me that White House strategists have not thought of the obvious next step in the Global War on Terror - i.e. to discover a genetic basis for "violent extremist" behaviour. Some well-placed funding could easily identify the chromosomes that lead to such behaviour and tailor the findings to whoever Bush and Co. want to take out next. For example, the Iranians. Or maybe, if worse comes to worst, all semites but not Israelis (due to their superior capacity for adaptation to Christian values). This approach would get around "moral qualms" objections ("they may be kids now, but later..."), justify torture, guarantee funding for the military and scientific industries, and provide a sound basis for war many years into the future. Just an idea...

By: Ron Wright

Ron Wright — Mon, 30 May 2005 05:31:25 +0000

There is a similar debate over at Jihad-Watch. See my two cents over there: STRATEGIC THINKING AKA COMMON SENSE The key phrase in this reassessment is strategic thinking or in less lofty terms common sense. To win any war, you must know who the enemy is and the ideology that drives it. [...] Read More

By: McGehee

McGehee — Sun, 29 May 2005 19:20:10 +0000

conservative-nazi movement

bush crime family

Speaking of extremists...

By: Lt bell

Lt bell — Sun, 29 May 2005 16:37:34 +0000

Er-no, Mr. McGehee

The goal here is to give the conservative-nazi movement in the good old USA enough breathing room to continue dominating any real freedoms the American people have left. A good example
of this is available , just look into how the administration propaganda machine has developed
the blog propagandist in it own employ to abuse
what it calls "the media" into submission. do not look too closely at the bush crime family
there are too many other threats and emergencies
to keep an eye on

By: McGehee

McGehee — Sun, 29 May 2005 16:01:20 +0000

Er -- no, Jim H.

The grand strategy is pre-emption. In this case, suppressing terrorism by combating the "older and less tractable set of human behaviors" that gives rise to it.

The goal is to give the region enough breathing room that it can develop economically and socially and eventually make "violent extremism" less of a threat to the institutions on which stable societies depend.

By: Jim Henley

Jim Henley — Sun, 29 May 2005 14:52:13 +0000

Since "violent extremism" is an even older and less tractable set of human behaviors than "terrorism" itself, what we have here is a budgetary gravy train stretching well past the sunset of the careers of all concerned. THAT is the real Grand Strategy here.

By: jim jones

jim jones — Sun, 29 May 2005 14:03:36 +0000

I think you may have this backwards as suggested by what you choose not to include. What's interesting is that the administration is thinking about counterterrorism. That means that the purge is probably nearing completion. The lack of emphasis on al Qaeda, on developing assets and expertise, and on filling vacancies is already known. Also interesting is the judgment of the effects of the flypaper which is something of an admission. What's not new is the idea that the threat from a post-Taliban al Qaeda was overblown. The mere fact of going to war with Iraq when we did is proof in and of itself that there was little do be done with al Qaeda. Now it's just convenient to start fessin' up.